Staff

 Alex Hodgson - Editor in Chief

This is Alex’s 4.5th year as a Creative Writing student, focusing on screenplay writing. Though she delves into and has respect for all genres, her heart is with the movies. She started writing at a young age, experimenting with songs and poetry. Her first published work, a poem she wrote at age 12, was featured in a Canadian Poetry Anthology. One day she dreams of being a writer/director/producer, also known as a: one woman movie making machine. Until then, you can find her slaving away on film sets as a production assistant, assistant director, assistant camera, or any other job she can get her hands on.

 

 

 

Meghan Cuthbert – Lead Drama Editor

 Meghan is in her final year of screenwriting. She prefers writing comedy because it is more enjoyable and her darker stories usually end up silly anyways. Although, she does enjoy some good dark drama, but only when it is written by someone else. Meghan is an avid cyclist and she enjoys all pranks that involve bacon. 

 

 

 

Molly McLellan – Drama Editor

 

Molly McLellan is a fourth year writing student in playwriting and screenwriting. She enjoys writing mostly dark comedies and horror. She got her first chance this past summer to experience editing for a local news channel with Shaw TV’s the Daily as an intern. Her first play was chosen to be produced this year by the wonderful SATCo team, and she looks forward to hopefully hearing people laugh during it.

 

 

 

Desiree Armstrong – Drama Editor

 

Desiree is in her last year at UVic Majoring in Screenwriting with a Double Minor in Business and Film. She is Director of the non-profit dance company Victoria Dance Theatre. She has lived in New York and hopes to be back soon, putting her spiffy degree to some use. She fills any spare time posting photos of her adorable cat Mr. Pickles on instagram.

 

 

 

Patrick Grace – Lead Poetry Editor

 

This is Patrick’s first year in the Creative Writing program at UVic. He has a hypersensitive sense of smell, a photographic memory, and a strange aversion to cilantro. His work has appeared in various west coast publications since 2004, including Geist magazine.

 

 

 

Mallory Tater – Poetry Editor

Mallory is a third year writing student also pursuing a minor in linguistics. She enjoys writing both poetry and fiction. Her poetry has been in Island Writer, Bywords, and Ascent Aspirations Magazine. Mallory gets writing ideas by going to look at odds and ends from thrift stores – anything from baggy sweaters to toaster ovens – and she tries to imagine who used to owned them.

 

 

 

Kim Schacht - Poetry Editor

Kim is a second year Creative Writing student with a focus in both Poetry and Fiction. She has literary crushes on Dorianne Laux and Chuck Palahniuk, and she’s been a lifelong fan of Queen, David Bowie, and Alan Rickman. She’s an avid fan of music, the oxford comma, and secretly wishes she was a pirate.

 

 

 

 Cara Spangler – Lead Creative Non Fiction Editor

 Cara is definitely not one of those Americans who moved to Canada to frolic in the land of public universities, socialized medicine, and deciduous rain forests. OK, she is. After four years in the UVic writing department, she will probably have to go home, but will return a wiser woman.

 

 

 

Kerry Dhillon – Creative Non Fiction Editor

 Kerry Dhillon is a Manitoban of the Winnipeg variety, and a second-year English and Creative Writing Major. She reads because she finds solace in the way books will listen and speak all at once. She writes because she has far too many thoughts and feelings to articulate herself coherently. On an even less interesting note, she thoroughly enjoys tea as well as the occasional spoonful of honey, has a certain distaste for television and will probably love you dearly within ten minutes of meeting you.

 

 

 

Shandi Shiach – Creative Non Fiction Editor

 Shandi Shiach is a journalist, editor and writer from the Cariboo region of B.C. Since studying at UVic, her art tends to fall under reporting, creative non-fiction and fiction headings. But she appreciates many other forms of creativity and many types of people.

 

 

 

 Katrina Wong – Creative Non Fiction Editor

Kat is in her third year, pursuing English and Biology. When she’s not having a solitary dance party, she writes vogue-inspired shorts and feeds her head. She thinks she’ll faint when she finally encounters Manta birostris and would appreciate the existence of gillyweed (even if it’s grossgusting).

 

 

 

Claire Garneau – Lead Fiction Editor

 Claire Garneau is a fifth-year student who all too often finds herself shaken awake by restless composition disorder in the dead of night. Despite numerous attempts to ward off these advances in favour of glorious, glorious sleep, her apartment usually looks like some sort of drunk paper monster crawled out from under her bed and vomited everywhere. She’s spending her final year working on an award-sponsored graphic novel.

 

 

 

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Robbie Huebner – Fiction Editor

Robbie Huebner is a third year writing student. Aside from the mass exodus/genocide of bunnies on campus, he has immensely enjoyed his stay at the University of Victoria. He has lived the majority of his life in Fort McMurray, Alberta, but hopes you won’t hold that against him. He currently is thinking about the following words: diapason, ossification and sepsis. Finally, as a lover of all things southwestern, he would appreciate a moment of silence for Big Tex, who burned down today, October 19th, at the Texas State Fair in Dallas. Thank you.

 

 

 

Joseph Samson – Fiction Editor

Joseph Samson was born on Vancouver Island, in Campbell River BC. He began writing at Timberline Secondary School and committed seriously to the craft in 2011 when he enrolled in the University of Victoria’s Writing Department. “This Side of West” will be his first venture into published editing. He is currently continuing his studies at UVic for screenwriting and fiction.

 

 

 

 Chelsea Thompson – Fiction Editor

 

Chelsea Thompson is a fourth year Writing student, specializing in fiction. Her work has appeared in This Side of West. She spends a lot of time reading lists about strange animal facts and strange psychological disorders, trying to find a connection between the two. When she’s not doing this, she’s likely drinking wine and/or eating something with mustard on it.