Issue 13: Summer 2026

I Am From So Many Places: An Interview with Dominique Moody

by Noé Montes

Watermelon painting circle

Essays/Nonfiction

On Failing The “Only” Assignment

by Sky Davis

An orange and green watercolor painting made from watermelon rinds

Essays/Nonfiction

And If I Had the Chance

by Emma Grimes-Schuler

Red and orange abstract watercolor painting

“to ann in three bottles,” and “expedia is hiring travel writers”

by Anya Quesnal

Green and blue abstract watercolor painting

“Of My Grandmother’s Shirt,” and “Brassica Oleracea”

by Tess Taylor

“O, Errata,” and “My Unborn Child Says to Me”

by Page Hill Starzinger

Watermelon painting pink and yellow

“Other Possibilities,” and “Little Miss Diaspora Tends Her Altar”

by Rita Mookerjee

Watermelon painting purple and green

Essays/Nonfiction

A Day in the Life of a Plant Librarian

by Lauren Hwang-Fink

“Spine,” “Feet,” and “Oranges”

by Diane Mehta

Essays/Nonfiction

Little Star

by T. Abeyta

The Greatest Day of a Girl’s Life

by Elizabeth Crane

Green and blue abstract watercolor painting

“[Evidence] I,” Moon-Struck,” and “[Evidence] II”

by Dani Janae

Watermelon painting circle

I See Your Wet Postman: A Conversation Between Peter Orner And Marisa Silver

by Marisa Silver, Peter Orner

Red and orange abstract watercolor painting

BE PRETTI GOOD: Dispatches from Minneapolis March 2026

by Jenna Blum

A watercolor painting made from watermelon pieces

“Glaukos”

by Eleni Sikelianos

An orange and green watercolor painting made from watermelon rinds

From the Editor

Thirteen

by David L. Ulin

Watermelon painting purple and green

Air/Light is published quarterly in Los Angeles at the University of Southern California.

The Chowdhury Prize in Literature is an annual international mid-career prize for writers.