Dear Readers and Friends, 

As I watch another year close, I am threatened by what all Senior-year students find themselves threatened by: moving forward. Where will I find myself a year from now? Where will I find myself in ten? Where will you? 

Kronos, the mighty titan and father to the Olympians, was also the god of time, and there is a reason he was feared as the inevitable destroyer. Time passes, and sometimes, that’s brutal. The question of the future has haunted me for a while now, and I predict it will always be lingering in the back of my head. It’s only natural to wonder about where life will take you, which is why it is so important to have something constant in your life.

Wherever we are in the future, I am sure I will still be reading, writing, and consuming art. And if it is not too much of a tangent, let me mention how much I love that phrase: “consume art.” Because what do we do with art, if not feast on it? Reading satiates our soul’s hunger and connects us with the universe, with the indescribable, intangible feeling of being alive. To get lost in a good book is to be stuffing yourself at a buffet table; to stare at a painting is to salivate at the dining table.

If history is any indication, art remains in our lives no matter what happens all around us. Art is the one thing that robs the titan god of his power. Through anxiety and happiness, there is art; through grief and new beginnings, there is art. Art is an expression not only of our emotions or experiences or creativity, but of our humanity. It is a primal part of us in the same way that eating is; it makes us human. We sleep, we drink, we consume art. 

It is my hope that, wherever you are (metaphorically or literally– you can choose), the art you are about to consume from Volume 27 is nourishment to your soul.

I thank every single person who has been involved with this issue: the artists, the writers, the poets, the staff members, the board, the UH English department, the amazing team of upper and associate editors, and of course, you, dear reader. Keep consuming, keep creating.