PRISM international

Mattias Apse writes from Moh’kinstsis, on Treaty 7 land (Calgary, Alberta). He completed his B.A. at Sarah Lawrence College (NY) where he studied literary criticism and helmed The Sarah Lawrence Review. He reads for the Canadian experimental magazine filling Station, and he was longlisted for the 2023 Palette Poetry Rising Poet’s Prize. His work can be found in or is forthcoming from GLYPHÖRIA (Metatron Press), Grain, and ONE ART.

Amie Bernaerdt is a BFA student in UBC’s Creative Writing and Anthropology programs. Since 2023, she has been writing for The Campus Resident, a community newspaper associated with the UNA. In her free time, she enjoys writing fiction and poetry.

Chia-Hua Chu, also known as Maggy, is a lecturer in the Department of International Cultural Studies at the University of Hyogo, where she teaches EFL skills and cross-cultural studies. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in English Language and Literature (Hons.) and a Master of Education. After a hiatus to focus on academia, she has resumed her lifelong journey of discovering her literary voice. In her free time, she enjoys exploring literature, crafting with needle and thread, and practicing aerial silks.

Natalie Co‘s work has appeared in West Trade Review, Scrivener Creative Review, and elsewhere. She has been known to haunt grocery stores after dark and fistfight bouts of sleep paralysis.

Katherine DeCoste is a queer, neurodivergent poet and white settler of Irish, Scottish and Acadian descent. They were born and raised on Treaty 4 territory in so-called ‘Regina, Saskatchewan’ and now live on unceded Lək̓ʷəŋən (Songhees and Xʷsepsəm) territory with their fiancé and cat. Their work has recently appeared in Contemporary Verse 2, The New Quarterly, Anodyne Magazine, Poetry Pause and elsewhere. You can find them online at katherinedecoste.com, or faeriering.substack.com. 

My name is Maya Evans, and I am currently a 4th year Creative Writing Major at the University of British Columbia. Right now, I am working towards completing my degree, getting more involved in the writing community, and exploring new ways of expressing my creativity. My areas of focus are poetry, composing music, indie game writing and development, and creating short stories.

Emanae-Arzoo Feroz is a reader and writer with a long-standing love for storytelling. She writes across genres including poetry, fiction, non-fiction, and screenwriting, and enjoys engaging deeply with a wide range of voices and perspectives.

Maia Fields (She/Her) is a queer writer and multidisciplinary artist living on the traditional lands of the lək̓ʷəŋən (Lekwungen) peoples in Victoria, BC. She is studying in the Poetry stream at Simon Fraser University’s Writer’s Studio while developing her debut manuscript. Her poetry and hybrid work have appeared in Petal Projections and with Tempest Theatre & Film Society. 

Mathew Fu is a BSc undergraduate student at UBC with an interest in how language, medicine and science intersect. He hopes to pursue a career that integrates these distinct fields in the future.

Mina Han is a BFA Creative Writing student at UBC. 

Juls Macdonell (she/him) is a queer writer studying fiction and poetry at the University of Victoria. She studies and works on stolen W̱SÁNEĆ and lək̓ʷəŋən lands. His work has been published in Contemporary Verse 2, This Side of West, and HAD magazine.

Photo of Claire & Tio by Erin Flegg Photography (@erinflegg_photo)

Claire Matthews is a bi, neurodivergent writer, editor, and creative facilitator. She lives on the unceded, traditional, and ancestral lands of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh peoples. Her poetry received second place in CV2’s Foster Poetry Prize and has appeared in Prairie Fire, Arc Poetry, and The Fiddlehead, among others. In her spare time, she makes jam and poor decisions. 

Alexandra McKay is a writer living in Toronto. Her work explores themes of modern hope, the trajectory of tenderness, and middle spaces. Her writing has appeared in The Ex-Puritan, Prairie Fire, The Globe & Mail, Archetype, Funicular, and various North American publications since 2011. She is currently pursuing an MFA in creative writing at the University of Guelph.

phin is a writer and plant enthusiast currently working towards a BFA at UBC. 

Hannah Siden is a writer and filmmaker living on the unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations (Vancouver, BC). Her poetry can be found in PRISM International, Room Magazine, subTerrain Magazine, Canthius, SAD Mag, Metatron Press and elsewhere. 

Léa Taranto (she/her) is a disabled Chinese Jewish Canadian writer who lives with OCD and comorbid disorders. An MFA graduate of the University of British Columbia and alumnus of the Writer’s Studio at Simon Fraser University, she resides on traditional, unceded hən̓̓qəmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh territories in BC. Her work has been published in the anthology Upon a Midnight Clear: More Christmas Epiphanies and in various Canadian literary journals. Her debut novel, A Drop in the Ocean, (Arsenal Pulp Press) was a finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Award and Forest of Reading’s White Pine Award. Find Léa online at her website https://leataranto.com.

Olivia Van Guinn (they/them) is a Vietnamese-Canadian writer based in Calgary. They have a BA in English from the University of Calgary, where they received the Kathleen and Russell Lane Award for Canadian Writing. Their work is published in Grain, Room, The Queen’s Quarterly, and more. Olivia’s novel April Snow is published with At Bay Press.

Amy Wang is a Chinese-Canadian writer based on the unceded territory of the Syilx (Okanagan) People. Funded by SSHRC and the BC Arts Council, you can find their writing in That’s What [We] Said, Paper Shell, The Goose, and more. They are currently an MFA student at UBC Okanagan.