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In this issue:

Explore the world in this issue as we take a deep dive into foreign exchanges, how other countries do education, and the concept of the death cafe! Celebrate the New Year with the team from The Nav and get ready for another semester with us!
Volume 57 Issue No. 2 cover. Black and white illustration of various holiday decorations bursting out of a cardboard box.

January 2026

Features
Memoir
Fiction
Fiction
Artwork
Videos
Podcasts
Features
Fiction
Memoir
Fiction
Artwork
Videos
Podcasts

Articles

Headliners

Features

Naming the Elephant Together: The Death Café Phenomenon

In a Death Café, folks gather to engage in open-ended conversations about death. Coats rustle as people settle into their chairs, balancing paper cups of tea and small slices of cake from a local bakery. The term café here isn’t meant literally—these gatherings more often take place in libraries, community centres, or living rooms. The word gestures instead toward the atmosphere the hosts...
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Whale Crisis

Recent and ongoing whale strikes and deaths have come to the attention of Fisheries and Oceans. It’s getting harder for the marine mammals to navigate the ever rising traffic and human activities in the waters surrounding Vancouver Island. Is there a lack of laws and regulations to keep marine life safe?
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Better Pretender?

Every January arrives with a fresh start of resolutions about who we should become. This is a look at how “New Year, New Me” sells us the idea that we need to start over.
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Meet Mauro

Multidisciplinary artist Mauro Dalla Costa, founder of UFF Screen Printing Studio, sits down to chat about his work, process, and achievements in screen printing.
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Naming the Elephant Together: The Death Café Phenomenon

In a Death Café, folks gather to engage in open-ended conversations about death. Coats rustle as people settle into their chairs, balancing paper cups of tea and small slices of cake from a local bakery. The term café here isn’t meant literally—these gatherings more often take place in libraries,...

Whale Crisis

Recent and ongoing whale strikes and deaths have come to the attention of Fisheries and Oceans. It’s getting harder for the marine mammals to navigate the ever rising traffic and human activities in the waters surrounding Vancouver Island. Is there a lack of laws and regulations to keep marine...

Better Pretender?

Every January arrives with a fresh start of resolutions about who we should become. This is a look at how “New Year, New Me” sells us the idea that we need to start over.

Meet Mauro

Multidisciplinary artist Mauro Dalla Costa, founder of UFF Screen Printing Studio, sits down to chat about his work, process, and achievements in screen printing.

Should Students Pay Fees?

Every semester, students turn to scholarships, bursaries, RESPs, and empty their pockets for the sake of education in Canada. But who should pay for our education?

Visual Art

Ashley Lambert (Contributor)

Ashley is a fourth-year graphic design student who’s been creating ever since she could hold a pencil. Most days, you’ll find her designing with her cat, Mister, by her side. This past summer, she completed an internship at a local studio, gaining hands-on experience and discovering new ways to bring ideas to life. Lately, she’s been exploring typography and logo design, always combining creativity with storytelling. Ashley dreams of bringing her illustrations to life in children’s books and sharing her artwork as stickers and art prints someday.

Zoe Chong (Contributor)

Zoe Chong is a fourth-year student in the VIU creative writing program. In 2024–2025 she was the Portfolio Reading Series coordinator and a script editor for Portal magazine, and for their 2026 issue she is the features editor and the book review editor. She has published book reviews with Vancouver Island Bookcrate, published scripts in Portal 2024 and 2025, and was the map illustrator for Avianna Bishop’s debut fantasy novel “Sacrifice.” She has been published in The Navigator with a short story and a photograph in Vol. 57 Issue 4 and placed second in their 2026 Short Fiction Contest with her short story “Mouth Full of Sand” published in Vol. 57 Issue 6. She has won the Rick Davidson Memorial Bursary in 2024 and the Jason Mayes Memorial Award in 2025. She is currently at work on her own various projects, including novels, scripts, and short stories.

Kiera bogle (Contributor)

Kiera Bogle is a fourth-year Bachelor of Education student who took two photography classes in high school. She did so well in the first one that she was invited into the advanced class. She joined and fell madly in love with photography… and then promptly dropped the class the moment she discovered she could have a spare period instead (she may have a few regrets). In her free time, Kiera likes to explore the tiny sliver of artistic talent she claims to have, either writing short stories and taking photos. She loves to catch the glimpses of beauty in the world before it escapes. Kiera grew up in the mountains, basically skiing before she could walk, so her favourite things to photograph are snowy peaks or trees. Well, unless flowers are nearby, because flowers don’t move and make her look impressively skilled with very little effort.

Kiera bogle (Contributor)

Kiera Bogle is a fourth-year Bachelor of Education student who took two photography classes in high school. She did so well in the first one that she was invited into the advanced class. She joined and fell madly in love with photography… and then promptly dropped the class the moment she discovered she could have a spare period instead (she may have a few regrets). In her free time, Kiera likes to explore the tiny sliver of artistic talent she claims to have, either writing short stories and taking photos. She loves to catch the glimpses of beauty in the world before it escapes. Kiera grew up in the mountains, basically skiing before she could walk, so her favourite things to photograph are snowy peaks or trees. Well, unless flowers are nearby, because flowers don’t move and make her look impressively skilled with very little effort.

Fiction

Sewing Project

Francis kicked the shiny pebble down the dirt track, one hand lazily stuffed in his hoodie pocket and the other wrapped around a moisture-stained slushy cup. There was no sidewalk on this stretch of road, barely even a bike lane, only a narrow desire path between the pavement on the right and the sloping ditch that petered out into corn fields on the left.
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Sewing Project

Francis kicked the shiny pebble down the dirt track, one hand lazily stuffed in his hoodie pocket and the other wrapped around a moisture-stained slushy cup. There was no sidewalk on this stretch of road, barely even a bike lane, only a narrow desire path between the pavement on the right and the...

Videos

In the Crowd: Ladysmith Festival of Lights

During the holiday season on Vancouver Island, it’s unfortunately dark outside most of the time, and when the sun goes down before 5:00 pm, what better than a colourful display of lights to stave off the darkness? This issue, Daxton Comba tours Ladysmith’s 2025 annual Festival of Lights, held Thursday, November 27. With coverage from all across First Avenue of local performers, jugglers and...
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A Week in the Life of VIU’s Dance Team

Dancing into his fourth feature, Liam Prendergast teams up with the VIU Dance Team to explore what a week in the life of a team member looks like. He joins them for an action-packed schedule: starting with an early morning practice, followed by a drop-in evening dance class hosted by team member Ava Padley, and finally a trip to Vancouver for a special training session at Harbour Dance Centre....
Read More

In the Crowd: Ladysmith Festival of Lights

During the holiday season on Vancouver Island, it’s unfortunately dark outside most of the time, and when the sun goes down before 5:00 pm, what better than a colourful display of lights to stave off the darkness? This issue, Daxton Comba tours Ladysmith’s 2025 annual Festival of Lights, held...

A Week in the Life of VIU’s Dance Team

Dancing into his fourth feature, Liam Prendergast teams up with the VIU Dance Team to explore what a week in the life of a team member looks like. He joins them for an action-packed schedule: starting with an early morning practice, followed by a drop-in evening dance class hosted by team member...

Podcasts

Elke’s on the Island, Ep 4: Kappa Sigma Arrives at VIU

For this month’s edition of Elke’s On The Island, Sorensen met with Vancouver Island Kappa Sigma President Ethan Johnson and Vice President Kyle Osipov to discuss Kappa Sigma’s presence on VIU’s Nanaimo campus. Johnson and Osipov share about their interest in the Fraternity, the benefits it brings to campus life, address concerns about their presence, and speak about future events and how to get...
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Elke’s on the Island, Ep 4: Kappa Sigma Arrives at VIU

For this month’s edition of Elke’s On The Island, Sorensen met with Vancouver Island Kappa Sigma President Ethan Johnson and Vice President Kyle Osipov to discuss Kappa Sigma’s presence on VIU’s Nanaimo campus. Johnson and Osipov share about their interest in the Fraternity, the benefits it brings...

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