


Madi Duncan & Amateur Hour
We were blessed to have Madi Duncan & Amateur Hour stop by our office to play us a few of their groovy tunes. Timestamps 0:08 – Another Day Alone, Except 4:09 – Tall, Dark, And Grusome 7:03 – Venetian Red Check out Madi here: https://linktr.ee/madijduncan From madiduncan.com: “Having shared the stage with Foo Fighters, Dave … Continued

Memoir of a Desperate Fishwife
“Sharing parenting tips with the other moms while our babies crawled in our laps and put sand in their mouths. The older kids would lift up rocks to find tiny crabs or chase each other half-naked through the warm, shallow waters. I had found a community and it was incomparable.” — Margot Fedoruk, Cooking Tips … Continued

Dear Mom and Dad, I Want to Be a Writer
At four years old, I was asked what I wanted to be when I grew up. I was in kindergarten—barely able to leave my mom’s side for five minutes without crying. But somehow, they wanted me to choose what I wanted to do for the rest of my life? I dressed up as a cop … Continued

Portal’s Portfolio Spotlight Series
Portal hosts its first poetry night of 2022 with Charlie Petch and student readers Tammi Carto, Bella Hoodle, and Jack Corfield (14:38). Jack also interviews Bella and Tammi after the readings! Charlie Petch – (2:17) Tammi Carto – (9:36) Bella Hoodle – (13:02) Jack Corfield – (14:38) Interviews – (16:53)

Enter the Urchin Tank
VIU’s Culinary Arts students, Microbiology students, and three Urchins walk into Malaspina Theatre. No, this isn’t the start of a bad joke. It’s a look at the first-ever Urchin Tank event that took place on Wednesday evening, November 23 on VIU’s Nanaimo campus. The Urchin Tank is the grand finale of the Seaweed Challenge, a … Continued

What Makes a Poet?
A gathering of students listens attentively inside the student lounge in building 355 on VIU’s Nanaimo campus, myself among them. Though a cold rain pelts the windowpanes, it’s warm and comfortable inside the blue-walled lounge. Some students occasionally write in notebooks, while others keep their hands in their laps, fully focused on the words of … Continued

The Navigator Sessions
Nanaimo’s very own Andrew Butler of Antler stopped by the Nav office to play us a few tunes and chat about the Nanaimo music scene. Stay tuned for future episodes of The Navigator Sessions where we will be highlighting the very best musical acts that the mid-island scene has to offer! 0:00 – Intro 0:10 … Continued

Beats Beyond Borders
October is a rough month with midterms, assignments, and cool weather kicking in. Luckily for students, there’s a new event this year: Beats Beyond Borders, organized by Cultural Connections. And it’s all about electronic dance music (EDM)! The Beats Beyond Borders Global Electronic Music Festival is a free-admission concert on Thursday, Oct 20 in the … Continued

Leave a Light on for Malaspina Theatre’s Friendly Ghost
The lights turn on. The stage is set. Actors take their place, and the story unfolds. The crowd stands and applause echoes off the theatre’s old walls. The curtains close and I watch as lines of people form, one by one stepping out the doors. I stay behind and wait. No one comes to tell … Continued

Bicycle Film Festival Nanaimo
Do you like cycling? How about film? If you said yes to either, then the Bicycle Film Festival (BFF) is for you. The festival is stopping at VIU’s Nanaimo campus this Saturday, October 1 with evening screenings in Malaspina Theatre. The BFF started in New York in 2001. It’s been to over 100 cities worldwide, … Continued

Hone Your Craft with the VIU Creative Writing Association
Do you enjoy writing fiction, non-fiction, poetry, scripts, or academic essays? Maybe you don’t like writing as much but you love correcting grammar and sentence structure. If any of the above apply to you, VIU’s Creative Writing Association (VCWA) would love to have you. Commonly known as “CREW Club,” VCWA is a weekly meeting run … Continued

The Trials and Tribulations of a Bookworm
I’ve been banned. From getting new books. By me. Why, you might ask? Because I suffer from the age-old problem of readers the world over: too many unread books. I put books on hold at the library. I pick them up. I see interesting options in the ‘New Titles’ and display areas; a few end … Continued

Where Does Creativity Hide?
How do we find our creativity? Inspiration can seem like a skittish adopted cat coming into our home for the first time. As badly as we want to go to it and let it know we’re a friend, it darts away under the couch or the bed every time we get near. No amount of … Continued