Worlds of words. In this issue of City Tech Writer, the school’s journal of outstanding writing from all disciplines, our students invite you to teleport through a constellation of realms. Touch down in one realm, and you’ll find yourself poring over the intricacies of French cuisine in the rural Gallic country side. Blast off for your next destination, and you’ll find yourself careening towards an unexpected fusion of McDonald’s and fashion. (Who knew those golden arches could be so haute couture?) As you peeak out from the starboard windows of your metaphorical vessel, you might even find yourself moved by the array of emotional experiences that our students have set into writing - familial strife, confrontation with the horrors of war, defiance in the face of white supremacy, longing for a world without depression or anxiety, and, at the very last, joy at the discovery of the mathematical laws woven into a single seashell.

The header design, by accomplished student artist and filmmaker John Gregorios, provides an appropriate supplement to this fantastic journey. John writes, "I opted for a psychedelic approach, as that's how I often feel when immersed in writing, whether as the author or the reader." That's how we feel too, John - speaking metaphorically, of course! The sense of tranfixing movement through one new idea after another lies at the heart of this volume, which once again experiments with the very latest in multimedia publishing. In recent years, City Tech Writer has brandished a number of firsts for the journal: the first publications of screenplays (and accompanying films); the first publications of Spanish language entries; the first integration of AI generated images; the first production of a documentary to accompany a student essay; the first incorporation of audio versions of texts, to maximize accessibility. This year, we are continuing the emphasis on accessibility, as well as the implementation of video learning aids that help instructors incorporate our students’ writing into their own pedagogy.

Additionally, Volume 19 features the fruits of the very first City Tech Writer Creative Writing competition, in which students were challenged to write a piece that engages with a preceding year’s entry. As a result, we’re proud to publish Angelica Tellez’s story “Family,” a response to Alexis Garcia’s “How To Push Your Family Away From Religion” from Vol. 18 of City Tech Writer, as well as “Fibonacci,” a flash fiction meditation on “Fractals: The Shape of Order And Chaos,” Katie Salas’ and Julia Burnside’s contribution to the same volume. May they be the first of many future competition winners who find their voice by dialoguing with fellow student writers!

Furthermore, this volume also boasts an audio adaptation of “The Haymarket Trial,” a play written for the interdisciplinary course Theater Of Law (THE 3000). Rebecca Armand, James Adesman, Clair Lacza, and Karmen Wu’s take on the Haymarket Affair of 1886 - a seminal event in the history of radical-anarchist politics in the United States - is available as a dramatic audio play, complete with AI-generated voices and public domain sound effects. In bringing the students’ theatrical vision to life, the play shows us how words on the page can gain in meaning and intensity when they are spoken aloud.

I'd like to thank the faculty throughout the College who submitted outstanding writing from their courses; Professor Peter Fikaris, whose communication design students created an array of inventive cover art; and John Gregorios, whose psychedelic inspiration graces this volume’s cover. I'd also like say merci beaucoup to Mary Ann Biehl and Lu Xue, along with students of the Faculty Commons Design Team, who designed posters for City Tech Writer’s call for submissions.

Thanks also to: President Russell Hotzler, Provost Pamela Brown, Dean Justin Vazquez-Poritz, and Shelley Smith in Faculty Commons all of whom provided affirmation and precious resources; English Department office assistant Lily Lam; Department Chair Suzanne Miller, not only in her current capacity as chair, but also in her prior capacity as one of the former editors of this journal; former editors Megan Behrent, and George Guida; and founding editor Professor Jane Mushabac, who created a much-needed platform for City Tech’s outstanding student writers.

Finally, thanks for taking this fantastic voyage with us, dear reader!