A celebration of East and Southeast Asian creatives: Marguerite Pan’s triumphant creation of Sequoia Zine

14 June was a regular term three weekday, but the Ramphal Building was busier than anywhere else on campus. Over 40 student creatives gathered to celebrate the launch of Sequoia Zine, the first magazine featuring East and Southeast Asian creatives at the University of Warwick. The day was packed with panels, performances, and workshops about different forms of art, ranging from photography to poetry, and finished with a moving final keynote when Marguerite Pan, the magazine’s founder, received a bouquet from her team.  

“That was really sweet of them … each of them is so special and unique,” Pan recalled.

Once discouraged from pursuing her creative dream, she created the magazine as a ‘safe space’ for East and Southeast Asian talents to express themselves

Pan is a second-year English and History student at Warwick. While she always describes the magazine as a “passion project”, her passion for art blossomed nearly 14 years ago. After she joined an after-school drama club aged six, she started to love acting and wanted to be an actor. Yet, one of her family members said she should not pursue that dream because it was not a stable career. 

“So I kind of repressed that ambition, but my love for creative things never went away,” Pan recalled.

“In my second year (at university), I realised: wow, I haven’t stopped loving music and film. Why don’t I make something out of this passion and pursue this passion project of creating a magazine to showcase the works of creatives at Warwick?”

Once discouraged from pursuing her creative dream, she created the magazine as a “safe space” for East and Southeast Asian talents to express themselves. She observed that most creatives in the community, especially those whose parents are immigrants, have been disheartened like her: “Our parents came to this new country to start a new life and make a better life for their children (aka our generation). Creative careers are not the most financially stable. Our parents have sacrificed so much that they want us to have an easier life than they did. Hence, they want us to pursue something financially stable, like a conventional office job.”

‘At Sequoia Zine, I want you to feel able to pursue your creative interests,’ Pan firmly said.

Pan also found that East and Southeast Asian creatives were all a bit isolated working in their “little bubble”. Thus, she hopes to “make a bigger bubble”, and a supportive network where creatives can share their work and get inspired by one another.

Sequoia Zine showcases photography, films, painting, music, prose writing, poetry, and content creation, making it the most multi-media magazine at Warwick

Then, she formed a founding team of four, comprising of herself, Sin Heng Chan (Content Strategist), Ying Qi (Creative Director) and Georgie James (Content Creator and Editor). Promoted on Instagram, the team was expanded to eight. 

In February, they opened the submission of artwork. To encourage submission, they put up a poll on an Instagram story asking what stopped people from submitting their work. After followers chose between being too busy, not creative enough, or having nothing to submit, Pan replied to them privately with a solution. For example, a responder said he thought he was not creative,  although he had directed a short film before. Pan reassured him that the film was definitely worthy of being in a magazine.  

At last, 20 students submitted their artwork. Sequoia Zine showcases photography, films, painting, music, prose writing, poetry, and content creation, making it the most multi-media magazine at Warwick. 

Pan believes that the diversity of submissions helps reduce fellow students’ insecurities over their lack of creativity. She explained: “It is important to bring different people together to show that creativity can take many forms.”

The editorial team and contributors met in person for the first time during a photo shoot in March. Linh Duong, the photographer and an editor, took aesthetic photos for everyone in a studio in Westwood. They could bring any props and pick any backdrop pictures to represent their styles. “It was a wholesome moment,” Pan said. 

After months of planning and editing, the magazine was launched on 14 June. The team prepared a full day of events to celebrate the launch. Guest speakers were invited to share their creative journey, and contributors delivered workshops and panel discussions. Saarah Ly Ahmed, whose poem about the beauty and uneasiness of interraciality has been published in the magazine, hosted a poetry workshop. She asked participants to write a poem in 10 minutes. Everyone said they were not poets before reading their pieces out loud, but their poems were all rejuvenating. They were about identity struggles, politics, and the lovely anxiety of growing up.

The key goal of the magazine, creating a supportive network for East and Southeast Asian artists to inspire one another, was achieved

Ly Ahmed said she wanted to show that everyone, regardless of their educational background, is a poet. “Every poet writes a poem for the first time. Everyone is a poet in their own way.” she added: “In the workshop, I really liked how everyone made a poem that was really personal.”

She believes that Sequoia Zine is important to the art community as people seldom associate the pride of creativity with the likes of scientific skills. “I think Sequoia Zine will blossom because people need this community and it enhances people’s confidence. It pushes people from non-creative to creative, and from creative to more creative, and to be proud of it.”

Everyone met new friends, and more importantly, learnt more about art and their potential from the launch party. The key goal of the magazine, creating a supportive network for East and Southeast Asian artists to inspire one another, was achieved.

The digital page-turning sound accompanies you to appreciate the ‘community’ of East and Southeast Asian student creatives, which reflects on their complex identity and applauds the power of love and originality in countless different ways

The launch party was a huge success, but it was originally a bitter decision. After months of finding funding for the printed edition, a potential sponsor changed its mind and did not sign the contract. The team wanted to compensate for the absence of a physical magazine, so they organised interactive workshops and talks to engage more students. 

“I think it turned out for the best. I think it was the best thing I could have done for sure. It makes Sequoia Zine more than just a magazine, but also a society where people are actually interacting with each other, not just reading papers. It is exactly like a community,’ Pan said.

You can now read the magazine online. The digital page-turning sound accompanies you to appreciate the “community” of East and Southeast Asian student creatives, which reflects on their complex identity and applauds the power of love and originality in countless different ways. As Pan describes, everyone understands each other, but nobody is the same.   

Her passion project will not stop here. Pan hopes that, with more events and attention, the magazine can attract more submissions and of course, get a paper edition. Personally, she wants to compose her own music. Pan is inspired by La La Land, her favourite movie, and Toni, one of the contributors, whose new EP will be out soon.

“Everyone is creative, and they need the right environment to let it out,” she concluded, slowly sipping her Maltesers hot chocolate.