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SR: Could you give us a quick introduction to yourself? I am Morid Hadi. I'm 17 years old from Afghanistan, and I'm an 11th grader in school. I started submitting poems a few months ago, and my publications are Bananamilk Magazine issues 1 and 2 , The Malu Zine issue 4, etc. SR: What does poetry mean to you? Poetry has always inspired me. How someone can use simple words to express such big emotions or events always amazed me, and I think poetry is like pure magic! SR: Are there any authors or poets who inspired you to write? I’m from Afghanistan and fortunately Poetry runs through my countries veins, so I grew up with great Persian and Afghan poets like Jalaludin Balkhi, Aisha Durani, etc. SR: What advice do you have for young poets who’ve just started their publication journey? My advice for young poets is to not put all your effort on complex metaphors. At first, just use simple words to express things and slowly the metaphors will come to you. SR: What are your future plans as a writer? My future plan as a poet and painter is too have an illustrated Poetry book documenting my youth.

SR: Could you give us a quick introduction to yourself? I live in India and by my writings. I have been a professional writer for one decade, and before that I led a lazy and reluctant lawyer's life for one and a half decade. My writings span from poetry, short fiction to articles on art, politics and psychology. My works have been translated into twelve languages. I have authored 1. ‘The Circus Came To My Island’ (Spare Change Press, Ohio), 2. A Place For Your Ghost Animals (Ripple Effect Publishing, Colorado Springs), 3. Understanding The Neighborhood (BRP, Australia), 4. Scratches Within (Barbara Maat, Florida), 5. Kleptomaniac's Book of Unoriginal Poems (BRP, Australia), 6. Eternity Restoration Project- Selected and New Poems (Hawakal Publishers, India) 7. Herding My Thoughts To The Slaughterhouse-A Prequel (Alien Buddha Press) 8. Postmarked 'Quarantine' ( Ice Floe Press, Canada) And the ninth book is on its way. SR: What does poetry mean to you? The desperate measures taken by humanity to reach for the meaning of the sphere outside the common logic. SR: What is a word you often use in your poems? And why? Albeit is one word I repeat. Perhaps it is my sanity's code in the maze of thoughts, emotions and words. Albeit reminds me of another dimension of reality exists outside whatever I am writing. SR: Are there any authors or poets who inspired you to write? Charles Simic, Ted Kooser, Franz Wright, Rae Armantrout, Hecht, Hemingway, Neil Gaiman, and many more. SR: What advice do you have for young poets who’ve just started their publication journey? Read a lot, and write without hesitation or intimidated by what you have read. SR: What are your future plans as a writer? I cannot plan. Future is a combination of readers' interest, my choices, opportunity and state of mind amongst other variables. I merely wish that my writings will be read by future generations.

Dear issue 01 readers, Creating a community where writers can feel comfortable sharing their stories was always a dream of mine. It doesn’t take a genie to make dreams come true. Through the support of submitters and a single spark of courage in my head, The Malu Zine’s first issue was born. I hope everyone gets to resonate with some of the writings and I can’t wait for the journey that awaits for The Malu Zine. Sincerely, Seohyun Ryu Founder and Editer-in-Chief The Malu Zine

Dear issue 03 readers, I would like to give all my gratitude to our submitters. Each of these astonishing writers is so courageous in getting their stories out there, and it blows my mind how The Malu Zine is getting submissions all around the world. We’ve never gotten this many submissions for a single issue before. You are building the The Malu Zine community. Not me. You. Please enjoy reading issue 03, an issue I believe is a turning point of The Malu Zine, and I will back to raising voices for more poets <3 Sincerely, Seohyun Ryu Founder and Editor-in-Chief The Malu Zine

Dear issue 02 readers, The great start from issue 01 made it possible for The Malu Zine to publish its second issue! I hope that everyone gets to find a piece that calls to them. I would not be able to do the things I love doing without the support of our readers and submitters. I am so thankful to be able to be a part of this one-of-a-kind community. Sincerely, Seohyun Ryu Founder and Editor-in-Chief The Malu Zine

Dear issue 04 readers, I'm going to be honest. These past few months were really rough for me, and I bet it was rough for so many people as well. Even during the roughest times, I always had something to look forward to. Whenever I read submissions with a cup of pumpkin spice latte after a long day, my day didn't seem that bad. This month's submissions, in particular, were about expressing life's, sometimes painful, dances. No emotions are worth hiding. We all just need to find the right way to let go of negative feelings. Poetry is truly a beautiful way to let out sadness, grief, and anger. I hope the fourth issue gets to comfort you even during the roughest days as it did to me. Sincerely, Seohyun Ryu Founder and Editor-in-Chief The Malu Zine

SR: Could you give us a quick introduction to yourself? My name is Olivia, and I'm fifteen. Originally, I'm from the UK but I live in central Italy. Previously I’ve been published in Clementine Zine, The Raven’s Muse and, of course, in WRITIE POET. I am an editor and staff writer at the online literary magazine Adolescence. This is the more serious introduction but on a more frivolous note; I love reading, my cats, coffee, films set in autumn, The Smiths and obviously writing. SR: What does poetry mean to you? Writing poetry to me is not just verses, metaphors, alliteration, line breaks, iambic pentameter and so forth but it's a complete change of mindset. The mundane can now be beautiful or even tragic, anything can be symbolic of something else. With writing we are able to reveal parts of ourselves we can't normally access because the truest forms of writing are so intrinsically tied to who we are as a person. To me, everything (so even life itself) is poetry. SR: Are there any authors or poets who inspired you to write? (doesn’t have to be an author or a poet, could be your family members, friends, etc) The person that most inspired me to write is probably Dakota Warren, she is an Australian poet and youtuber. When I found her account she was (and still is) so inspiring, constantly encouraging people to read and write. I had the luck of finding her just as I was developing an interest in writing, completely self-inspired, but she really helped in furthering my interest. I would definitely say that my favourite author is Oscar Wilde. I wouldn't necessarily consider him an inspiration but his writing shaped who I am today so I am very grateful to him and his works. SR: What advice do you have for young poets who’ve just started their publication journey? My first piece of advice would be to work on a disorganised-organised mess, by this I mean to always write. Everywhere, anywhere; napkins, old notebooks, school textbooks, pieces of paper, notes app, the Google Doc that was supposed to be organised but isn't. Don't let your environment hold you back. When this writing is done, however important you think it may be, whether it be an entire sonnet or a vague idea for a novel, keep a log of all of your work; poems, novels, short stories and even one off quotes, ideas, ecc in a folder. I would recommend a digital space, since literary magazines work online, have a Google Doc or a Notion page (or anything you prefer) that has a list of all your work. Since I mostly write poetry I divide it by type, length, theme of the poem. Then I have a separate section for ideas and quotes that I tend to forget after 24 hours so it's vital I write them down. This way when you want to submit a piece it makes it a thousand times easier to find it and it makes it impossible to forget any ideas of value. In the same vein, I would recommend keeping a spreadsheet of all the places you will or have submitted to, this process can already be messy and confusing so it's important your work space reflects the ideal outcome of your goals. Follow on Instagram all the literary magazines you can find so you always know when submissions are opening/closing ecc. The website Chill Subs can be a great resource. And finally, I'll let the idealistic (slightly optimistic) side of me prevail, remember that rejection is redirection. You will get rejected and that's okay; poems I wrote that were rejected from one place got published in another. Enjoy the process and don't stress about the outcome too much or you'll drive yourself crazy. SR: What are your future plans as a writer? As mentioned previously, I am only fifteen, so I can't fully respond to this question. I know I want to go to university to study humanities, possibly writing. I've always dreamed about a poetry collection in my name but we'll see what happens. So, instead of leaving this reply devoid of any real answer, I’ll quote Oscar Wilde; “If you want to be a grocer, or a general, or a politician, or a judge, you will invariably become it; that is your punishment. If you never know what you want to be, if you live what some might call the dynamic life but what I will call the artistic life, if each day you are unsure of who you are and what you know you will never become anything, and that is your reward.”

by Olivia Hales Inspired by Alexandre Cabanel’s “The Fallen Angel”, 1847 I This evening a woman saw a painting of the devil in the sky and it left her wandering if she was half-alive or half-dead she slowly noticed a tear in his eye and if left her wandering if it was okay to have sympathy for the devil she noticed the piercing pain in the ravenous way he twisted his furious corpse like the green ivy his anger and body warp filling the drenches of his tears she noticed the static horror with which he clasped his hands and it left her wondering if anyone else has ever felt such wrath II A few years later she is now convinced that every angel is bound by tangled red wires to fall (pushed by greed / killed by fate) She learnt this lesson when she tried to rearrange the silky strings of reality attempted to see perfection in the mirror a face in the soft milky moon a painting in the sky and place bloody wings on her back (pushed by greed / killed by fate) Olivia is an aspiring poet, aged 15, currently living in Italy. Her most practiced hobbies are writing, reading and dancing (which she has been doing for 10 years now) and she is an editor at the online magazine Adolescence. When she's not writing poetry at 3 am she is probably re-watching Dead Poets Society (again!) or listening to The Smiths, drinking coffe and reading beside her 5 cats. You can find her on Instagram @oliviafrances_writes.

by Seohyun Ryu stranger handed me a white rose i didn’t want to ruin the luscious petals of his and i didn’t want to let him go so i clutched onto its stem tighter and tighter… he was too mesmerized by his petals he never knew that the stem dripped sticky red sap staining the tips of my shoes now he has to go please don’t go his back buried in my face please don't go slowly blending into my blurry vision please don’t go i threw the rose out of my bloody hands and stepped on it as i ran for his shape to morph back i hugged his back he turned into water splashed down my feet shoes soggy wet stains spread to red roses i didn’t know i was hugging myself instead grasping onto my shirt drowning into my body why are you still a stranger? Seohyun Ryu is passionate in connecting the study of language and storytelling through various forms of art.. She moved to California during her first year of high school from South Korea. Her works have been recognized by Outlander Zine, The 309 Collective, LA Youth Poet Laureate, and much more. She is currently working on her first book to make her childhood dreams come true.

by Seohyun Ryu In the background, there is a plain beige color closet doors are shut closed the wallpaper of the room draws luscious red and white roses focusing on the big bed in front of the background, there are two sisters the bed seems too big for tiny preschoolers as the little sister is sitting criss-cross applesauce on the bed, the older sister is brushing her lil sister’s hair with a thin brown comb they both have long black silky hair they both have matching pink power puff girls pajama onesies they both shine a bright smile their eyes gaze at each other reflecting the subtle love for family what I didn’t tell you is that the person taking this very picture is a broken man a broken man who fuses smoke that fills the room– cigarette buds spark flames he grew up in a deep dark attic of Seoul his family fell apart after the “ cruel money party” that took place in 1997 a year after, he lost the only person who would brush his hair growing to be obsessed with the word “family” he grasped his daughters’ necks in fear no one knew what he went through because there were no proofs there were no pictures what I want to tell you is that i am no longer a preschooler but under the name of the father’s daughter my sister would still sometimes talk into my eyes and brush my hair. Seohyun Ryu is passionate in connecting the study of language and storytelling through various forms of art.. She moved to California during her first year of high school from South Korea. Her works have been recognized by Outlander Zine, The 309 Collective, LA Youth Poet Laureate, and much more. She is currently working on her first book to make her childhood dreams come true.

by Seohyun Ryu For Kafka I’m not hungry for food nor your money nor your eyes I’m hungry for art hungry for myself hungry for hunger you rip my unwilling mouth wide open and shove blood-dripping flesh that stings that stings my throbbing throat I grasp the metal bars they stain my hands with gray dark success but no need to feel the ghostly pity because more than forty days later, I will be standing on top of a mighty panther’s back thanking the audience, I, for making me a full artist. Seohyun Ryu is passionate in connecting the study of language and storytelling through various forms of art.. She moved to California during her first year of high school from South Korea. Her works have been recognized by Outlander Zine, The 309 Collective, LA Youth Poet Laureate, and much more. When she’s not writing, you can find her knitting blankets for her two dogs to snuggle in.

by Jasmyne LaBeau Something lurks beneath the water Solemn, quiet, but furious Rippling across her eyes A familiar reflection in the gaze Something lies beneath the water Bedding into her ribs Haunting whispers asleep against the moss Something evades beneath the water Depths of despair a woman can bear Love is now only a ghost beneath the marsh Jasmyne Labeau is a twenty-three year old poet based out of Michigan. She enjoys creating written pieces that are full of the deepest emotions such as love, heartbreak, mystery, grief or nostalgia. When she is not creating, you can find her canoeing on the river, adventuring in the woods, reading fantasy novels, or spending time with her loved ones.