Issues

Carpool

In Issue 1: In Transit

Zainab Mahdi

The streets were eternal back thenback when back seat was a canopy of armsstretched out like the solsticethe thump of tire on chewed cementjolting the deviance from feeble bodiesMomma was no pilot, bu... Read more

Yusuf

In Issue 1: In Transit

Zain Bandali

trapped in a moving trainknee to knee with an archangel sun radiating off sandy complexionmanicured stubble lining jawline sharp and effortlesstaste of blood floods to my mouth Ya Khaaliq, You are the... Read more

Moose

In Issue 1: In Transit

Anonymous

From the fourteenth floor, you can see how much has changed down at King and Victoria. The skyline is filled with condos. But also, along the plateau of the train tracks: a patch of hill, a shopping c... Read more

Translator's Note

In Issue 1: In Transit

Bashar Lulu Jabbour

The translation of the Arabic pieces in this magazine was a collaborative effort. Most often, the author wrote a rough English translation that I edited and later passed on for review with other nativ... Read more

Grieving a Stranger

In Issue 1: In Transit

Meseret Abebe

My parents came to Canada as refugees in the late ’80s for better opportunities and to escape Ethiopia’s hellish dictatorship. Though I cannot know the extent of their struggles, I can speak of th... Read more

The Mosaic of Brokenness

In Issue 1: In Transit

Jennifer Drews

(today) I cried, driving to the grocery store, for no reason, other than, I remembered (so when does it end?) When I am accomplished and successful, is that when I feel whole again? I desper... Read more

The New KW

In Issue 1: In Transit

Janice Jo Lee

This poem is meant to be read out loud, with friends, while in transit. Persevere through construction, detours won’t trouble you Let these stories mark our new KW. A KW that connects us with... Read more

Treatment

In Issue 1: In Transit

Anonymous

It’s six am, I didn’t sleep, I got a dozen phone calls on my cell. She’s ready for treatment. “I’ll meet you at eight,” she said. So I made the phone calls. I fo... Read more

The Boat

In Issue 1: In Transit

Jordan Wallace

... Read more

True Blue

In Issue 2: Space(s)

Nicole Smith

Elvis isn’t dead. He lives in Kitchener, Ontario, on a bench outside the grocery store. “One for the money!” I’m always tempted to say, as I dump a pathetic amount of change into his blistery ... Read more

A Plate Away

In Issue 2: Space(s)

Tyra Forde

Listen to Tyra read from her piece: Textile · Tyra Forde - A Plate AwayMy grandparents have lived in the same three-bedroom house in Cambridge since they immigrated to Canada from Bridgetown, Barbado... Read more

Vermillion

In Issue 2: Space(s)

Zehra Nawab

The day starts for the poor long before it does for the rich; for the ruled long before it does for the rulers; for the sun long before it does for the moon; for the Indians long before it does for th... Read more

Policing the Pandemic

In Issue 2: Space(s)

Niara van Gaalen Seemab Zahra Yasmeen Nematt Alla Tomi A. Ryan Antooa

When the first wave of COVID-19 in March 2020 set off emergency orders in Ontario, police departments were given increased powers to enforce public health measures that called for self-isolation and physical distancing. Neighbours were also encouraged to police each other through the use of “snitch-lines”, and an expanded state of surveillance was assumed as a new normal. This deepened pre-existing police presence and control in neighbourhoods where more poor, Black, Indigenous, and immigrant communities live. KW Article Club, a reading group and art collective based in Waterloo Region, informed by work from local and international Black activists and organizers, sought to address these structural inequities in March 2020 through a zine titled #PolicingThePandemic. The following feature is an adapted version of that zine that adds two pieces that delve into the impact policing has on Black people, making a case for why we continue to strive towards a future where we prioritize care instead of enforcement. Read more

Skin

In Issue 2: Space(s)

Yvonne Tagoe

Textile · Yvonne Tagoe - SkinMy skin is a beautiful gift not a sin But in this foreign land They don’t understand that my skin is my pride and joy In this foreign land far from home my skin is a so... Read more

The Screen is a Portal

In Issue 2: Space(s)

Mélika Hashemi

Especially while in self-isolation, screens—whether windows or devices —have become a portal for connecting us with the world beyond our domestic walls. The screen that we choose determines how we... Read more

The Bitterness on Your Tongue

In Issue 2: Space(s)

Tomi A.

Listen to Tomi read from this piece: Textile · Tomi A. - The Bitterness On Your TongueI am listening to Nina Simone sing “Strange Fruit” and I am trying to sleep and all around me float visions o... Read more

Vermillion (Digital Storytelling Workshop)

Zehra Nawab

The day starts for the poor long before it does for the rich; for the ruled long before it does for the rulers... Read more

Grieving a Stranger (Digital Storytelling Workshop)

Meseret Abebe

My parents came to Canada as refugees in the late ’80s for better opportunities and to escape Ethiopia’s dictatorship. Though I cannot know the extent of their struggles, I can speak of their consequences... Read more