You spray perfume on the inside of your wrist. Somewhere, a fire is sizzling. The last in our five-senses series is “AROMA 馝”, an issue unraveling scent in all its pleasant and odious forms. What captures your nose?

This issue features the winners of our sixth annual writing contest, as well as a selection from the shortlist with more to come in the next issue. Thank you to Kim Fu and Mary Jean Chan for judging this year.

— In art, Lingnan painter Anita Yan Wong’s portraits of birds fuse traditional Chinese techniques with contemporary methods; Jennifer Fu beautifully photographs dappled sunlight; Beilin Xu presents a sun-kissed picnic; incense rises in Staff Contributor Juliette Wu’s evocative monochrome work.
— Susan L. Lin spins an ode to a playground game.
— Staff Contributor Chi S. meets musician Bolis Pupul in London to discuss growing up diasporic in Europe and the bittersweet notes of identity on Pupul’s debut album.
— Publicity Editor Janelle Li and writer Autumn Chen discuss interactive fiction and its potential to reach a plethora of diverse audiences.
— Staff Contributor Chi S. chats with 2022 sinθ contest winner Daisuke Shen about Shen’s short story collection Vague Predictions and Prophecies, religious allegory and futurism.
— For our student spotlight, Staff Contributor Juliette Wu and artist Sharon Zhang discuss how Zhang showcases emotions through different fabric mediums, translations and power dynamics.
— From the contest shortlists, Helen Chen juxtaposes youth and aging; Kristine Chang pieces together resentment, vulnerability, and thoughtfulness; Shrike Wong beautifies an insect’s purpose as a bearer of life.
— Fiction contest winner Josephine Wu grapples with identity and grief through nail removal and the enduring connection between a mother and daughter.
— Poetry contest winner Audrey Lin’s “Garden Ghazal” traces nature’s impact on a garden’s stages of harvest.

Cover by Junior Editor Stella Li.