Editorial Note

Issue 001 | Summer 2026

This magazine you are holding now is a repository for the thoughts and creations of International House residents. It grew from the belief that our writing and our art deserves a more permanent home. Its premise: the promise of a blank canvas, the complete freedom merely to create. This spontaneity of creation without the interference of an imposed theme or set of restrictions gave rise to a collection of works of immense breadth, each distinct in its singularity and personal voice. The resulting polyphony offers a glimpse into the diversity of artistic interests floating around I-House in the current moment. 

And yet, the cosmically mysterious order of things makes it so that governing principles inevitably emerge. Even in a “themeless” magazine, pieces converse with one another; they whisper, and form quiet attachments. It is the reader’s responsibility to find the threads of common ground that arise from the mingling voices within. 

The story I hear in these works is the story of a single year, told linearly in seasons. There are four chapters— Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall— which provide the magazine with an internal force. In my ear, each work seems to respond in its own way to these timekeepers that eternally return. 

But the truth, dear reader, is that the ground is alive and ever-shifting, and under the surface the works continue to talk. So lean in and listen close. Perk up your ears to the unique texture of each piece. Catch wisps of conversation, trace relations, and find your own line of flight through these pieces as they reassemble in front of your gaze. 

I leave you here. It is my hope that as time continues to run forward, and the body of I-House residents renews itself as it does each year, human creativity can continue to find its channel of release. 

Laura P