As Lula says to her lover Sailor, in David Lynch's rampageous road movie Wild at Heart (adapted from Barry Gifford's novel), "The world is wild and weird on top." That it is. Spy balloons, U.F.O's, Trump and his Republican minions like Marjorie Taylor Greene (if only they could be sent floating into the ionosphere), Times Square Characters, pickleball tournaments, and Congressman (?) George Santos: if that ain't weird, then what is? Thank heavens that the artist is wired for weird. As children, to be called "weird" is veritably the kiss of death; in art school, the appellation is praise of the highest caliber. Welcome to The Match Factory, the journal where the weird and interesting and supremely creative thrives.

This issue features an abundance of talented students, whose poetry and prose showcases a capacity to tap into the depths of the unconscious and flaunt feats of the imagination. Alex Siple, wielding a paintbrush slathered in black paint in their poem, describes the perilous passage that many migrants have had to endure just to find themselves on the shores of freedom and possibility, a stunning catalogue of disastrous occurrences. Maddie Sackett's elegiac "Skin" reveals the high cost of grief, while Aden Lim's burst of lyricism matches the high-pressure jets of a cracked-open hydrant. Thea Li's poem flashes in the night sky like a cinder from a hardboiled cigarette, while Adrien Astére Rolley lights the fuse to his own pyrotechnical display as the primum mobile is personified.

Aurora Schindler's tough and hopeful essay provides a rare glimpse into the suffering consciousness of a young woman dealing with the addiction of a beloved parent, while Siwon Chung's impressionistic account of a freshman student's inaugural days in New York would resonate with any student new to the teeming metropolis. Dakshita Dehalwar's essay explores another facet of New York, one in which the artist Basquiat ruled briefly as a boy king before his steep and tragic descent. For those seeking out more lighthearted fare, look no further than Xuan Chen's endearing, amusing account of the days of an eighty-year old college freshman. And if a noirish tale tinged with moody blue and splashed with blood is more your speed, then wallow in Florence Li's bullet-rhythm prose.

Congratulations to all the winners of SVA's school-wide 2022 Undergraduate Writing Contest! Your writing has continued to engage, impress, and inspire. SVA students have proven year after year that they are multitalented and capable of immersing themselves in the tough, empathetic work that is bound up with the act of writing. I couldn't be prouder of SVA's students--and to be a Writing and Literature instructor at the School of Visual Arts, a special and storied university that I care about very deeply.

Thanks to Laurie Johenning, for all of her patient care and hard work in helping to put together this issue; to Susan Kim, for her gracious presence; to Dr. Kyoko Miyabe, brilliant Chair of the Humanities & Sciences Department and a wonderful human being; and to all of my colleagues at SVA, who toil in the trenches and take seriously this all-important craft we strive to perfect every single day: the magic you make in the classroom conjures the spirits that students will nurture in their hearts forever.

Edwin Rivera, Editor, The Match Factory