The Volume 56 Masthead

Volume 56:

Jenaya, a young woman with very fair skin and light eyes smiles softly in front of leafy plants. She has long wavy reddish-brown hair with platinum-blond front streaks. She wears a white blouse under a black lace-up vest, plaid pants, and a small silver heart pendant necklace.

Jenaya Shaw

—Managing Editor—

Jenaya is in her fifth year as a Psychology and Creative Writing major at VIU. She spent the summer working in temporary housing on Salt Spring Island, where she provided social support for 17 residents. She’s proud to represent The Navigator for a fourth year in a row, and in her second year as Managing Editor. She was Art Director for Portal 2024, where her review of Burning Sage and photography appear. Poem “Little Anna Marie,” memoir piece “In the Rear-View,” and photography are published in Portal 2025. She has also edited for GOOEY Magazine. She served as Program Coordinator for the Nanaimo Arts Council’s ISFR 2024 and 2025 as well as Nanaimo Artwalk 2024 and 2025. So, she mostly works, and is focused on a career in clinical psychology with a background in social psychology. With what little free time she has, Jenaya’s brain rots in Dead by Daylight and strains while writing the occasional short story, though someday she’d like to finish that pesky novel.

Ella Hannesson

—Editor—

Ella—short for Ellisif—is a passionate English and Liberal Studies student in her fourth year. She enjoys fashion and Lana del Rey, and spends her free time reading, writing, and thrifting.

Elke, a person with fair skin and grayish-blue eyes gives a faint smile while standing before green foliage. Their light brown hair has blond highlights and is styled in two long front braids with shorter layers framing the face. They wear a gray crewneck sweatshirt and have a silver septum ring, nostril stud, and silver earrings.

Elke Sorensen

—Associate Media Editor—

Elke is in her final year of the Bachelor of Arts program at VIU with a major in Creative Writing and a minor in Media Studies. She’s been a volunteer at CHLY 101.7FM for three years as a host for the VIU Meter as well as her very own literary show, Writer’s Block. Elke has also spent the last two summers in the city of Yellowknife, NWT, working as a broadcast intern for Cabin Radio and hosting Evenings with Elke, a show that featured Canadian authors and musicians. Although she previously worked as a staff writer for The Navigator, she has settled into a role as Associate Media Editor and podcaster. Her podcast, Elke’s on the Island, is available to stream on Spotify. After graduation, Elke will continue to work on her canine-themed weird horror short story collection while living in and exploring the spectacular NWT as a broadcast journalist.

Francesca Pacchiano

—Editor—

Fran is a Creative Writing student, a journalist for TAKE 5 Newsmagazine, managing editor for GOOEY Magazine and is now adding writer for The Nav to the many hats she wears. Her fiction has been published in the first issue of GOOEY Magazine, and she was one of the interviewers for VIU’s Gustafson Poet, Karen Solie, which appears in Portal 2024.When she’s not studying, working, or being active in the campus community, Fran can be found tending her garden, where she enjoys the blooming weeds just as much as the flowers she planted.

Paige Vandop

—Business & Marketing Manager—

Paige is a fourth-year BA student majoring in Creative Writing. Her short story “Body Double” was shortlisted in the Island Short Fiction Review in 2024. Two of her short stories, “Blue Prints” and “Shifting Gears” have been published in The Navigator. She was a Non-fiction Editor for Portal 2024 and one of the Managing Editors for the 2025 issue. She also worked for The Nav as Copy Editor in 2024 and is now their Business Manager for the 2025 school year. Paige is a freelance editor under her company, Anomaly Consulting. Her first full-length project, Sacrifice by Avianna Bishop, is a fantasy novel. When not working on her writing and editing, Paige can be found… well… probably still working.

Lee Groen

—Nav Reporter—

Lee is a writer, poet, and fourth-year Creative Writing and Journalism student at VIU. When he’s not writing for The Nav, Lee can be found dissociating at his day job, daydreaming at home, getting lost in a good book, or counting the stars in the sky.

Grace Penner

—Associate Editor—

Grace is a third-year Creative Writing and Journalism student. She is now back at The Navigator for her second year, last year as a Nav Reporter and this year as Associate Editor. In Volume 56, Grace worked both through written and video interviews, reporting on sports. She worked last year as a Non-Fiction Editor for Portal 2025. Grace also worked alongside the VIU Mariners Hockey Team as Social Media Manager and with the Nanaimo Clippers as a Rinkside Reporter. She hopes to continue working with the Mariners teams on these upcoming issues while expanding her horizons as a reporter. Grace’s dream is to pursue a career in journalism after graduation.

Kieran Armstrong

—Sports Videographer—

Kieran is a fourth-year Digital Media Studies major with a passion for videography/cinematography. In his off-time you might catch him making music or filming a video with friends. He’s a diehard hockey fan and looks forward to filming some great sports content for The Nav.

Alonso Duran Ortiz

—Videographer—

Alonso is a third-year Digital Media student at VIU. He has been practicing photography since he was 15 years old and recently started working with videos about two years ago. Alonso has worked as a photographer in both Canada and Mexico (that’s where he’s from!)

Daniela Guevara

—Podcaster—

Danny is a fourth-year Media Studies major from Quito, Ecuador. In addition to co-producing the student documentary The Seaweed Challenge, she’s volunteered at CHLY as host of The VIU Meter and has participated in many feminist panels and readings on campus.

Emily Brandstaetter

—Social Media Manager—

Emily is a third-year Creative Writing major who has loved expressing herself through writing since early high school. She enjoys sharing her pieces with the world—particularly poetry—and is currently working on an anthology which she hopes to release soon. Emily mostly writes about mental health, fantasy, romance, and nature. Her main strength is coming up with great ideas for any task at hand, and she always brings the good vibes. In her personal life, she enjoys hanging out in nature, thrifting, and travelling whenever she can.

Mackenzie, a woman with light-medium skin and brown eyes smiles gently before green plants. She has shoulder-length dark brown hair with soft waves and wears a dark green long-sleeve top with a clear crystal pendant necklace.

Mackenzie Beck

—Art Director—

Mackenzie is a fourth-year Bachelor of Graphic Design student at VIU. She graduated from VIU’s Fisheries and Aquaculture program in 2019 and has now returned to school in pursuit of a more creative career path. She has a passion for beautiful typography, nature photography, and not turning on the “big light” (lamps only!). She spends her free time backpacking and hiking around Vancouver Island. Despite her love for the outdoors, you can usually find this homebody getting cozy inside her plant-filled house.

Tianna Vertigan

—Web Designer—

Tianna is a queer student and a liar for saying the previous year would be her last at VIU. Despite having next to no training in technology, she’s designed at least five websites and dabbled in so many different subjects that few recall her major or minor (Creative Writing and SWAG). Between classes, internships, work-ops, websites, and graveyard shifts, Tianna is highly experienced in burning candles at both ends and admits she may have a Bath & Body Works addiction. She claims ~~she is graduating this spring and~~ that her pants are ~~not~~ on fire.