EDITORS' NOTE | Volume 6

Dear Ark Review,

Volume 6 is a special one. 

First off, it is with great honor and hope that I welcome Ark Review's next generation of editors. The pieces in this volume were painstakingly curated by the brilliant Jennifer Ku, Mikayla Schmidt, and Sean Filler, the journal's new Editor-in-Chief. The beautiful cover graphics were designed by Matthew Hung. 

Volume 6 is especially remarkable because of the wondrous, lyrical, blunt, subtle, bold, critical, and loving pieces which constitute it. These 8 poems reach for something which could not be communicated any other way. They reach for timeless marks, inestimable loss, curious encounters, and intimate connections. They reach for you.

- Mason

At last, Volume 6 of Ark Review has arrived! I have not only been endlessly amazed by all the submissions we received during these last few months, but also grown more appreciative of every piece of fiction, prose, and poetry that writers took the time out of their day to submit to us. It is particularly refreshing to see people continue creating art that speaks to nature, especially during a time when AI is being forcefully fed down our throats by evil tech bros who care about neither of those things. Artificial intelligence cannot recreate anything that will compare to how touched I was when I read about the description of nature’s seasonal beauty and the playfulness of sea otters in "My Walk,"  or even try to replicate the fiery intensity radiating from each word in "The Language of Lava." This volume serves to remind readers that human touch is, and always will be, what makes art so beautiful. 

- Jennifer

The sixth volume of Ark Review is a collection of works with eyes that look out into the world and tell us of its beauty; a beauty we try and fail to replicate. It tells us of the loveliness of the world and our hands that poison it. It tells us of a force that triumphs over lackluster imitations and decaying preservations. The voices that call out from this volume are ones that speak shamelessly of nature and our place within it, even if it seems like we are against it. I especially love that despite working with some of the negative aspects of humanity’s effect on the world, the authors still manage to highlight when there is a beauty to the interactions between the two forces.

- Mikayla

Volume 6 is here. It's been a while, and with that time came change. In the last ten months, data centers have devoured our water. Antique books have been pulped because they’re untainted. Surrounded by that change, what stands out in this volume is what stayed the same. Volume 6 has eight incredible pieces that are filled with texture–the drone of insects, the bloom of trees, and the transparency of our tombs–from a specific human’s experience. It presents creatures that lead their own lives despite a foreign world–the human world. Ark Review models persistence in the face of fickle landscapes and we call you to follow suit.

- Sean