New arts magazine created by and for APIDA community

Nancy Liu remembers reading “The Joy Luck Club” by Amy Tan for the first time in high school. For Liu, the book, which depicts the experiences of four Chinese American immigrant families in San Francisco, was the first work written by an Asian author that she had read, and the first that allowed her to read about her parents’ Chinese culture. 

“I grew up here, so it’s kind of hard because I don’t have as much of a connection to China and my parents’ childhoods and their culture growing up,” Liu said. “Reading about other people’s experiences with [Chinese culture] is really cool and really special.” 

When Liu came to USC, she felt like something was missing: a space for Asian Pacific Islander Desi American creators to showcase their talents and connect through shared experiences.

Liu, a junior majoring in public relations, pitched the idea of curating a platform for APIDA-focused content to some of her fellow APIDA creators, and many showed interest in collaborating with her. She recruited the first nine executive board members to kickstart Descent Magazine, USC’s premiere student-run APIDA arts magazine. 

“We’re the first APIDA arts magazine, so we’re trying to tell stories that specifically the APIDA population at USC can relate to, but that can also show other people at USC the different talents of APIDA creators and the depth of the things we can create,” Liu said. “Not everything is like ‘Crazy Rich Asians’ or ‘Bling Empire,’ but we also have more personal stories to tell.”

Launched this spring, Descent Magazine is a space for APIDA creators to share their experiences through artwork, such as photography, film and poetry. The magazine seeks to amplify APIDA voices and create a platform for APIDA creators at USC to display a diversity of artwork, stories and talents.

Liu serves as the director of writing and co-editor in chief of Descent. Outside of spearheading the APIDA arts magazine, Liu works as the digital editor for Palaver, another student-run online arts magazine. Working with Palaver and taking a special topics course called “Journalism for Mobile and Emerging Platforms” taught her the fundamentals of zine-making and gave her the confidence to launch Descent Magazine.

Last month, Descent announced the debut issue’s theme: “Liminal Spaces,” which features artwork that emerges from the people existing in them. The organization described liminal spaces as “the moment of transition from one reality and story to another.”

Long Le, a junior majoring in cinema and media studies, is Descent’s other co-editor in chief, as well as the multimedia and photography director. Le said the vagueness of the theme gives artists endless opportunities to create something meaningful to them.

“For Descent, it’s our first semester and currently we’re in this liminal space of becoming a magazine, making our first issue and hopefully becoming something greater just in general,” Le said.

Steven Gong, a junior majoring in public relations, is the director of web production for Descent. Gong said that he quickly connected to Descent after recognizing its unique emphasis on APIDA artists and their work. 

“I think a lot of Asian Americans grew up kind of distancing themselves with their Asian heritage,” Gong said. “It’s harder for them to really see Asian art as ‘cool’ or even see role models anywhere that are Asian. I feel like this is a really good opportunity to showcase talent that you would see in popular culture or everywhere around you, but it’s art that comes from a place of heritage and culture.”

The organization has planned open mic nights where interested artists can pitch their ideas and receive feedback before the submission deadline. Le said the event’s purpose is to create an inclusive environment where artists and the executive board can collaborate and finetune ideas to fit the issue’s theme.

“Our goal isn’t to weed out people — it’s more to bring people in,” Le said. “We really want to make sure that people feel welcomed to submit their ideas … so the pitch night is a way for people to introduce those ideas and then we can give them feedback on how to better formulate it into our theme.”

While the executive board members are working on completing the magazine’s first issue before its tentative publication in April, Gong said the organization also wants to build a community for APIDA artists and those interested in APIDA art. 

“Everyone at Descent is really passionate about building a community and, more than a community, a legacy that will stay at USC beyond our time here,” Gong said. 

For community building, Le said Descent also created an open Discord server to hold game nights and social events, and for members to gather and talk to one another. The server also includes bots that give users writing sprints, art prompts and challenges. 

“Sometimes there’s just not a really great space for people to share stuff,” Le said. “I think some people can get really nervous about things that they want to share and express about themselves, and so we kind of want to be a safe space for them.”

Descent eventually hopes to expand their zine beyond USC, by featuring and reaching other artists and individuals throughout the broader Los Angeles area or on other university campuses.

“[The magazine] helps show a different side of us and all the different sides that are within the APIDA community because even though we call ourselves ‘the APIDA community,’ there are so many different subgroups,” Liu said. “Art really helps to connect people and to show them all these different things about themselves.”