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.

Grace Penner

—Associate Editor—

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.

Bailey, a young woman with light-medium brown skin and dark brown eyes smiles brightly in front of leafy greenery. She has shoulder-length black hair, wears round gold-rimmed glasses, a maroon long-sleeve shirt, and a small round gold pendant necklace.

Bailey Bellosillo

—Arts & Culture Editor—

Bailey is a fifth-year Creative Writing major at VIU. She was a Poetry Editor for the Portal 2025 issue, for which she was the cover artist and a non-fiction contributor. She was both dancer and photographer for the VIU Dance Team in 2025, for which she also designed and produced a physical yearbook. She is co-Art Director, Website Designer, and Gustafson Feature Writer for Portal 2026.

Tebby, a young woman with medium-dark skin and brown eyes stands in front of green leafy plants, smiling slightly with her arms crossed. She wears a plain white T-shirt, light blue jeans, and a red patterned bandana tied over her hair. No visible accessories besides small stud earrings.

Tebby Olatetse

—Nav Reporter—

Tebby is a third-year Accounting student at VIU. She joined The Navigator because, even though her major is all about numbers, she’s always had a soft spot for writing. It’s a creative break from spreadsheets, and a way to tell stories that matter and connect with people beyond the classroom. Tebby is excited to be part of The Nav this year and to share pieces that reflect our campus community. Hope you enjoy reading them as much as she enjoys writing them!

Nadia Fontaine

—Nav Reporter—

Alyona, a woman with light-medium skin and brown eyes smiles warmly in front of lush green foliage. She has long dark brown hair worn loose, and she wears a white T-shirt with a small colorful patch on the chest and gold hoop earrings.

Alyona Latsinnik

—Metro Editor—

Alyona is in her third year as Xwulmuxw/Indigenous Studies major and Creative Writing minor. It is her first year working at The Nav and she’s thrilled about it! Last year, a casual 100-level journalism assignment led to her breaking a viral election story which was featured in major provincial and federal news outlets. When not working on articles, Alyona can be found volunteering for local Indigenous-led initiatives, writing poetry, practicing her traditional Ukrainian crafts, advocating for justice, hanging out with her two awesome cats, or being lost among the ancient trees. The list goes on and on, but you got the gist—this girl likes to stay busy.

Deanne Whenham

—Features Editor—

Deanne is in her fourth and final year at VIU, majoring in Creative Writing with a minor in Marketing and a certificate in Digital Marketing. Originally hailing from Yellowknife, NT, her short story “Soaring” was shortlisted in the Island Short Fiction Review in 2025 by the Nanaimo Arts Council. Her pieces “Decomposing Child” and “pro-so-pag-no-zee-ah” were both published in the debut issue of Lazy Dog Magazine in 2025, and she was a contributor for Portal Magazine with her photo, “Yellowknife Sunset”. When she’s not wandering outside looking for fairies or hunting down the best Pad Thai dish, you can find Deanne dreaming up the pages of her very own novel.

Elke Sorensen

—Associate Media Editor—

Elke is a fourth-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.

Daxton, a man with fair skin and light blue eyes looks at the camera with a neutral expression, standing before leafy plants. He has medium-length straight black hair, wears rectangular glasses, and a black sweater featuring a palm tree growing from a skull graphic.

Daxton Comba

—Videographer—

Daxton is a third-year Creative Writing student, graphic designer, and videographer. He served as Script Editor and Audio-Visual intern for Portal 2025 and is now co-Acquisitions Editor and co-Art Director for Portal 2026. Over the summer he wrote/directed a staged reading of his play, Funeral Cake. Daxton has memoir and short-fiction published in Portal and GOOEY magazines respectively. His work was produced for VIU’s 2025 One Act Festival, and he was a recipient of the Meadowlarks Award for Fiction.

Liam Prendergast

—Sports Videographer—

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 fourth-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.