The aim of The Torch is to build a creative community that amplifies young voices and perspectives and brings people together through the power of art and writing. Creativity is an act of bravery, of honesty, of vulnerability, and of resistance—all things we need right now, perhaps more than ever. Our Spring 2025 issue offers an unflinching look at our current reality, and our contributors do not back away from topics that are difficult or uncomfortable; they run toward them. The result is a beautiful and gritty volume that tells us the whole truth. 

This issue of The Torch is particularly special, as it contains the work of our inaugural contest winners, our invited contributors, and students from BSU, Prince George's County high schools, and beyond. This issue shuttles us through kingdoms and nightclubs, cityscapes and dreamscapes and dystopian hellscapes, and it does so with elegance and eloquence and brutal honesty.