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As her husband's cold fingertips caress her face, all she could think of is the green leaves from the tree branches of her childhood backyard. A sight she burned into her eyes as the leaves danced with the wind, whispering into her ears, calling her into the woods. She can taste the faint iron in her mouth, and the wind is starting to turn sharply into the west, pointing to the sun, where it hid behind the ocean and the sacred door that protected her people from the outside. She sat criss-crossed on the grass, her rose-pink party dress getting wet from the recent sprinklers. Her thoughts and dreams were too big to fit into her nature journal, years' worth of sketches, trees, and plants, that could never be enough for what she needed. The trees start to smudge, focused lines slowly mixing into one another, an image she always could see clear as day becoming a memory. Excerpt from "Prologue to Chrysalis" by Ashley Catalan By Anya Shukla Ashley is a self-taught writer who moved from Nevada to California to attend Chapman College. The arts are integral to her life and college experience: at Chapman, she majors in Music Education and minors in English. She has always enjoyed expressing herself artistically; nothing else gives her the same feeling that art does. Although Ashley plans to work in music in the future, she joined MTAC as a way to further build and explore her passion for writing.
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By Anya Shukla Tacoma native Olivia has been immersed in the arts ever since an early age. She grew up in a family of performers: her aunt is a ballerina and her uncle is the famous bass player Oseama Afifi. It is no surprise then that she enjoys performing as well; she started singing when she was six, has been dancing for ten years, has played the alto saxophone since sixth grade, and is starting to learn the bass. Olivia has a wide-ranging appreciation of various genres, from heavy metal to Japanese city pop. She enjoys not just playing music but also creating her own pieces. She has participated in Seattle Theatre Group’s Songwriting Lab, a week-long songwriting workshop that she credits with providing her with connections and friends to bounce ideas off of. Olivia hopes to be a performing artist in the future with the goal of living in New York City.
 "City and Soul" by Tamara Abouammo By Nickole Munoz Tamara is an Arab-American, self-taught, multi-media artist who has put deep thought into her journey as an artist while only being a freshman in high school. Residing in downtown Seattle, she enjoys taking advantage of Green Lake’s scenery, where she based her most recent project with The Colorization Collective (The CC). At the Green Lake scene, there has been a flash of personal touch to every piece: Tamara uses her camera lens to capture the world. This scene replicates one from years ago when Tamara would watch her brother take passport photos or her aunt make jewelry. As inspiration, she recalls an abundance of stories of her paternal grandma, a popular Egyptian singer whose essence influences Tamara’s multifaceted streams of creativity. Her grandma’s artistic ability translated into musicians and jewelry makers on her mother’s side of the family.
By Anya Shukla and Dilinna Ugochukwu Kaiser Louis sees his artwork as a way to honor his family lineage. Louis, the son of a first-generation Haitian immigrant, uses art to explore his family’s immigration and reflect on his personal experiences. What does it mean, Louis asks through his pieces, to speak French, English, and Creole but have never visited Haiti? In what ways am I connected to my heritage, and in what ways am I separated?
 Adrija Jana uses their artwork to raise awareness of issues they find important. Photo credit: Adrija Jana. By Dilinna Ugochukwu “I thought, I have a real connection with this,” said Adrija Jana (she/they), referring to refugee crises. “Why not take it up? Why not use my voice for these people?” Jana is an interdisciplinary Indian artist and activist who started writing in third grade, and their passion for the arts has only grown since. Now they are also drawn to film and theater, and their films have even been accepted to international film festivals.
By popular request, we recently put together a zine featuring writing from our 2022 summer and winter mentorship cohorts. These pieces primarily come from members of our writing cohorts, although all cohorts were welcome to submit work. You can view a digital version of the zine below! By Dilinna Ugochukwu As a 15-year-old scuba diver, computer science lover, activist, and environmentalist, Danielle Nelson (they/them) wears many hats. They incorporate several of these interests into their artwork, which features themes of social justice and environmentalism.
 In "Freshwater," the main character must reckon with the fact that she is both human and inhuman. Photo credit: Patrick Perkins on Unsplash. By Anya Shukla I started an internship this week, and now I’m super tired and have absolutely no will to do anything. So my reading comprehension has taken a bit of a tumble. Apologies if this review feels shorter and/or less… coherent than my previous pieces. Honestly, not sure how I can ever work a 9-5 job (and also have hobbies) if this feels like such a struggle right now. How does adulting work??
 "Time Is a Mother" explores Ocean Vuong's relationship with his mother, who passed away of breast cancer in 2019. Photo credit: Aron Visuals on Unsplash. By Anya Shukla I love Ocean Vuong; I love Ocean Vuong; I love Ocean Vuong so much! I first came across his work after impulse-buying "On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous," which is now one of my favorite books on this entire planet. His writing makes me feel every emotion in existence all at once. I’ve read many books this year that feel aggressive in their grief. After reading these novels, heavy feelings just sit in my chest; I’m forced to carry the author’s emotional burden. Even though Vuong’s poetry deals with intense, difficult topics, the work doesn’t have an unhealthy physical impact. I’ll definitely cry, but it’s cathartic: I always feel better afterward.
 Who gets to climb the social ladder in America? Photo by Jilbert Ebrahimi on Unsplash. By Anya Shukla This book has been on my to-read list for quite some time. I started it in January, and then my hold expired, which means that there was a six-month gap between my reading of the first and second halves of “Caste.” Please take my review with a grain of salt. This book also criticizes India. As a daughter of Indian immigrants, I'll admit that I am automatically predisposed to hate anything that attacks my homeland—even if the critique is accurate. I think it’s because I’ve spent most of my life reading Western authors who bash Indian culture and people. So when someone tries to hurt my country, I get super defensive.
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