For many of us, heat has been front of mind this year. The year started with fires blazing in Australia. Then, our concern shifted to pandemic hot spots, the news brought incendiary politics in focus and now the fires are close to home. As we near the end of this year, here at The Weekender, we decided to shine a spotlight on fire in all of its forms. 

Aliya explored the long history of fire cultivation and management by California’s Indigenous communities and considered why the further we stray from those traditions, the more our state fervently burns. Erin and Courtney were also interested in the response to fires here in California, but they took a more artistic approach by using poetry to try to process the psychological impacts of living through a fire season.

Using fire as a metaphor, Riley looked at the ways many of us are feeling internally burned by this year and how students are coping with burnout as the crises seem to pile up rather than resolve. On a more steamy note, Rochelle turned to the fire of passion in her short story about a whirlwind romance.

From all of us here at The Weekender, stay safe, regardless of what fires you’re facing.