On the dancefloor, multicolored light glances off a disco ball. In space, a star flares and bursts and collapses into a supernova. Everywhere, the gnawing desperation to be the best and the brightest. This issue, explore what it might mean to shine. How does a too-bright beam beckon you closer, or repel, or betray? A camera flashes, a bubble pops, a mirror cracks.

This issue features the winners and shortlistees from our seventh annual writing contest.
In the issue:
— Staff contributor Chi S. Tsu meets with London-based embroidery artist Nicole Chui to talk about embroidery collages, football, and heritage.
— Editor-in-chief Jiaqi Kang profiles Yaya, a Chinese French artist, filmmaker, and creative facilitator; together, they discuss somatic awareness and its intersection with art.
— Emma Kexin Wang’s “Mosquito Bites” explores life changes and the process of settling into a new normalcy.
— Sarah Chin’s speculative fiction examines glory and loneliness; Sui Wang turns to burnout and art in “Appetizer,” a story seeped with existential undertones.
— New poems from JoAnna Mak, Chelsea Zhu, and Dylan Tran intertwine memory, nostalgia, and self.
— Poet Juliana Chang meditates on artistic fame from the perspective of the path not taken.
— Rona Luo traces the trajectory of survival in the poem “my life as silver”; Marisa Lin conjures a luminous joy that subsumes grief in a poem dedicated to Natalia Smut.
— Art from Elisha Zhao blends whimsical adornment and innocence; works by Isabel Yue Li are vibrant and cosmic.
— Chaoming Zheng assembles copper etching plates to form a makeshift cartography in “Palimpsest.”
— Poetry contest winner Zixuan (Angel) Xin charts the waters of devotion and sacrifice in “沉鱼.”
— Fiction contest winner Vicki Xu experiments with the fleeting innocence of childhood in “Haven” accompanied by illustration by staff contributor Juliette J Wu.
Front cover by Elisha Zhao. Back cover by JESS HUAN HU