By: 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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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 of a crime he didn’t…
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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,…
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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, author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates…
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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. Crooked teeth is the wet…
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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 is often used…
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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 — while pointing out how this…
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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 writers dedicated to vocalizing the…
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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 21, recognizes how support structures…
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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 fourth or fifth time interacting…
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