Poetry and art by Cass Minkus 52 percent of kids In the Canadian foster care system Are Indigenous. Personal interest, princesses with pigtails, Trophies collecting dust. He can’t pronounce my name, He refuses to learn, So instead, he just calls me Indian. Prisoners of a system, That had killed our ancestors before. No longer kept
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Co-constitutive Crises: Analyzing Rationality and Rhetorical Narratives of Agency in British Columbia’s COVID-19 Pandemic and Opioid Epidemic
Essay by Grace Payne Art by Karen Zhang According to data gathered by the Government of Canada, 3,002 deaths occurred in British Columbia from April 12, 2020 through April 4, 2022, as a result of the COVID-19 virus (bc.thrive.health stats). Meanwhile data released by the BC Coroners Service indicates that at least 2,224 individuals died
the grandmother, the mother, and the future wife
Prose by Samhita Shanker Art by Karen Zhang She holds an empty metal tumbler in one hand and a milk pot in the other, carefully pouring steaming coffee back and forth like a pendulum, pulling higher and higher each time. She knows he likes a thick layer of foam at the top and will complain
Futility and Frustration in Kindred
Essay by Colby Payne Art by Aiza Bragg In Octavia Butler’s 1979 novel Kindred, protagonist Dana is drawn suddenly into the past, where she must repeatedly save her slave-owning ancestor Rufus to ensure her future survival. In a 1997 interview, Butler stated that her inspiration for Kindred was an interaction with a member of the
new endings.
Poem by Saffah Ibrahimi Art by Haley Cheng She’s sitting across from me, making paper planes out of old homework sheets. She tells me to join her, delicate fingers pressing against the ink of her last sociology final. Did you know we make our first impressions within one-tenth of a second? Did you know I
What’s In A Name?: How Shakespeare Dramatizes the Mediatic Dynamic in Romeo and Juliet
Essay by Amelia Brooker Art by Haley Cheng European history is no stranger to periods of cultural shifts, but the Renaissance period brought on a shift of the mediatic kind, where tension between traditional orality and new-world literacy was strong and tangible enough to be dramatized on the stage. The stage play was a very
From the Land Beyond the Forest to the Shores of England: The Merging of Science and Superstition in Stoker’s Dracula
Essay by Corey Morell Art by Amy Ng In his quintessential Gothic novel, Bram Stoker takes the reader on a journey from the land beyond the forest to the land of hope and glory, from the unfamiliar to the known, from the old to the new. For the Victorians of the late 19th century, a
Thomas
Prose by Amaruuk Bose Art by Amy Ng We were 15 and stupid and had skipped French class because we’d just learned about the concept of free will. We scraped together pocket change for drinks from 7/11, laughing giddily to ourselves as we paced the tiled floor unsupervised. We could get anything we wanted. We’d
The Crying of the Locust
Poem by Sally Elhennawy Art by Aiza Bragg the hay stalks whistle ‘neath the dunes a weathered tree stands on a hill silence settles on the desert at noon a heavy quiet, hot and still. it seems no life can flourish here, deep within this hollow land, as rock erodes, year after year, and crumbles
nocuous living
Poem by Gurnoor Powar Art by Keeley Sieban A little girl Flying on her toes Digging them into the soft wet dirt As she spins An anchor So that she doesn’t fall The anklets adorning her feet Singing as they rub against her skin Chafing the delicate bone She allows the sun to shine Through
I changed my name Here
Poem by Rehema Ivan Art by Karen Zhang Two names live on my tongue resting, twirling, clashing Both call. Speak one. Swallow the Other. Let her pierce my mouth as I draw lips closed– Let me smile at you, red running down my chin– Let me not cry bringing you and me together; Nor sigh,
Biological-Soliloquies and Ascension to Canadian Canon
Essay by Kishoore Ramanathan Art by Karen Zhang In her contemporary novel Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson employs a unique technique throughout the text in which the narrative voice changes and digresses to discuss biological processes – which I will refer to as biological-soliloquies. Biological-soliloquies are dramatic deviations from the regular voice and narrative style that
an elegy to gold
Poem by Grace Payne Art by Athena Li I met you in the summer heat— forever fated fever dream. still with your love, I turn water to steam slowly you seep into every rivet trailing my lips for a fine sweet minute the most sugary maple tree could never compare to thee such pleasure to
Autonomy in John William Waterhouse’s Interpretation of “The Lady of Shalott”
Essay by Haylee Kopfensteiner Art by Aiza Bragg Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem “The Lady of Shalott” has inspired countless artistic interpretations. One such interpretation is John William Waterhouse’s 1894 painting The Lady of Shalott Looking at Lancelot. While a popular way of reading Tennyson’s poem is to view the Lady of Shalott as a symbol
Love is (unapologetically) love
Sonnet by Sally Elhennawy Art by Luiza Ortiz If I could show the world my love for you,I’d speak my truth a hundred thousand times.My wary heart would start to love anewAnd our passions would constitute no crimes.If our tale of love was acceptable,I’d sweep you away in the city streets;We would no longer be