'The appeal of the random, the accidental, the chance, the unpredictable, except in the case of breakfast, is surely essential and needed for a life to be alive. Patterns can be found later.'

So writes Stephanie Radok in the new issue of HEAT, in an essay about gardening, art making and the poet Rainer Maria Rilke. Chance encounters also occur in our pages: between Nelle Janaczewska's dramatic appreciation of cheese and art; Jenny Erpenbeck on things that disappear; two deceptively simple stories about friendship by Oliver Driscoll; Mary Jean Chan's lucid verses of self-expression; an uncanny story by Katharina Volckmer; and Kate Middleton's biting poems about watching television.

Across poetry and prose, the seven contributors to HEAT Series 3 Number 5 share unique, often dreamlike, perspectives on appetites, art and nature.