The value of creativity at Warwick, according to Sequoia Zine

Sequoia Zine was launched as a project to showcase East Asian and Southeast Asian creatives. Founded by Marguerite Pan, the project started with a small group of creative Warwick students and an Instagram page. Since Sequoia began in January 2024, they have created an incredible online zine, putting together a large executive team that has run workshops and photoshoots.  

Sequoia provides a creative escape from academia

 The first edition of the Sequoia Zine included submissions such as song lyrics, paintings, and poems, which were then carefully curated into a magazine using Canva. To launch and celebrate the magazine, Sequoia Zine hosted a party which included a workshop run by Malaysian actress and writer Vera Chok. Marguerite described the launch party as a “satisfying culmination of everyone’s efforts”. 

Despite university work often occupying most of our time, Marguerite and Sequoia’s President, Kelli Wu, have highlighted the importance of persisting with creative activities. Particularly as Warwick is such a prestigious university, students face a lot of pressure to achieve, so Sequoia provides a creative escape from academia, Marguerite says. As the only East and South-East Asian society on campus, Kelli hopes that Sequoia Zine can promote this heritage and bring people out of their shells.  

Sequoia hopes that in 60 years society will print physical magazines and hold creative events with more variety

Sequoia hopes that in 60 years society will print physical magazines and hold creative events with more variety. It will be a well-known society, so that when new students arrive, they can immediately turn to Sequoia and find comfort amongst other creatives. Regardless of what you study or how imaginative you think you are, creativity is so valuable at Warwick, serving as an outlet to express yourself and collaborate with friends, Kelli says. 

Sequoia plans for more events and another magazine edition, so keep your eyes peeled for new announcements!