This coming June, the University College of the North’s (UCN) student journal will be getting some exposure outside of Northern Manitoba.
Muses from the North has been available in print and online since the fall of 2017 and its creative team is going to tell their story in front over 70 scholarly associations at this year’s Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities in Vancouver.
This UCN-led panel will consist of professors Ying Kong and Joseph Atoyebi, who originally conceived this publication two years ago as a way of showcasing academic articles, essays, short fiction and poetry written by the student body.
Part of their presentation will detail how Muses has evolved throughout the publishing of its first three issues, including the influx of new contributors that have filled its ranks.
“We used to beg students to submit stories and now, for our returning writers, you don’t have to remind them,” Kong told the Thompson Citizen Jan. 18. “They always want to get published and now we have to select writers.”
Some of these student contributors will be joining Kong and Atoyebi on stage in Vancouver to talk about how writing for Muses has sharpened their creative process.
For fourth-year bachelor of arts student Taylor Flett, submitting her poetry to Kong marked the first time she was exposed to the kind of editing process that comes hand-in-hand with most major publications.
“I didn’t know that there are so many edits, to be honest,” she said. “With my first poem Ying went through it six times with me and the second time she went through three edits, so I was getting stronger in my writing with this.”
In Vancouver, not only will Flett get to talk about her new position as copy editor, but fellow student Kassidy Burden will also have the chance to highlight her role as copy designer as well.
Given the sheer size of this conference, Kong is also hoping that this trip will help them recruit more collaborators from different parts of Northern Canada and beyond.
But, at the same time, Atoyebi said they don’t want to lose sight of their original vision and abandon the unique Indigenous voices that sparked the creation of Muses in the first place.
In 2019, the team is even applying for a federal research grant to help them pursue Northern Manitoba residents living in outlying communities more aggressively.
“When we talk about reconciliation, no one can ever tell your story better than you,” said Atoyebi. “Who knows? There might be some talent rusting away some place, waiting for someone who might be able to give them the motivation and the necessary platform to showcase their literary skills.”
The next issue of Muses from the North is set to come out in late April.
The 88th Congress of the Social Sciences and Humanities will be taking place June 1−7 at the University of British Columbia.
For more information on their panel, or about the publication in general, please contact Kong or Atoyebi at ykong@ucn.ca and jatoyebi@ucn.ca, respectively.
