book review
Lead with Joy: how Johnson’s memoir is touching millions
June 3, 2025By: A humble grad student, forever changed Have you ever wondered, “what if Brené Brown ran a university like a Fortune 500 company — but make it The Chair?” Then SFU president Joy Johnson’s long-awaited, totally real, best-selling memoir is the answer you didn’t know you needed (but are now required to cite in every funding application). Where Ji-Yoon collapses under the weight of moral contradictions, Johnson ascends — brand-safe, donor-friendly, and backed by a communication team reportedly headed by Margaret Thatcher’s ghost. From the (co-)author of more than 180 peer-reviewed articles, Lead With Joy: Leader is Johnson isn’t just…
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Film and literature tell the story of The Nickel Boys from different angles
March 12, 2025By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer Content warning: this piece talks in-depth about slavery and racial segregation. Colson Whitehead’s novel The Nickel Boys tells the story of two boys doing time in a reform school. Elwood Curtis, who is falsely accused…
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SFU’s The Lyre makes ripples across campus
January 9, 2025By: 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,…
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The Book Nook: Investigating narratives about oppression in The Message
November 6, 2024By: Yildiz Subuk, Staff Writer Content warning: mentions of slavery and genocide. “Even plunderers are human beings whose violent ambitions must contend with the guilt that gnaws at them when they meet the eyes of their victims.” — Ta-Nehisi Coates,…
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Crooked Teeth is a queer Syrian refugee’s reconnection “home”
June 10, 2024By: Yasmin Hassan, Staff Writer Crooked teeth is the young boy who swears he likes women. Crooked teeth are in the mouth of an officer staring back at you coldly. Crooked teeth is being the only racialized panelist discussing refugees.…
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A review of The Hundred Years War on Palestine by Rashid Khalidi
November 28, 2023By: Sude Guvendik Content warning: discussions of genocide. Rashid Khalidi’s book, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, is an essential read if you want to understand the history of Palestine. The notion that this history is too complicated to understand…
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Graphic novel combats racism in the publishing industry with humour
June 23, 2023By: Saije Rusimovici, Staff Writer A Career in Books: A Novel about Friends, Money, and the Occasional Duck Bun by Kate Gavino exemplifies all the reasons a writer and book-lover might strive to work in the world of publishing —…
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Jewish Book Festival presents a collection of vivid graphic novels
January 26, 2023By: Aditi Dwivedi, News Writer Every year, the shelves of the Cherie Smith Jewish Community Centre’s Jewish Book Festival, one of Vancouver’s “leading cultural and literary events,” are filled with powerful narratives, knitting together a community of prominent and emerging…
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New anthology explores how Vancouver’s support structures can guide us through precarious times
January 23, 2023By: Saije Rusimovici, Staff Writer In the midst of a global pandemic, climate change, and economic instability, What Are Our Supports? provides a unique look at the ways artwork can inspire human connection. The anthology, which was published on January…
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Queer Little Nightmares reveals the humanity in monstrosity
November 15, 2022By: Tianne Jensen-DesJardins, SFU Student My first encounter with the monstrous was Frankenstein. In my first read, I appreciated Frankenstein for Shelley’s writing skill — the novel is a Russian nesting doll of stories within stories. It wasn’t until the…
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