After spending the summer expanding across continents and time zones, the students of YSoA are back together, along with a cohort of new faces. This reunion is more than a return, it is a reconvergence of voices, experiences, and convictions. We are back at school in a time when higher education is under attack across many fronts, through censorship, financial strain, and the erosion of spaces for critical thought. At the same time, we are told that the individual matters more than the collective, that speech is an isolated act rather than a shared one.

As we reboot Paprika! Magazine, we aim to challenge this narrative with Direct Message. In one sense, it’s intimate — the tone of a group chat, an aside between friends, a protected space where ideas can be messy and real. In another, it’s assertive — a message sent directly to power, and to each other. It is both inward dialogue and outward declaration. We can choose to speak together, as students, workers, and members of an institution whose future depends on solidarity.

This issue is the first installment of a new Paprika! that meets this moment. It’ll still be a place for all of us to share our intellectual obsessions through poems, essays, and editorial themes, but it’ll also go back to its roots, being a more frequent magazine that stays topical and rooted in Rudolph. So-called discourse happens every day — at studio desks, on walks to Atticus, in the YSoAcial group chat and in our DMs. In relaunching Paprika!, we’re not just reforming a publication; we are reasserting that our collective voice matters.

With the guidance of Paprika! Magazine’s Board of Alumni, the Coordinating Editor team has been appointed with representation from every program across the school, with clearly defined positions that will be available by open election in future terms. The new leadership structure aims to facilitate the magazine’s ability to amplify our collective voice by maintaining consistent process, output, and coverage of notable goings-on that may not be related to any specific issue’s theme. As always, the Issue Editors maintain full creative direction over each issue — calling on classmates, commissioning friends and inviting practitioners to contribute. As of today, the call for Issue Editors is officially open. Apply solo or with a group of up to 3 people by sending us a one-page proposal, including a title, and narrative theme with any supporting imagery by September 1. Final selection for the semester is chosen by the Coordinating Editors. DM us your proposals at editors@paprikamagazine.com