By: Hailey Miller, Staff Writer
The Lyre is SFU’s literary magazine produced through the university’s world languages and literatures program, publishing works from undergraduate students, artists, and SFU graduates, as well as students from other universities. The magazine includes poetry, short stories, essays, translations, photography, and more. The 15th volume, On the Record, was published on October 24, 2024. This edition focuses on “the power of permanence and the certainty of the liminal,” exploring ideas of calamity yet tranquility, while drawing on personal experiences, inspirations, and fictional storylines.
On the Record begins with a heavy-hitting poem from Kristy Kwok titled “Dwindling,” which explores the yearning for what seems to be a long-lost lover. The opening lines bring warmth that sets the tone for the volume: “Picture me in her arms, weeping like a willow, / as she kisses my wet hair and says I’m better / off loving a stranger.”
Other poems include “You and I” by Kiara Bhangu, “Paper” by Himanshi Saili, and “Thieves of Marrow” by Isobel Sinclair. Lines from “You and I” including “I’ve grown taller, / your hair has turned grey / I chatter, / you take in everything I say,” the poem pairs with “Thieves of Marrow,” which asks, “Does my voice echo far too loud, / ricocheting off the mountains you keep as enclosure?”
Nearly every entry in this edition is accompanied by photographs and other visual artworks. Although poetry is prominent, it also includes entries in prose, translations, and interviews.
“I’ve grown taller, / your hair has turned grey / I chatter, / you take in everything I say.” — an excerpt from “You and I” by Kiara Bhangu
One of my favourite prose pieces is “International Spies” by Chloe Lee-Sarenac. Dialogue and narration are sprinkled with French lines, and fiction and non-fiction are blurred. The reader is encapsulated by familial characters and the mystery of a hidden life story about to unfold. One particular excerpt caught my attention as I digested the prose: “I promise you that this is not a comic book origin story. I’ve learned from a young age to distrust the myth of one’s origin.”
The two interview pieces featured in the volume — with Jens Zimmermann and Jin-me Yoon — explore how the authors use imagery that add tangible components to the dialogue, and visual depictions for the reader. In his interview, Zimmermann discusses the idea of unreliable news on the internet, stating that “one of the issues with the newsfeeds and the way they’re generated is that you no longer have context.” Similarly, Yoon responds in her interview that “the only constant is change,” and explains how “the digitalization of all aspects of life would be one of the most singular defining differences” in the way art has changed throughout time.
As I made my way through The Lyre page by page, I found myself enthralled in the works of art that accompany each entry, and how the authors of these pieces formulate and articulate their writing with profound structure, intention, and overall craft.
Read this edition of The Lyre at journals.lib.sfu.ca. Keep an eye out for the upcoming deadline to submit your own work for the 2025 issue and apply to become an associate editor in the coming months.
