This premiere issue of LONTAR presents speculative writing from and about the Philippines, Malaysia, Cambodia, Singapore, Laos, and Vietnam. Inside these pages, you’ll find: a young Laotian journalist’s place in the sensationalist future of news reporting from award-winner Paolo Bacigalupi; a post-apocalyptic Manila from Kate Osias; a utopian Kuala Lumpur from Zen Cho; a haunting military excursion down the Yellow River from Elka Ray Nguyen; speculative poetry from Chris Mooney-Singh, Ang Si Min, and Bryan Thao Worra; and an unusual exploration of Philippine magic systems from Paolo Chikiamco.