With each orbit of the sun, things lost are found and rediscovered. sinθ #33 “ENCOUNTER 遇” catalogs interactions with the world around us, exploring passions and possibilities.

This issue features a selection from the shortlist of our sixth annual writing contest. Find the winners alongside other shortlisted works in sinθ #32.

In the issue:
— Staff Contributor Chi S. Tsu talks to playwright Brandon Zang about his play Three Wise Monkeys and its themes of identity, loss, and marginalization.
— Chi meets London-based grime, drill and alt-pop artist Princess Xixi to discuss her artistic influences, relationship with identity, and debut EP a dolls house.
— Chi converses with novelist Weike Wang about Wang’s relationship with writing, work and identity, and the process behind Wang’s latest novel.
— Editor-in-Chief Jiaqi Kang chats with Mike Fu about the cultural history behind his debut novel and his current interests and inspirations.
— Senior Editor Yue Chen and writer Muriel Leung discuss Leung’s novel How to Fall in Love in a Time of Unnameable Disaster, along with Asian American hybrid writing and meaning-making amid catastrophe.
— Our first ever game feature is Kwan Ann Tan’s “The Vending Machine of Infinite Possibility”, where a fictional universe unfolds with endless playable options.
— Lisabelle Tay‘s poetry navigates animal violence and the body’s timeless mercy, whilst Alice Liang echoes Eileen Chang in her poignant piece.
— Art from Angie Kang portrays an elusive and intimate affair among the moonlit trees and shows us how the mind drifts to whimsy and deep reflection.
— From the 2024 writing contest fiction shortlist, Ruby Wang explores the tension between making something real versus something people want to see; Qiaoying Chen highlights tensions that play out in family dynamics through both dialogue and things left unsaid.
— From the 2024 writing contest poetry shortlist, Ava Chen charts eruption within a domestic space.

Front cover by Jiaqi Kang.