-
Be Still: Slowing Down to Savour Life
“When we lose our sense of wonder we become dissatisfied with who we are,” Madeleine L’Engle says in her book on creation and human identity (Madeleine 51). When I came back to her words this month, I connected just as strongly to them as I had the first time I read them. Madeleine L’Engle is right, on many levels. Losing our sense of wonder not only prevents us from seeing and appreciating the blessings in our lives, it also makes us disillusioned with reality, and with ourselves. Our world goes at such a fast pace that we sometimes find it difficult to catch our breath, much less give ourselves time…
-
7 Poets to Follow on Instagram that aren’t Rupi Kaur
If you have been living anywhere that isn’t under a rock for the past 4 years, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard of Rupi Kaur. She has captivated readers with her two simple yet incredibly resonant collections of poetry: Milk and Honey and The Sun and Her Flowers. Her 3.1 million Instagram followers wait daily for her to post another poem. This being said, if you’re anything like me you’re probably a little tired of hearing about Rupi Kaur and are looking for something new. Below are 7 other poets to help refresh your Instagram feed. @atticuspoetry Atticus is my favourite poet on Instagram,…
-
6 Poetry Bites to Feed Your Soul on Dark, Gloomy Days
Dark Raincouver nights. Week after week of essays. A never-ending list of obligations. Whether you’re taking double shifts at work, crunching to meet a word count or studying into the wee hours of the morning for midterms, it’s important to take a quiet moment for yourself however you need to. Here are some small bites of poetry to get you through those dark, gloomy days. A few words of encouragement, a phrase to resolve your existential crisis, or just a beautiful, brief verse — sometimes literature can keep us going even when copious amounts of caffeine cannot. 1. “O Me! O Life!” by Walt Whitman “Oh me! Oh life! of…
-
✱ TGS Issue 7.1 Launch Party! ✱
We’re back!!!! The English Students’ Association and The Garden Statuary, UBC’s undergraduate literary journal, are excited to welcome all of you to the launch of Issue 7.1! Please join us on Thursday, November 30 from 5-7 pm for: 🍂 Free food!! 🍂 Readings from published undergraduates!! 🍂 Mingling with editors, authors, and artists! 🍂 A chance to purchase or win past print editions! This event is open to everyone from the UBC community and beyond. Please feel free to invite your friends, family, or even complete strangers! 🍂 TERRITORIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT 🍂 The Garden Statuary recognizes that this event is taking place on the traditional, ancestral, and unceded territories of the…
-
Submit to The Garden Statuary!
The Garden Statuary (TGS) is the English department’s student-run multimedia journal. TGS publishes a wide range of student work, including academic essays, fiction, creative-non fiction, scripts, poetry, visual artwork, and more. If you’ve done some particularly stellar creative or academic — or perhaps creative academic? — work, TGS wants you! Successful submissions will be published online and in the beautiful end-of-year print edition. So what are you waiting for? Send us something today! The submission deadline for Issue 7.1 is October 20th! Find out how to submit here!
-
A Novel In Verse: My Take on Eugene Onegin
As someone who is very interested in Russian History, culture, and literature, I love to explore different Russian texts in translation. One of my current favourites is the novel written in verse, Eugene Onegin. Written by Pushkin in 1825, this novel is short, witty, and engaging, with an unexpected twist at the end. It is an easy book to enjoy while juggling schoolwork and readings. Beware, spoilers ahead! Eugene Onegin follows the story of the young aristocrat, Eugene Onegin, as he slowly becomes bored with the debonair life he has been living and withdraws to the countryside. Once there, he quickly forms a friendship with his neighbour, Vladimir Lensky. Lensky…
-
Lyricism as Literature
A couple months ago Bob Dylan accepted a Nobel Prize for literature. This might strike some as odd, because of the stigma of grouping lyricism with literature. People may argue, if one lyricist’s work is considered literature, where do we draw the line? Can the work of Miley Cyrus or Drake be looped in with Bob Dylan and the like? Can Desiigner’s “Panda”, of which the chorus reads “Panda, Panda Panda, Panda, Panda, Panda, Panda, I got broads in Atlanta, Twistin’ dope, lean, and the Fanta” be considered literature? How do we make the distinction between music and literature? Yet on the other side of the debate we must consider…
-
The Sad Songs of J. Alfred Prufrock: A Playlist for Times of Rain and Stress
A curated playlist of sad songs for the probably-sexually-frustrated-nihilist in all of us. Bonus Track: Sad Eyes – Mini Dresses Image “1959 Cooley’s Gardens” via Flickr.
