Carpe Diem (excl.)–– seize the day!
Editor's Note
Vertigo Editors (2023-2024)
Followed by our annual Open Mic in collaboration with La Pluma— hosted for the very first time at Lynbrook— a night full of bright stage lights, smiles and craft conversation, this Spring, we are proud to bring you Carpe Diem, an issue encompassing months of creative exploration into what it truly means to seize the day in our modern world.
With the help of cozy workshops at Peet’s and writer-artist collaboration, we embraced the warm weather on sun-streaked road trips, stacked stones atop each other with past loves, and enjoyed warm whispers of memories. We tasted the apples of Eden, gathered the last fragments of today, and led rebellions in the spirit of carpe diem.
We invite you to hold this issue in your hands, flip through its art-adorned pages, and feel its liveliness leak through the ink and into your life. From waltzing in the flames to enjoying cool forest shade with the Earth Mother, we truly hope that you will find something you resonate with, and bring its manifestations of light into your daily routines. We gift you paintbrush strokes and stories, light in darkness, and hummingbird heartbeats to weather your storms. We can only hope you answer the call.
So, dear reader, will you join us in seizing the day?
Love, your 23-24 Editors,
Kyrsten & Annie & Emily
Table of Contents
Aanya Mishra, Angelina Feng – This Winter’s Poppy Red
Alex Cotterel, Bethanie Lee – Split Stones
Allison Lin, Charlotta Dai – the best time to make life changing decisions
Annie Yao, Christina Zhou – lost in translation
Anton Zhou, Daniel Wan – Ghost Parade
Chelsea Li, Dorothy Ko – last autumn i discovered the world was beautiful after all
Emily Pedroza – Night calling
Hannah Liaw, Emma Tang – delirium
Julia Xu, Grace Ker – Made of Marrow
Maya Swaminathan, Kyrsten Su, Olive Li – 17 and already dying
Samantha Tang, Mahati Ramakrishnan – Fish and Whales and Blues
Lorie Wu, Sia Gupta – A Tale of Threes
Helena, Olivia Tu – Like Grapevines
Emma Ha, Maddy Chang – Kaleidoscope
Mia Liu, Sophia Zhang – Trains and Windows
Elle Gasper, Daphne Zhu – today is a monster
Amber Lai, Eunice Leung – until the final flame fades
Crystal Zhu – Pavements
Torxia Xu – Dead by Daylight
Annie Li – THE IUDEX
Xing Xi Li – daylight
Michelle Jiang – untitled