That's What [We] Said is a collective that seeks to deconstruct stereotypes, assumptions, and boundaries about gender, women, biology, bodies, race, sexuality, geography, religion, nationality, identity, and everything in between. We acknowledge and draw attention to the unceded Syilx Okanagan territories that we write and publish from. Follow us on Instagram here.
The University of British Columbia Gender and Women's Studies Department
This reflective essay was written to challenge the idea that theory is only used in academic contexts — something I found to be prevalent in my undergraduate education. By asking “What if...?” and drawing on thinkers such as Audre Lorde, bell hooks, and Donna Haraway, I recontextualize my experiences with theory as something lived rather than abstract. Shaped by my own experiences with and beyond academia, this essay explores theory as a tool for making sense of power, positionality, and possibility.
Copyright (c) 2026 Grace Fox http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Double-Edged Tuxedo: Anthropomorphism, Censorship, and the Queer History of Penguins
This paper highlights the historical shifts of penguin sexuality in common knowledge since 1911. While written through a historical lens, this piece integrates sources from scholars of political science, psychology, gender and women studies, and more. It endeavours to demonstrate an answer to the question: What if we have always known penguins are queer?
Copyright (c) 2026 Elena Marchesan http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
My ideas around factory farming stem from a dire need to see change in how we treat farm animals and our bodies, a perspective first inspired by readings in ENGL 150. This project imagines a world where individuals can consume animal products in more ethical ways and draws from Indigenous and Queer teachings that centre community and resistance. My intention with this piece is to shift cynical views on the industrialization of farming, to ones of radical hope by including real changes our communities can make.
Copyright (c) 2026 Charlene Benipal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This piece aims to demonstrate the importance of community and radical care, while challenging the dominant perception that needing help makes someone a failure or burden. What if in reaching out for help, you're actually helping someone else? What would our world be like if interdependence was encouraged instead of shamed?
Copyright (c) 2026 Claudia O'Brien http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Understanding Kinship as a Story of Becoming
In this article, Adebayo expertly weaves together powerful theory with personal identity, experience, and ancestry. With care and in rich detail, they draw from Yorùbá mythologies, storytelling, and connections to the land to explore their own kinship relations, stories of becoming, and boundless capacity to dream as a queer African person living in Canada.
Copyright (c) 2026 Timi Adebayo http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
My goal was to depict this eternally unanswered question of where and who I would be had I not moved to another country, starting my life from zero at thirteen. Immigration creates a sense of being in between spaces, longing for home but worrying you will no longer fit in there since moving away. It addresses the theme by speaking to the possibilities of not being split into a before and after version of yourself. I wanted to share what I think it would be like, a romanticisation of sorts of what I could muster of a home that I have grown so distant from, even when I hold it so close to my heart.
Copyright (c) 2026 Rafaela Aigner De Oliveira http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Liberation is Here: The Black Radical Dreams of Kelowna, BC
In this essay, I explore the transformation of despair to joy and action. Using an Afrosurrealist lens, I present the Black radical dreams I have witnessed in myself and in the activism, poetry and art of people here, in Kelowna BC. Drawing on concepts like “freedom dreams,” “poetry as survival”, and “all organizing is science fiction,” my aim is to provide a grounded analysis into our tangible dreams of liberation. My two interviewees, interviewees’ Kelp and Baobab, are dear friends and comrades who participated in oral interviews for this paper. As such, they are co-creators of this work.
Marginalia: Graffiti and Other “Unwanted” Public Markings as Social Commentary
Graffiti and other “unwanted” markings, such as bird droppings and leaf litter stains, either go ignored and unnoticed, or are considered dirty, ugly, and a form of vandalism. They fade into the background and are pushed into the margins of society. But what if we saw them as significant actors in social and political commentary? Through this essay, I aim to humanize these “unwanted” markings by imagining them as marginalia. I argue that they are potent forms of resistance, relationality, and radical ephemerality, as they are not just scribbles or stains; rather, they are notes from marginalized voices in our community. After reading this, I hope you take the time to notice these “unwanted” markings in your everyday life and listen to what they are trying to say.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ally Shorter http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This work was created for a creative writing/gender studies class I had. We learned about this type of writing called autotheory, and I thought it was so cool. It’s a mashup of theory and life writing; I like making connections like that. This piece explores what forgiveness has looked like for me and the struggles I’ve had with it. I put these struggles into context with a historical play, psychological papers, and more. This piece really gets at what forgiveness is and what it looks like. Perhaps answering the question “what if … forgiveness is possible.”
Copyright (c) 2026 Makenna Clark http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
What If Women in Video Games Were Well Written?: A 'Dispatch' Essay
This essay was written to bring into consideration the female characters in video games. It came from the intersection of myself that loves gaming and seeing well written female characters that I felt represented by. This dream of mine is difficult, because the gaming industry is still dominated by men. As a consequence of this, the male gaze is prioritized in the creation of video games as the core audience. As a female player, it’s alienating and frustrating to experience because I know that these stories feed into the tropes that reflect on women in the real world with serious consequences. Dispatch, being such a well received game and something I was passionate about became the center of this essay: what if female characters in video games were written well and separated from the male gaze?
Copyright (c) 2026 Leahna Afseth http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
WHAT IF... We had a sports culture that wasn't weighed down by its history of misogyny, racism and homophobia? What if we could enjoy the oldest form of entertainment unabashedly, without caveats or purposeful ignorance? What if it didn't suck to be a Vancouver sports fan? The PWHL's newest expansion team has a vision of that world. Since writing this piece, the hit show, Heated Rivalry, and the women's hockey teams of Canada and America's performance during the Olympics has introduced a whole new audience to hockey and the American men's hockey team political actions has introduced that audience to the pain of being a progressive hockey fan and has taught us that just because we have a glimpse of a better world doesn't mean we live in it.
Copyright (c) 2026 C.C. White http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
To Love and Be Loved is To Know and Be Known: A Gendered Balancing Act
The meaning of this work is to explore the lived experiences of love in today's world. Why do we love and how do we prefer it? This is different for everyone, but given your childhood experiences, early bonds, and the health of your prior friendships and relationships, we can see that how people want to be loved is vast. So, what if we can help each other to understand our different methods of love and modes of care? What if we can learn to adapt to each other's preferences to create healthier relationships and provide our partner's/ friends/colleagues with meaningful care? What if we can unlearn maladaptive conditioned methods of showing love and take on healthy and fulfilling strategies instead?
Copyright (c) 2026 Tatiana Tompkins http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Gender Isn’t Real ‘Cause Shakespeare Said So: A Queer Feminist-informed Reading of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 20
Shakespeare once famously said “All the world’s a stage / And all the men and women merely players.” As someone intimately aware of how our lives are performative, Shakespeare likely had a heightened understanding of the performative nature of gender. One of his queerest sonnets, Sonnet 20, plays with the constructs of gender as the sonnet’s subject’s gender remains unclear. Using Judith Butler’s theory on gender performativity, in dialogue with Colby Gordon’s theory of trans technogenesis, my essay asks: what if Shakespeare was a gender theorist? What if the Early Modernists understood gender as a performance long before we did? What if gender wasn’t real, all because Shakespeare said so?
Copyright (c) 2026 Nimrat Kaur Dhaliwal http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
After Dark: Unfolding Queer Nightlife in Kelowna
After Dark: Unfolding Queer Nightlife in Kelowna is a mapping project that has reimagined queer nightlife in Kelowna as a relational and embodied experience rather than specifically locational. This work moves beyond simple analysis to draw on queer geographic theory to examine how Kelowna's nightlife has developed alongside exclusion, negotiation and partial visibility. This project unfolds queer nightlife across time, tracing its movements from underground and hidden spaces to more visible forms. It understands queer spaces as produced through spatial relations that shape exclusion and belonging. This map highlights the ways in which access remains uneven and so often privileges able-bodiedness and cisnormativity. Incorporating my personal reflections, this paper examines positions mapping as a reflexive and feminist practice that helps to highlight what is both visible and overlooked. Through decolonial practices and perspectives, I recognize that queer mapping occurs on colonized lands that are still in conflict with ongoing power structures. Overall, this project aims to display both the critique and possibility of queer mapping, tracing how nightlife in this city has continued to unfold with the potential of a future with more inclusive power structures.
Through hand-pulled ultraviolet screen prints, I explore themes of connection, home, and queer joy as resistance. At Last addresses persisting queer love and interpersonal connection across temporal and spatial barriers, using soft, nostalgic tones and values and an airplane as a symbol for distance. Through its size, my print demands attention in a gallery setting, hence forcing the heterosexual majority to face the reality and resilience of real queer love.
Copyright (c) 2026 Ains Reid http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
I was intrigued by the question, “What if I give this a go?” I really wanted to strive away from a world of perfection and tell my story of resistance in a past relationship. Overwatered, focuses on the positive outcome of struggles because there is always growth even if you don’t believe it, and I decided to believe in myself.
Copyright (c) 2026 Levi Knorr http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Hope in Oil Pastels was born from a moment. Last summer, my partner and I sat on a bench overlooking Kelowna as the sun slipped down the sky. I had spent so long feeling engulfed by the chaos of life and the world, but in this moment, it felt so far away—somewhere over the distant hills. I realize that it is a privilege to do this, to separate myself from it, even if it is just for a moment. Many people cannot do this. A family of deer settled in around us, so close. The only way we could measure time was through their movements. Otherwise, time did not exist. In this moment, I knew the world was fucked, but I could see a sliver of golden hope on the horizon—my partner. Being with them in this liminal space allowed my body and heart to breathe again. As I looked between the sunset, the deer, and them, I found myself wondering: what if everything is going to be okay?
This piece represents the contradictory feelings that come along with “growing up”. We are always told that we need to live up to some version of ourselves or expectations for our lives. I wanted to play with what it means to grow up and the directions and sensations we attribute to it. It struck me that life is more akin to a downward direction because it refers to depth and a sense of not being able to turn back or “unknow”. I flipped it on its head at the end by making it almost a circular experience compounded on itself, more than it is a slow doomed descent or upwards evolution. This poem relates to the theme, because of the ending. Maybe we are not so stuck on the path. What if we are always in a process of learning, a process of returning?
Copyright (c) 2026 Makenna Toteda http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Moment in the Sun captures the mind of an aging cow released from a factory farming operation. The question antagonizing this piece is “What if factory farming was banned completely in North America?”, with influencing ideas from the question “What if farm animal consciousness was no longer doubted, giving these species the same rights as common household pets?” Through the implied perspective of a cow, the piece affirms the idea that cows are able to think and feel, to suffer, grieve and hope just as we are as humans. The inability of cows to explain to us that they have rich and meaningful lives should not be evidence used to exploit them under our harmful Western capitalist systems.
Copyright (c) 2026 Charlotte Perry http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
The Importance of Listening to People Who Cannot Speak
I come from a very tight-knit family, my Aunties (Lylah and Jolyn) have always been extremely involved in my life. In fact, my middle name (Jolah) is a combination of their two names. I have had the privilege of witnessing what they are capable of and all the barriers they have overcome. They have always been an inspiration for me, and I am so grateful for the opportunity to share their story. I did this project for a GWST class in 2025 and thought it fit well into the theme of “what if”. What if we actually listened to people with disabilities and took their concerns into consideration? Imagine how much could be accomplished if people stopped making assumptions, stopped underestimating, and actively fought alongside them. My aunties are a testament to what can be accomplished when people listen and advocate for disabled people. I chose to include personal photos of my aunties and family to demonstrate not only my love for them but also to show how involved they were in my life and how capable they surely are.
Copyright (c) 2026 Hailyn Willett http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
What if we let go of traditional expectations, and instead, let ourselves love the person we are with?
Copyright (c) 2026 Henry Le http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
"Grandpa Is a Green Grape Tree" works to invoke a sense of nostalgia for brighter, more green, lush, and gentler, slower days. Days before heartbreak, injustice, and a general sense of chaos and doom. It is also my exploring of what is left behind and how those who have "left us behind" really are still with us and in incredibly unique and personal ways. Beginning as an Ode for my Dad's Dad, then transforming into something else entirely, like the green grape tree, what if we could slow down and shape our days into ones full of love, health, greenery, and hand-made.
Copyright (c) 2026 Anna Coulman http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This piece bears tribute to the long legacy of matriarchs, knowledge holders and elders in my family. I called my maternal grandma Nana, a common title for elders, my whole life. Though I knew her in old age when she was mostly confined to her room, I imagined a younger her. Drawing on a cultural legacy of weaving, "NANA" reflects on the passing of my grandmother and the formative lessons it taught me. It questions inheritance and fate, not as things gently passed down but as stories constructed and worn. It calls on the prophetic language of colour, asking whether beauty, craft and tradition can reconcile the harm that they often impose. Ultimately, Nana reflects on what it means to carry forth a bold and brave legacy.
Copyright (c) 2026 E.J. Sunkwa-Mills http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
ABIKE and ALL SHE WAS DESTINED TO INHERIT
"ABIKE and ALL SHE WAS DESTINED TO INHERIT" is a performance of memory, presence and destiny. Set in the past, future and present, Abike remembers the abundance promised to her, she remembers all the ways the wisdom of the land was embedded within her and discovers that distance from the land does not diminish that wisdom, but is a part of her density of abundance.
Reflections on Colonialism and the Wealth Gap
This collage is focused on the juxtaposition of colonial wealth alongside those who have been exploited to produce and maintain that wealth. The imagery of many eyes represents both the oppressive surveillance exacted by the ruling class, and the reciprocal gaze of the witnesses to colonial oppression which observe, experience, and locate injustice, systemically. The top corners each have one half of the British monarch's crown, which is a symbol of theft, ownership, power, and also the disconnect between the privileged ultra-wealthy and the hands which labour to produce that wealth. The blue door, slightly ajar, is the path towards reconciliation, returning the land to Indigenous stewardship, and the deconstruction of colonial hierarchies. That is the “what if?” of this collage. What if we could open that door and take a stand? What if we broke the pattern? What would happen if we resisted? What power do they hold over us once you strip away the crowns and jewels, to reveal the fragile institution beneath it?
Copyright (c) 2026 Lars V http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Madame Pele Snapped Captain Cook’s Head Off
"Madame Pele Snapped Captain Cook’s Head Off” is a poem that rests in a reality where the islands of Hawai’i were never colonized. The arrival of Captain Cook on the Hawaiian Islands was the start of a brutal colonial history for the kingdom of Hawai’i that is still being experienced today through practices like exploitative tourism and agriculture, so it imagines a world where the goddess of volcanoes and the creator of the islands, Pele, sensed that future in some way and stopped the colonial movement before it could grow.
Copyright (c) 2026 Layla Kutschker http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This work offers an unflinching portrayal of the absolute fear of enslavement. The fetishistic nature in which Black bodies and forms are simultaneously coveted yet scorned is taken to the extreme by dehumanizing the enslaved as their blood. With its archaic contractions and strict emphasis on rhythm, the meter mocks much of the tone of the overwhelmingly White literary canon. Truthfully, this poem is removed from the continuum of my work, in style, diction and meter, but it is a moving piece that poured out of me.
Colonialism, in all its forms, is insidious in that it attempts to tear a people from the land. Forests are part of Ghana’s cultural identity, a living ancestral memory that tells the story of my homeland. In “Motherland”, I was thinking about the way extraction wounds both landscape and community, and how the violence done to one is often reflected in the other. The recitation of “kindling for a flame” speaks to the accumulation of harm through complicity and loss, eventually reaching a tipping point.
This piece is intended to reconcile our relationship with the necessity of death alongside life. The bird depicted is both blooming with growth and physically vulnerable at the same time, to show the link between destruction and creation – and their reliance on each other. It is my hope that the piece addresses the theme of this issue by asking what would happen if we accepted the beauty of death in tandem with life’s ever present charm.
Copyright (c) 2026 Mattea Fazio http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This work is just one iteration of the larger disorientation project at UBCO. In February and March 2025, my friend Timi Adebayo and I co-created campus disorientation tours where we highlighted hidden histories of the UBCO campus, with a particular focus on the role of student activism. This zine is an extremely condensed version of the tours and is mostly intended as a jumping-off point for people who are interested to learn more. Hopefully you get inspired to become an activist yourself. Please take a look at the disorientation tours resource package to learn more! I chose to put these ideas into a zine because zines are easy to create and reproduce, they can be distributed in both official (like this journal) and unofficial ways (shh... i won't tell), and because they can be a tool for cultivating public memory. Essentially, this zine is asking: what if we knew about how student power has shaped and continues to shape this campus? What if we refused to let colonial institutions like UBC take credit for our activism? What if we learned from our predecessors about how to build and sustain movements? What possibilities would open up if we became disoriented?
Copyright (c) 2026 Neela Rader http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This poem explores how people learn to live with violence by quietly absorbing it into their bodies and daily routines. It reflects on the ways silence can feel necessary for survival, especially when navigating identity, safety, and belonging. In response to the theme “WHAT IF...,” the poem wonders what might happen if we allowed ourselves to pause, to feel what we have been taught to ignore, and to choose presence instead of disappearance. Rather than imagining utopia as something distant or perfect, it sees it in small, intentional acts such as speaking, acknowledging harm, and staying. At its core, the poem holds onto the possibility that even the smallest choice to not vanish can matter.
Copyright (c) 2026 Anshika Kalra http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This poem speaks to leaving someone meaningful behind. I like to explore how ordinary objects and domestic moments can hold complicated feelings and the quiet aftermath of our relationships. Our choices can linger, and thematically, this is expressed through the haunting imagery.
Copyright (c) 2026 Barha Kainth http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
My piece concerns itself with the gendered gap in the research of birth control and specifically its symptoms. It was inspired by clinical trials of a symptomless birth control for men being developed in the United States. This comes after decades of women being subjected to harsh symptoms of birth control such as pain, cramping, dizziness, soreness, nausea, headaches, irritability, and in extreme cases, blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks; all the while being belittled by doctors when they try to seek remedies for their ailments. I’d like to bring awareness to the list of instructions, warnings, and symptoms that women receive with every single form of birth control they may use. In a state of artistic anger, these rebellions were created. The materials used are alcohol markers on a birth control symptom sheet.
Copyright (c) 2026 Abby Losey http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
When I had learned about the theme of “What If,” I never had to sit down and think about what I should write. I knew exactly which piece would fit this theme—“Molly.” I had written "Molly" after attending Ken’s King Night (now called Kings and Things) at Friends of Dorothy (now called The Unicorn Lounge). The host, Mackenzie Shaw (also known as the drag king, Ken Don’t Cry) had debuted some poetry from their MFA. Later that night, I found myself wondering about the very real details that are woven into this poem. What else can I say? Voila, “Molly” was born.
Copyright (c) 2026 Jake Yule http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
On my desk there’s a picture of myself at five or six years old, walking through a park in deep autumn. I’m dressed in a deep blue sweater while my dad in a faded green vest walks beside me. Taking the interpretation of “What if…” through a nostalgic reminiscence, the poem is an envisioned conversation of what if I could talk to my past self. If I could communicate with my younger self, I would warn them of the hardships in life ahead and remind him that things will one day be alright.
Copyright (c) 2026 Aidan Donovan http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This “What If…” piece was inspired by thoughts and memories of life late in high school. Both speaking characters are two reflections and halves of my younger self, trying to make sense of a world where I felt aimless. The “What If…” is pondering on how my life might have gone if I had decided to follow the path and fate of the pessimistic and hopeless character.
Transformation begins with art, with dreaming, with the dreamers. "I, the Human" is my exploration of what if humanity rose up against the abusive use of AI and found unity, strength, and community through art in the form of song. What if we could resist megacorporations and rebuild a better, healthier, world. Dethrone anthropocentrism. We owe the Earth and each other as much.
The primary inspiration of my work is nature. The primordial, shifting forces that drive us, cling to us and compress us. Society and civilization are futile attempts to quell the forces we can never conquer and often can barely even explain. Creature explores a fossilization of the end of society. It journeys through the stages of a body: reflecting on a time of conformity, enduring a metamorphosis and envisioning a persistent legacy. As mind moves through time, the material self degrades into increasingly natural elements: brick turns to rock turns to clay.
This poem is meant to encapsulate a feeling I experienced for the first time last summer when I was at the cusp of my coming of age and suddenly arriving in a new space. I would ask questions and I would get answers back. I made things, I pursued my desires, I felt very deeply. I had expected the feeling to die down when the winter came around, but miraculously, it stayed. It represents the epiphany that this past year has been for me, and the confusion and potentially wonderful chaos that marks growing up. I like the question of what if, because it acts as a reminder that we can only become what we first envision.
What if societal constructions of gender were not thrust upon our bodies? This Body Is Not Gendered is an exploration in oil pastels, aiming to undress and ungender the body. Settler societies tend to view biology and anatomy as gendered, and gender as fixed and binary. These views are wielded to categorize and control bodies, stemming from the ocularcentric and heteropatriarchal norms ingrained within the overarching colonial project. Although I am a cis-woman and prefer she/her pronouns, I sometimes feel as if I do not fit within the parameters of normative femininity; sometimes, I feel ungendered. My pansexuality also defies these boxes that are placed around gender. Therefore, through my work, I want to challenge colonial conceptions of gender. Using oil pastels allowed me to capture the visceral, bodily process of art-making and allowed me to unleash my emotions through movement. This gave the work an illusion of motion, which touches on the fluidity of the body and gender. The rich colours were also used to show how a body is so much more than gender.
The View from My Penthouse Window: A Queer Map of my Positionality and Queerness
My queer map, titled: “The View from My Penthouse Window: A Queer Map of my Positionality and Queerness,” is the project I am most proud of making during my four years of undergrad. I am a science student and rarely prioritize creativity, so making something tactile and meaningful to me felt incredible. A queer map can be any type of spatial representation to examine how you navigate space. I created my queer map for Onyx Sloan’s Queer Geographies course (which I highly recommend!) to showcase my privilege and positionality by analyzing the place I live in and the surrounding area: a lakeview penthouse in downtown Kelowna. I recreated my bedroom window because I wanted viewers to view my positionality and understand my fluid identity, self-expression, and privilege in relation to the homeless people I encounter during my walk to the bus stop. The boats in the water merge into each other and are not grouped into specific categories, showcasing queer maps as experiences that flow like the Okanagan Lake I see outside of my window, always in flux and fragmented into overlapping and merging understandings of one’s positionality.
Copyright (c) 2026 Olivia McCormick http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This piece is a response to being asked to create work that addresses the current political climate. Using historical figures of queer resistance, Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Riviera, it addresses the question of why LGBTQIA2S+ folk need resistance, and reflects on how for centuries the act of existing as queer can be political.
Copyright (c) 2026 Caleb Tinani http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
What if Time is Our Most Constant Companion?
A difficult time in my life prompted deep introspection that allowed for a change in the way I view the world. Thus, this writing is a dramatized version of my internal monologue and how it morphed with the occurrence of surprising events. As stressful as the thought can be, it’s just as pleasant to know that nothing will go according to plan. Time has a mind of its own and bending it to your will is a redundant task. What if life could change with this knowledge? This theme invokes contemplation of what could possibly transpire if you live within a mystery? Such fun could occur if one allows life to happen to them.
Copyright (c) 2026 Saisha Raj http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
This piece explores the temptation to return to a friendship/relationship, with the conflicting emotions illustrated through fruit imagery.
Ameliorate is a poignant piece meant to induce reflections about the intricacies and subtleties of life. It attempts to ask the timeless question: Can you bear to look at yourself in the mirror when stripped of all your valor and achievements? My piece connects to this year’s theme through a philosophical lens of “What if everything didn’t have to be so serious and there was more room for joy, pleasure, and silliness?”
Copyright (c) 2026 Riya Gupta http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0
Northern Star is a reflection of my time growing up in Whitehorse, Yukon. Despite living in a town with such harsh winters, I still associate it with the warmth and optimism of childhood, and I wanted to express that contrast through this piece. The Yukon will always hold special memories for me, with its natural beauty, kindhearted people, and all of the passions that I found. I look back to a version of myself frozen in time and reminisce on how it felt to have no worries for the future. It serves as a memory of the girl I still carry with me, and how her hope guides me through life to this day.
What If Our Last Evolutionary State Is A Tree?
What If our Last Evolutionary State is a Tree? is an experimentation in the blending of genres, from which grew a poetic speculative essay. It is rooted in my fascination with trees and their still, eternal existence. Our lives in this capitalist society are the opposite—uprooted, fleeting, forever in motion. As such, my writing is defined by a longing for another kind of existence. Through this essay, I wanted to dig my feet into curiosity, explore humanity’s capacity for peace, and to imagine an evolutionary possibility where we become trees at the end of it all.
When brainstorming the cover art design, I asked myself: what if I create a utopia that invites curiosity and embraces possibility? I chose to go with a whimsical, maximalist style to honour the vision of the Editorial Collective and capture the possibility that is evoked by this year’s theme, WHAT IF. The landscape pays homage to the beauty and necessity of the earth and its elements. It is expansive to elicit a sense of freedom and to make space for imagination to run wild. The orange sunset captures the profound yet fleeting moments of dusk and dawn and the possibility that comes with each new day. In the earth below the landscape, I attempted to map the unknown and the (im)possible, sparking curiosity as to what exists in the places we cannot see or reach. The network of burrows, roots, and mycelium represents connectivity and relationality, bridging together the community of critters beneath the surface. I wanted this utopia to have a trace of each of the people that made it possible—the Editorial Collective members—so they each got to choose a creature for me to include on the cover. I then wanted these creatures to be doing something joyful, such as reading, playing music, and dancing, to remind us that joy is both radical and possible. For the inner design, I chose to scatter some of the imagery and creatures from the front cover throughout for cohesion and a touch of whimsy. I also used the colours, orange and pink, throughout the inside pages for both their vibrancy and symbolism. Orange evokes feelings of optimism, energy, warmth, creativity, and enthusiasm, whereas pink evokes feelings of love, calmness, and compassion. These feelings become entangled when imagining utopias, which is why I used the two colours together. Finally, I decided to extend the world from the front cover to carry over to the back cover. This is because I wanted this utopia to enfold around and embrace all of the works inside that creatively and powerfully explore what if...
Copyright (c) 2026 Abi Creswick http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0