— 2026 —
Managing Editors
Acquisitions Editors
Features Editors
Fiction Editors
Poetry Editors
Script Editor
Non-Fiction Editor
Copy Editors
Gustafson Feature
Profile Feature Writers
Book Review Editor
Art Directors
Designer
Portfolio Series Coordinators
Audio/Video Editor
Advertising Team
Launch and Marketing Manager
Social Media and Publicity Team
Web Designer
Publisher
Taylor Fleming, Alexandra Groenwoldt
Daxton Comba
Zoe Chong
Sarah Hart, Flynn Connolly-Sifton, Gwendolyn Sanchez Westaway
Bri Hepner, Marina McDonald
Kyle Emmerson
Lillian Morpak, Elke Sorenson, Masha Zhaksybek
Alexandra Groenwoldt, Lillian Morpak
Bailey Bellosillo, Marina McDonald
Zoe Chong, Kyle Emmerson, Sarah Hart, Lillian Morpak
Zoe Chong
Bailey Bellosillo, Daxton Comba
José Padilla
Marina McDonald, Flynn Connolly-Sifton
Kyle Emmerson, Elke Sorenson
Emily Brandstaetter, Sarah Hart
Emily Brandstaetter
Bri Hepner, Masha Zhaksybek
Bailey Bellosillo
Joy Gugeler
Managing Editors
Taylor Fleming
Taylor Fleming is a fifth-year Creative Writing major and Journalism minor, and a co-Managing
Editor for Portal 2026. She was a Poetry Editor, Gustafson Feature Writer, and a member of the
Social Media team for Portal 2025. Her writing has appeared in Portal 2024 and 2025, GOOEY, in the
poetry anthology Winter’s Melody, and in the upcoming short fiction anthology Drift. She received the
Kevin Roberts Poetry Award in 2024 and the Meadowlarks Award for Fiction in 2025, and has been
shortlisted for Polar Expressions Publishing’s national writing competition for both poetry and short
fiction. She is an editor for GOOEY magazine’s third issue and served as secretary for The Navigator’s Board of Directors in 2025.
Alexandra Groenwoldt
Alexandra Groenwoldt is a third-year Creative Writing and Psychology student at VIU and an
international student from Germany. Her short story “How to Make a Sand Cake” was published in
GOOEY magazine in 2024 and she received the 2025 Pat Bevan Scholarship for Fiction. She was a
Fiction Editor and Copy Editor for Portal 2025, and she is Co-Managing Editor
for the Portal 2026 issue where her review of Hypebeast appears. She is the Chair of the Creative Writing Club at VIU.
ACQUISITIONS EDITORS
Daxton Comba
Daxton Comba is a third-year Creative Writing student, a graphic designer, and a videographer. He
served as Script Editor and Audio-Visual intern for Portal 2025, and over the summer he wrote/
directed a staged reading of his play Funeral Cake. Daxton has memoir and short-fiction published in
Portal and GOOEY magazine respectively, his work was produced for VIU’s 2025 One Act Festival,
and he was a recipient of the Meadowlarks Award for Fiction. He is a videographer at The Navigator,
as well as co-Acquisitions Editor and co-Art Director for Portal 2026.
Editors
Zoe Chong
Features Editor
Zoe Chong is a fourth-year student in the VIU creative writing program. In 2024–2025 she was the Portfolio Reading Series coordinator and a script editor for Portal Magazine, and for their 2026 issue she is the Features Editor and the Book Review Editor. She has published book reviews with Vancouver Island Bookcrate, published scripts in Portal 2024 and 2025, and was the map illustrator for Avianna Bishop’s debut fantasy novel Sacrifice. She has been published in The Navigator with a short story and a photograph in Vol. 57 Issue 4 and placed second in their 2026 Short Fiction Contest with her short story “Mouth Full of Sand” published in Vol. 57 Issue 6. She has won the Rick Davidson Memorial Bursary in 2024 and the Jason Mayes Memorial Award in 2025. She is currently at work on her own various projects, including novels, scripts, and short stories.
Flynn Connolly-Sifton
Fiction Editor
Flynn Connolly-Sifton is a third-year English and Creative Writing student. He was the 2024 Portent Prize winner for “It Leaves an Impression.” His first published story was “The Vacuum of Infinity,” which won the Junior category of the 2017 Islands Short Fiction Contest. “He Sings to Us” was published in Portal 2025. His fiction has previously appeared in GOOEY and he is the recipient of a Pat Bevan Scholarship for Fiction.
Sarah Hart
Fiction Editor
Sarah Hart is a fourth-year English and Creative Writing student who has also studied Mandarin at VIU, for which she received a Certificate of Proficiency in Language and Culture in 2025. She is an illustrator and is a Fiction Editor and on the Advertising Team for Portal 2026. Her story “When Stars Align” appears in this issue.
Bri Hepner
Poetry editor
Bri Hepner is a fourth-year English major and Creative Writing minor. Her nonfiction work “Pull Up a Chair” appears in this issue, and she read at the Portfolio Reading Series this year. She is a Social Media Manager and a Poetry Editor for Portal 2026.
Marina McDonald
Poetry Editor
Marina McDonald is a fourth-year Creative Writing and Journalism student. Her work has been featured in Ha-Shilth-Sa, Lazy Dog, The Navigator, and Portal. She won the Barry Broadfoot Award for Journalism in 2025 and the Pat Bevan Scholarship for Poetry in 2024. Her poem “Apple of My Eye” was published in Portal 2024, and her review of The Wind Has Robbed the Legs Off a Madwoman in its 2025 issue, where she was a Nonfiction editor. This year she is a Gustafson Feature Writer, Portfolio Series Coordinator, and Poetry Editor. Her memoir “Vicious Cycle,” interview with Marilyn Dumont, and review of “The Crane” appear in this issue. She has worked as a publishing assistant at Strong Nations Publishing in Nanaimo.
Kyle Emmerson
Script Editor
Kyle Emmerson is a third-year student majoring in Media Studies with a minor in Creative Writing. He is a multidisciplinary storyteller, working with genre fiction, photography, and film. His portfolio includes two self-published novels and two short films he wrote and directed. He is the Audio/Visual Editor and Script Editor for Portal 2026. His story “A Fine Mess,” interview with tonia laird and review of her novel Seventhblade, and several photos appear in this issue. He operates RavensTale Creative Foundry in Ladysmith.
Lillian Morpak
Nonfiction Editor
Lillian Morpak is a fourth-year Creative Writing major. Her poem “Nature Consumes Me” was published in the spring 2025 issue of Counterflow Magazine. She is Managing Editor of The Raspberry literary magazine and a Nonfiction Editor and Copy Editor for Portal 2026. Her story “Rooted,” review of Separate Ways, and interview with Amy Mattes appear in this issue.
Elke Sorenson
Nonfiction Editor
Elke Sorensen will graduate this year with a major in Creative Writing and a minor in Media Studies. She hosts a literary show called Likely Story: Investigations Into Suspiciously Good Literature on CHLY 101.7FM, and produces a lifestyle podcast called Elke’s on the Island for The Navigator. Her fiction, poetry, and non-fiction can be found in GOOEY and Cabin Radio. Her poem “Compound” appeared in Portal 2024 and her article “Please Don’t Touch the Specimens” appeared in the 2025 issue. For the 2026 edition she is a Nonfiction Editor and works on the Audio-Visual team. She is the recipient of the 2024 Barry Broadfoot Journalism and Creative Non-Fiction award and the 2025 Gisele Merlet Writing Award.
Masha Zhaksybek
Nonfiction Editor
Masha Zhaksybek is a third-year student majoring in English with a minor in Creative Writing. Her nonfiction “Borrowed Time” and fiction “Don’t Fence Me In” were published in Portal 2025. She is a Nonfiction Editor and member of the Social Media team for Portal 2026.
Bailey Bellosillo
Art Director
Bailey Bellosillo is a fifth-year Creative Writing major at VIU. They were a Poetry Editor for the Portal 2025 issue, for which she was the cover artist and a nonfiction contributor. Their work has also been published in The Navigator, where he is currently an Arts & Culture Editor. She is co-Art Director,
Website Designer, and Gustafson Feature Writer for Portal 2026.
Emily Brandstaetter
Launch and Marketing Manager
Emily Brandstaetter is a fourth-year Creative Writing major and Marketing minor. Her poem “Stripped” was published in The Navigator where she worked as the Social Media Manager. She was on the Launch and Subscriptions teams for Portal 2025 and is currently the Launch and Marketing Manager.
DESIGNER
José Padilla
José Padilla is in his final year at VIU, majoring in Graphic Design. He served as the magazine designer for Portal 2025 and is returning for Portal 2026. His work focuses on branding and motion, with a particular love for print production.