Professor John Yu Branscum and former instructor Yi Izzy Yu served as literary editors and writers for the fall 2026 simulation issue of Black & Grey, an international fashion, literature, and culture magazine.
Spearheaded by editor-in-chief and LA-based photographer Bil Brown, the issue takes simulation theory as its theme: from AI deepfakes and virtual influencers to metaphysical simulations, Baudrillardian simulacra, and media narrativization. It pairs photo editorial collaborations between Brown and Nadya Tolokonnikova of the Russian protest and performance art group Pussy Riot and actress Danielle Pineda (Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop) alongside fiction from New Zealand’s Lee Murray, American Vanessa Fogg, Australians Geneve Flynn and Lauren Daniels, and Canadian Ai Jiang, plus other leading artists and writers from around the world.
Branscum is a professor in the Language, Literature, and Writing Department, and Yu is a graduate of the English Department’s PhD in Composition and Applied Linguistics program.