Masthead

Jeanne Polochansky

Diana Vink (she/they) is a fourth-year student at Victoria College, an avid poet, and occasional short story writer. Between her study breaks trying to finish her degree and her work for multiple on-campus literary journals, Di is always looking for eclectic new items to add to her wardrobe, with her most recent purchase being hot pink Croc heels.

Druphadi Sen (she/her) is a third-year student at the University of Toronto, majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology, with a double-minor in Immunology and English. An enthusiastic art and literature lover, her photography has been showcased in the UC Review. She serves as the Politics Editor for the UC Gargoyle and has written for the Varsity newspaper. Most mornings, you can find her at Cafe Diplomatico, taking too long to finish a cup of coffee.

F. M. Kalia (she/her) is a first-year Humanities undergraduate looking to double major in English and a mysterious second program. When she is not freaking out about school, she is listening to dad rock and spending too much money at the thrift store. Her favourite book is Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier, but you already know that since she will not shut up about it. Nonetheless, she is a writer of great fortune— that being her vast collection of partially written-in notebooks and coloured pens.

Amélie Kolnik is a second-year student at Victoria College studying English, History and Anthropology. Some of Amelie’s favorite things are lyric poetry about nature, Rachmaninoff’s piano concertos and strong black tea. 

Eunsae Lee is a humanities student who loves poetry and a bowl of good soup. Her playlists are mostly just Matt Maltese songs.

Caitlin Mah is a third-year Political Science and Literature & Critical Theory student. Her work has appeared in The Walrus, Trinity Review, and more. She is the 2023 winner of the Goodison-Chamberlin Poetry Prize and the 2022 short story category winner of the Amazon First Novel Award. In her spare time, Caitlin enjoys almond croissants, visiting the cat at Seekers Books, and doomscrolling Facebook Marketplace.

Olive Scott (she/her) is a student of English Literature. When she is not trying to attract the neighbour’s cats by pspsps-ing, you can find her curled up in bed writing poems. 

Jun Ying Wen was born in southern China and is currently a student of English and Peace, Conflict, and Justice at Victoria College. Her poems can be found in Acta Victoriana, The Trinity Review, and elsewhere.

Maria Paula Vidal Valdespino finds great pleasure in using textures and bright colours in her multimedia practices. As well as smiling at cliche poetry and shades of pink. Oh, and she’s a MI student too!

Lila Carr

Gene Case (they/them) is a third year student at Trinity College, majoring in English and Literature & Critical Theory, with a minor in Linguistics. Their writing has appeared in Plenitude Magazine, Blank Spaces, and Jelly Bucket. This year, they are also serving as co-editor-in-chief for The Trinity Review. 

Asena Firouzi is a student of Near and Middle Eastern Studies, serving as both President and Editor-in-Chief of the department’s student union and journal. She is deeply committed to supporting the student body and advancing academic publications. Her research interests span Islamic governance, culture, and the evolving dynamics between Muslim and non-Muslim relations. With a passion for scholarly exploration of the Near East, her previous publications have covered topics such as medical practices, gender and sexuality, and the management of religious diversity.

Felix Hughes is a second year student studying History and Political Science. He is mainly focused on writing about politics and film and hopes to be able to entwine them when possible. 

Sharmeen Imran

J. Lee is an undergraduate student at the University of Toronto. She is also a member of the Varsity as a volunteer copy-editor. With a passion for literature and history, her interests range from Early Medieval British literature to modern Korean poetry to South Asian religious texts. She enjoys visiting libraries and birdwatching in her free time. 

Manuela Mora Castillo (she/her) is a fourth-year undergraduate student in Political Science and History. Whenever she is not rushing to finish a strongly worded essay or adding a new topic to her academic research, she keeps updating her short story collection, hoping that these will remain forever unpublished. 

Elisa Penha (she/her) is a second year student studying Classics, Celtic Studies, and Renaissance Studies. She has a passion for fairytales, folklore, and anything with wings. In her free time, find her wishing she’d attended Warped Tour 2005 or learning a (probably dead) language.

Kiana Sarmadi

Shivantika Shegar (she/her) is a first-year student at Victoria College who plans to major in Physics, with a minor in English or Philosophy. She’s an avid fan of black holes, music by Florence + The Machine, and satirical poetry. She likes to dabble in all forms of literature, whether it might be papers on astrophysics research or stories about South Asian mythology.

Cleo Sood

Ariel Wang

Allison Zhao lives and studies in Toronto. She loves reviewing books, always appreciates cafe recommendations, and probably has a pen you can borrow.