Portal Magazine

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Portal Magazine

VIU's annual full-colour literary magazine Prime words. Compelling art. Momentous beginnings. What makes Portal so portentous?

Portal is your gateway to accomplished short fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, scripts, interviews, art, and photography by Vancouver Island University students. Enter Portal’s literary universe and discover worlds and futures ready to unfold. It is “of ourselves and our origins”—a contemporary portrait of literary talent in the making, a portable guide to the VIU from here. First published i

n 1991, Portal Magazine has been and continues to be made possible through the generous support of advertisers, donors, and student fundraising. All inquiries and submissions can be made to:
[email protected]

04/21/2026

In “A Fine Mess” by Kyle Emmerson, an intelligent African Grey crashes a dinner date.

You don’t want to miss this one! It can be found in our upcoming issue which will be released this Friday.

Another reminder that our launch is happening this Friday and you are all invited! Doors are at 6:30 and the launch starts at 7pm at Beban Auditorium A. Tickets are $25 and include a copy of our 35th issue.

04/17/2026

We are so excited to announce that our launch is only one week away! 🎈

Join us on Friday April 24th for an evening of readings, good food, great music and awards! Doors are at 6:30 and the launch starts at 7pm.

Looking for a ticket? Reach out to any of our masthead for advance purchase with cash, or buy your ticket at the door where card payment will be available. Each ticket purchase comes with a copy of our 35th issue.

See you there!

04/09/2026

Alexis King’s poem traces the moment desire collapses into something else, where silence becomes power.

Read this touching contribution in our upcoming 2026 issue.

04/01/2026

Have you ever had a certain scent trigger a memory? Something so strong it moves you through time?

You don’t want to miss this beautiful piece written by Addison Paton. Coming soon in our 2026 issue!

03/31/2026

Big announcement… We have a date set for our launch! 🎉

Join us on the evening of April 24th to celebrate all the hard work from our masthead and contributors that went into creating this issue. We are so happy with how it turned out and we know you will be too.

See you all in a month! 🥳

02/26/2026

Join us tomorrow evening for our next portfolio event!

Haley Healey attended Laurentian University for a BA in Physical and Health Education, VIU for a teaching degree, and did a Master’s degree from York University in Counselling Psychology. She is now a high school counsellor at John Barsby Community School, a registered clinical counsellor, and the bestselling author of books for all ages about extraordinary women of history. Her book Trailblazing Canadians series; Her Courage Rises was a finalist for the 2023 Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize.

This even will be held at The Vault on 499 Wallace Street in Nanaimo.

Thursday, February 26th @6:30pm.

Enjoy an evening of non fiction and community opened by our very own student writers.

See you there!

01/31/2026

Join us on Thursday for Portal’s “Bids and Beer” Silent Auction Fundraiser at White Sails Brewing! Come out to support the magazine, its masthead, contributors, and the next issue.

No entry cost, great beer and food on sale, and good Valentine’s Day deals on gift baskets, products, services, books, and more!

Date & Time: Thursday, February 5th from 6-8pm
Address: White Sails Brewing 125 Comox Rd

We hope to see you there :)

01/28/2026

Join us this Thursday for our next Portfolio event!

Rebecca Campbell is a Canadian writer of weird stories and climate change fiction. She won the Sunburst award for short fiction in 2020 for “The Fourth Trimester is the Strangest,” the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award in 2021 for “An Important Failure,” and the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction in 2023 for Arboreality. NeWest Press published her first novel, The Paradise Engine, in 2013.

This event will be held at The Vault on 499 Wallace Street in Nanaimo

Thursday, January 29th @6:30pm

Enjoy an evening of weird fiction and community opened by our very own student writers.

See you there!

01/21/2026

Join us for our next Portfolio event!

Rebecca Campbell is a Canadian writer of weird stories and climate change fiction. She won the Sunburst award for short fiction in 2020 for “The Fourth Trimester is the Strangest,” the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award in 2021 for “An Important Failure,” and the Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction in 2023 for Arboreality. NeWest Press published her first novel, The Paradise Engine, in 2013.

This event will be held at The Vault on 499 Wallace Street in Nanaimo

Thursday, January 29th @6:30pm

Enjoy an evening of weird fiction and community opened by our very own student writers.

See you there!

12/03/2025

Congratulations to Brendan Wanderer, our winner for the 2026 Portent Prize!
Thank you to everyone who submitted, and keep an eye out for Brendan’s script in our next issue!

Address

900 Fifth Street
Nanaimo, BC
V9R5S5

Website

http://portalmagazine.ca/

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