I’ve grown up consuming and tinkering with words and stories, both inherited and invented, in more forms than I can count: as a fantasy reader, a student journalist, and now as a poet, writer, and researcher. Looking back, I see now that a common throughline here is the premise and fundamental belief that our personal narratives and lived experiences can tell us something meaningful, important, and often undervalued about the systems and societies in which we live. Across my engagements in urban planning, public health, and social and behavioral sciences, this lens of storytelling is a compass and north star for my work. Arguably, nowhere is this more important now than in tackling the global climate crisis, and what it tells us about the way we relate to each other as individuals and community members. In line with this, a central focus in my piece, “Letters on Care,” was situating these phenomena in the context of one family’s arc of global migration. Through the format of letters written between two sisters, separated across time and space, we see how their work uses art and policy/organizing as mediums for care.

Cindy J. Xie is a researcher, writer, and facilitator who recently graduated with her master’s degree from the MIT Department of Urban Studies & Planning. Her academic and creative work draws upon narrative practices to explore the intersection of environment, health, and community well-being. Her poems have been featured in outlets such as Sine Theta Magazine, Anthroposphere, and the City of Boston’s Mayor’s Poetry Program.