The Pandemic Radically Altered My Relationship with India. I Don’t Know If I Can Ever Go Back
A personal essay explores navigating the COVID-19 pandemic in India, the surrounding political turmoil, and their effects on identity and belonging
Hypochondria
A piece of snarky short fiction about a young woman worrying about the feeling in her neck
Two Poems
With influences from Angel Nafis, queer Bangladeshi poet Amatan Noor spins an acerbic bite out of everyday realities and structures
When the park is sick
Chinese artist Zihan Ye’s short film is a quirky, miniature and stop-motion filled narrative of going through change
Childhood, revisited
In this visual art series, Mariam AlZayani attempts to “clone” herself in an attempt to interrogate and manipulate her childhood and memory via creativity
Flesh Love All
This issue’s cover star, Flesh Love All is a photo series by Japanese photographer Hal, where he vacuum seals families and couples in their home environment
Red Moon
Serena Alagappan’s poem “Red Moon” weaves the vulnerabilities and intimacies of forming relationships with others and with God and all the pain and love that comes in between
In Our Understanding the Self Class
TW: sexual assault
A poem by Von-der By that looks at the ugliness and trauma of a personal history and its impact on sexuality
august
A seasonal poem imagines something new, something better
The Fire
Looking at the ‘sickness’ that occurs in the environment, Louise Coghill’s photo series documents a fire ravaging a 25-year-old family home
My Heart Monitor Yells at Me Whenever I Try to Run Now
Hannah Siden explores the realities of chronic illness through verse
Razor Blade Gummy Bears
Razor Blade Gummy Bears observes the sickly fascination with sweetness as poison, its absurdity and allure made tangible in the form of gleaming translucent resin.
I was Eight When They Said Mama was Sick
The latest in our haiku column by Louise Gerodias
The words that have departed
This two-screen panel installation shows multiple perspectives on a live performance on topics pertinent to khaleeji women
Walking, Ruminating
San Francisco poet Allie Rigby forms a poem in step with a reflective stroll
Treatment
A short film on outdated scoliosis treatment
Grandpa
Using playful, even childlike language, this poem is made out of a loved one’s absence – the ‘sickness’ of loss
Yearning
Rosalyn Ng’s paintings are visceral, almost autofictive vehicles of expression – multi-textured, they represent a form of emotional processing
Breach of Contract
A poem in which a woman waits for her husband to die
Dependent Origination Trumps Old Age, Sickness, Death
A tiny poem that packs in Buddhist philosophy, love, and attachment into a mere handful of lines