The Masthead

Volume 56:

Jenaya Shaw

—Managing Editor—

Jenaya is a multi-genre writer and artist in her fourth year as a Creative Writing and Psychology major. She’s proud to represent The Nav for a third year in a row, this time as Managing Editor. She lead social media and was Art Director for Portal 2024, where her review of Burning Sage and photos such as “Match Made” and “Wall-Crawler” appear. Over the summer, she worked as an Editor for GOOEY Magazine. Now, having served as co-Program Coordinator for the Nanaimo Arts Council’s 2024 Islands Short Fiction Review, she is the leading Coordinator for Nanaimo Artwalk 2024. Jenaya spends her free time reading, drawing, playing survival horror games, and writing her novel. Her future dreams include catching rays and reporting in Australia or Taiwan.

Jenaya is a multi-genre writer and artist in her fourth year as a Creative Writing and Psychology major. She’s proud to represent The Nav for a third year in a row, this time as Managing Editor. She lead social media and was Art Director for Portal 2024, where her review of Burning Sage and photos such as “Match Made” and “Wall-Crawler” appear. Over the summer, she worked as an Editor for GOOEY Magazine. Now, having served as co-Program Coordinator for the Nanaimo Arts Council’s 2024 Islands Short Fiction Review, she is the leading Coordinator for Nanaimo Artwalk 2024. Jenaya spends her free time reading, drawing, playing survival horror games, and writing her novel. Her future dreams include catching rays and reporting in Australia or Taiwan.

Headshot of Laurent Lemay

Laurent Lemay

—Associate Editor—

Laurent is a fourth-year Creative Writing student. As a queer writer, editor, designer, and professional daydreamer, Laurent loves to experiment in alternating genres. In 2023, he took on the role of Managing Editor at Ryga and obtained a Writing and Publishing Diploma from Okanagan College. Now, after editing stanzas and socials for Portal 2024, he is eager to kick off his event planning debut. You can find him cycling the streets or holding his breath in Montréal where he swims competitively.

Photo of Jack Corfield

Jack Corfield

—Associate Media Editor—

Jack is a fifth-year Creative Writing and Media Studies student who spends their island time writing novels and creating digital art. In 2023, they were the President of VIU’s Creative Writing Club and co-Managing Editor of Portal Magazine. Their art, script, and poetry appears in Portal and is most prominent in the 2024 issue featuring their digitized “Circuit Girl” on the cover. Jack also has notable Nav lore as The Nav’s very first Podcaster.

Beatrix Taylor

—Business Manager—

Beatrix has been “finishing up” her degree in Creative Writing and English for the past two years. She has two dogs, is taller than a lot of people, and has had pieces published in The Navigator as well as Portal Magazine. If she isn’t consuming more media than her brain can handle, she’s probably chatting away with whoever will yap with her.

Headshot of Ella Hannesson

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 Sorensen

—Editor—

Elke is a third-year Creative Writing and Digital Media Studies student. She hosts at CHLY  and has multiple non-fiction publications in Cabin Radio, The Vintage Seeker, and Healthy Debate, plus a poetry publication in Portal. Elke is also a musician—she’s played at The Vault in Nanaimo and her music is available to stream on all platforms (*wink wink*). Elke hopes to continue her work in broadcast and is currently working on a weird horror short story collection about canines.

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

—Copy Editor—

Paige Vandop is a third-year Creative Writing student at VIU. She has self-published a young adult science fiction novel, The Masked Rebellion, and is trying to work on her trilogy in between school, her freelance editing services, and being Managing Editor for Portal Magazine. When not working on her writing, 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

—Nav Reporter—

Grace is a third-year Creative Writing & Journalism student from Winnipeg who moved to Nanaimo to pursue her passion for writing. She grew up playing ringette and volleyball and is now recreationally figure skating in her free time. Grace’s love for sports comes from her father and always watching the NHL Winnipeg Jets together, and as her goal post-graduation is to have a career in sports journalism, she is excited to work with the Mariners this season.

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 Beck

—Art Director—

Mackenzie is a third-year Graphic Design student with a background in science. Previously, she graduated from VIU with a diploma in Fisheries and Aquaculture. Mac was born and raised on Vancouver Island and may be found hiking and wandering the island’s many trails in her spare time.

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.