—2025—
Managing Editors
Acquisitions Editors
Fiction Editor
Poetry Editor
Script Editor
Non-Fiction Editors
Feature Editors
Book Review Editor
Art Director
Designer
Portfolio Series Coordinators
AV Editor
Ad Team
Subscriptions & Merch Team
Social Media & Fundraising Team
Web Editor
Publisher
Lee Groen, Paige Vandop
Tara Wohlleben, Ali Dillon-Cardinal
Stephanie Zimmerman
Taylor Fleming
Zoe Chong
Kiera Bogle, Marina McDonald
Taylor Fleming, Pamela Medland
Stephanie Zimmerman
Maggie McKnight
TBD
Zoe Chong
Barrett Aass
Barrett Aass, Pamela Medland
Kiera Bogle, Marina McDonald
Taylor Fleming, Maggie McKnight
Tara Wohlleben
Joy Gugeler
Managing Editors
Lee Groen
Lee is a fourth-year Creative Writing student at VIU. In 2020 he was awarded the Pat Bevan Scholarship in Creative Writing for Fiction and was a Meadowlarks Award winner in 2024. His first publication in Portal was “The Lucky Ones,” a short story in the 2021 issue. His short story “A Star Walked South” and his article “The Last Powderman” appeared in Portal’s 2024 issue for which he was a Fiction Editor. His work has also been published in GOOEY, The Navigator, and Sea & Cedar. He is a reporter for The Navigator and is working on his debut novel.
Paige Vandop
Paige is a third-year Creative Writing student at VIU. She has self-published a young adult science fiction novel, The Masked Rebellion, with a trilogy in the works. Her short story “Body Double” was shortlisted in the Island Short Fiction Review in 2024. Two of her short stories, “Blue Prints” and "Shifting Gears,” have been published in The Navigator. An academic paper she edited was awarded the Thomas Clark Silver Medal at the Global Undergraduate Awards. She was a Non-fiction Editor for Portal 2024 and joined The Navigator as Copy Editor. She also works as a freelance editor.
Acquisition Editors
Ali Dillon-Cardinal
Ali is a third-year Creative Writing student focusing on script writing and psychology at VIU. She has twice won the Polar Expressions Writing contest with a short story and poem. She self-published a collection of poetry entitled This in 2022. Her one-act play was produced at VIU’s One Act Festival in 2023. In 2024, her play The Kids Are All Dying was sponsored and produced at the Nanaimo Fringe Festival and she was an Editorial Assistant for Counterflow magazine. She was a Poetry Editor and on the Subscriptions team for Portal 2024.
Tara Wohlleben
Tara is a fourth-year Creative Writing major and English minor. They enjoy writing genre fiction and experimenting in poetry. Their essay “Living the Dream” was published in The Navigator in 2024. Previously they were a Poetry Editor and Feature Editor for Portal 2024 and co-interviewed Gustafson Distinguished Poet Karen Solie for that issue. During the summer they interned at OnSpec magazine. They are also the Web Editor for Portal 2025.
Art Director
Maggie McKnight
Maggie is a third-year Creative Writing major and Visual Art minor at VIU. She received the District Authority’s Scholarship for her drawing and painting in 2022 and is currently working on her first full-length graphic novel. She is also a Social Media team member for Portal 2025.
Editors
Stephanie Zimmerman
Fiction Editor
Stephanie is pursuing her BA in Creative Writing at VIU. She received the Governor General’s Award in high school and writes fiction in a range of genres. She is a Fiction Editor and the Book Review Editor for the 2025 issue of Portal.
Taylor Fleming
Poetry Editor
Taylor is a fourth-year Creative Writing major and Journalism minor. She received ‘Best Performance’ for her spoken word piece at VIU’s 2023 CREATE Conference. Her poem “Please Don’t Touch Me” was published in Portal 2024. She received the Kevin Roberts Poetry Award and was recently shortlisted for Polar Expressions’ national poetry contest for their upcoming collection, Winter’s Melody. She is a Poetry Editor, Feature Editor, and member of the Social Media team for Portal 2025.
Zoe Chong
Script Editor
Zoe is a third-year Creative Writing major at VIU. Her script excerpt “Tricks of the Trade” was featured in the 2024 issue of Portal, and she has numerous book reviews published with Vancouver Island Bookcrate. She is the Script Editor as well as the Portfolio Reading Series Coordinator for Portal 2025.
Kiera Bogle
Non-Fiction Editor
Kiera is a third-year Bachelor of Education student taking Creative Writing electives after being awarded an entrance scholarship to the University of Victoria’s Creative Writing Program. She was a Fiction Editor and on the Subscriptions team for Portal 2024 and is returning to the latter this year now as a Non-fiction Editor.
Marina McDonald
Non-Fiction Editor
Marina is a third-year Creative Writing and Journalism student and a publishing assistant at Strong Nations Publishing. She received the Heartstone Foundation Bursary in 2021. Her poem “Apple of My Eye” was published in Portal 2024 and she was awarded the Pat Bevan Scholarship in Creative Writing for Poetry. She also works as a women’s artistic gymnastics, trampoline, and tumbling coach. She is a Non-fiction Editor and on the Merchandise and Subscriptions team for Portal 2025.
Pamela Medland
Feature Editor
Pamela's poems have appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies. Her chapbook Bright Blade was published in 2020 and her full-length poetry collection Echo of Ash in 2021. She won the 2024 Shuswap Writer’s Association Word on the Lake Writing Contest for her poem “A House of Doors,” while “Blowing Water” was awarded the 2024 Mary Garland Coleman Prize in Lyric Poetry. She is a member of the Advertising team and a Feature Editor for Portal’s 2025 issue.
Barrett Aass
AV Editor
Barrett is a third-year Creative Writing student at VIU and the Audio-Visual Editor for Portal 2025.