Letter from the Editors: Fever
Dear Beloved Reader,
Fever cracks open like memory—half burn, half light. A fist of fire blooms deep in the chest, splintering into the throat, spilled red. As it slips through the veins like fingers across a jazz piano, the skin shivers with wet heat. Rivers of salt drape the forehead, slithering down the nape of the neck. Flesh and blood swells, aching as it bends to this sweltering fervor. And then the body curls into an ember, melting toes and flickering fingers.
We open this third issue, Fever, with author Sana and artist Katherine Shi, whose prose and art fight the pain of spreading fever through the cool wash of memory in “advil ad infinitum.” In “Frayed Fragments of a Fevered Diarist,” author Scarlet and artist Sneha Lakamsani also allow nostalgia to ripple across their feverish bodies, hot with jealousy and unrealized desire.
Avery Carlson’s piece “The Red Eye,” with art from Lanie Myaing, describes the hallucinative nature of delirium, as you try to clear your mind against an unnatural turn of events. Sometimes, though as author Shahnoor Chaudry and artist Corinna Keum remind us in “scarlet against the wall,” fever means desiring to lose yourself in a lovesick haze.
With art from Justina Lu, Cayla Celis’ short story “Select I.A.” conveys the burning affection (and embarrassment) of a first crush through the technological medium of AI chats and text messages. In “MicroInfluencer Apologizes After Advertising Mascara Made From Rheumatoid Arthritis Treatment Drug — Video Script,” author Megana Kumar and artist Yi Cheng dabble in satire, leaning into the absurdity of late stage capitalism, consumerism as an aesthetic, and the idolization of influencers.
Vaidehi Bhardwaj’s piece, “lingua franca” pairs beautifully with animation from Sarah Jun, creating a blend of flame steeped in the world and settled in the body. Author Jenny Vu and artist Ananya Sairaman close our issue with the short story “Grizzly Bear.” For them, fever is the taste of blood on the tongue and the feeling of lethargy sinking into bones in the height of Winter.
We would like to thank our talented artists and authors who make our tongues tumble out of our mouths, as we lose all vocabulary to express our amazement. Special thank you to artist Judy Zhao for creating such an inspired piece of cover art and for pushing us to think in images that we have yet to consider. We are also endlessly grateful to our editorial staff—Sarayu, Ananya, Mariam, and Sana. Your meticulous editing is what drives our creative staff to continually strive for excellence, making each issue better than the last.
For our staff, fever ignites a simultaneous sense of destruction and renewal. The burning pain gives way to obsession, taking root in the marrow of our souls and emerging in a spark of glory. What was once a comfortable warmth can easily singe our fingers as we reach too close to the flame.
Yet, this is how we experience growth, it fills us with sweltering heat and sets alight a hunger for knowledge. Fever becomes hunger as the strike of a flint sprints across our tongues. As we lick our lips, our bodies are consumed by a taste so bitter and electric. We hope that this same passion is lit within you, our reader, as you explore the fever that has overtaken this issue.
With all our love,
Jasmine and Aliza
