CONTRIBUTORS

ALEXA CHEUNG

Alexa is a law student who would much rather prefer being a food blogger. Under normal circumstances, she procrastinates by watching Bon Appetit videos and fantasizes about recreating those recipes. During quarantine, she has finally managed to make those dreams come true. You can usually find her in pajama pants crouching next to the oven, checking on muffins and cakes. Follow her at @ajchonkers for more yommy content.

ANIKE MORRISON 

Anike is a biology student at York University, Glendon campus. She is a naturalist, and enamoured by the power of narrative and poetry. Anike has been journaling for over 10 years, and has recently been focusing on micropoetry, written sketches, and imagery laden verse. She is using the quarantine to work on ecological-themed blog posts, manuscripts, and poetry projects, as well as to bake, hike and do origami.

ARASH GHAFOORI 

Arash just recently finished his bachelors degree in architectural science at Ryerson University. As a creative individual, he has always tried to express himself in a variety of the arts such as photography, architecture, graphic design, traditional arts, digital fabrication, illustration and cooking. Currently stuck in quarantine, Arash likes to divide his free time between Animal Crossing and woodturning. His favourite architect is Antoni Gaudi.

See Arash’s architecture portfolio here.

DEBBIE FAN

Debbie is a full-time civil engineer-in-training and part-time independent artist. She mainly works with digital art, her tool of trade being Photoshop. Her hobbies include listening to podcasts like SYSK and playing building games like Minecraft and City Skylines. She also watches a variety of TV shows. She recently finished The Good Place and is currently on season 3 of Westworld! Check out her other artwork on Instagram (@happyrice_) and deviantart (happyricedesign) where she posts environmental paintings and pets/people portraits. She also has an Etsy shop: happyricedesigns.etsy.com

EMERALD L.

Emerald is a graduate student at the University of Toronto finishing up her degree in Master of Health Informatics. She enjoys long walks on the beach in the late evening and doesn’t know what to write in this bio. 

FARSHAD MURTADA

Farshad is a 4th year Health Science and Biology student at Western University. He is passionate about science and innovation and hopes that one day he can be someone who works on serious global issues. When Farshad isn’t studying, he is passionate about music, writing, and making videos. At the moment, Farshad is working on an album called “Letters To My Future Self” where he talks about his past year and everything he wishes he was as a person. He is also releasing weekly blogs and YouTube videos about his journey of starting over and trying to become the best possible version of himself.
Instagram: @farshad_13
Website: farshadmurtada.com
Spotify: Farshad Murtada 

IRFAN HAKIM

Irfan is a graduate student at the University of Toronto finishing up his degree in Master of Health Informatics. He enjoys biking, collecting stamps and coins, is a cinephile, patron of the arts, and enjoys long walks on the beach with Emerald, Michelle, Virginia, and Angela.

JASMINE NG

Jasmine is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto. She was a podcast editor and science writer at The Strand. Her work is published in The Strand newspaper and magazine as well as the Decent Exposure Journal. Listen to her on The Strandcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, and Spotify. When she isn’t hosting or editing podcasts, her favourite activities include filling her camera roll with pictures of clouds and writing short stories.

JIMMY DOMAGALA-TANG

Jimmy is a 22 year old who spends most of his time eating. His quarantine days consist mainly of sleeping, rolling around in his bed, and eventually crawling downstairs for caffeine. He enjoys cooking, and has received many compliments from friend such as "not bad" and "could use some more salt but I think it's fine."

LAURA NGUYEN

Laura is a recent graduate from the Master of Forest Conservation program at the University of Toronto. She is currently balancing her life as a Starbucks barista, policy advisor with the Government of Ontario, and blogger at torontomillennial.ca

LYLE KAM

Lyle is a Toronto-based award winning artist who has played at events and shows all around Ontario. Drawing inspiration from artists like Ed Sheeran, Lauv, John Mayer, and Alec Benjamin, he has self-written, produced, mixed, and mastered all his music. To this day, Lyle continues to perform live around Toronto with just a guitar and loop pedal. Lyle has a lot more music on the way, but for now, he's just an aspiring music lad.
Facebook: @lylekammusic
Instagram: @lylekam
SoundCloud: soundcloud.com/lylekam
Spotify: Lyle Kam
He is also on YouTube and Apple Music.

MARIANNE LABRIE

Marianne is a hobby artist from Sherbrooke, Canada. Her portfolio mostly consists of digital artworks of various styles. She simply enjoys sharing this passion that has been a part of her life since childhood. She did multidisciplinary university studies, from visual arts to film animation, and is now graduating with a bachelor degree in Film Studies.

You can find more of her art here: deviantart.com/nemariart

MICHELLE KHUU

Michelle is a Registered Nurse by day pursuing her Masters in Health Informatics and a wannabe designer by night. She enjoys jamming out to High School Musical songs and taking long walks on the beach with Emerald, Irfan, Virginia and Angela.

SOPHIA SAVVA

Sophia recently graduated from the University of Toronto with High Distinction and a double major in Book and Media Studies & English. She is an emerging writer with works in CBC Canada Writes, carte blanche, Points in Case, and many more. When she's not busy writing or reading, she likes painting, cooking, playing the piano, and crafting the perfect Spotify playlist.

Follow her on Instagram @spooktacularextravaganza and on Twitter @sophiafansite.

STEPHANIE LI

Stephanie was born and raised in London, ON, where she is currently quarantining with her family. After obtaining a business degree, she moved to Toronto to pursue a career in communications. For the past year, Stephanie has been writing poetry on a regular basis and is excited to explore other creative writing pursuits. From a young age, she has been passionate about reading and writing, which has translated into her current role as a full-time storyteller for individuals and organizations. In her spare time, Stephanie enjoys watching foreign-language TV shows and movies, playing the piano and practicing yoga.

Follow her @stephgkli on Instagram

TERESE MASON PIERRE

Terese is a writer, editor and organizer. Her work has appeared in the The Temz Review, Canthius, The Puritan, Quill and Quire, and Strange Horizons, among others. She is currently the poetry editor of Augur Magazine, a Canadian speculative literature journal. Terese has also previously volunteered with Shab-e She’r poetry reading series, and facilitated creative writing workshops. Terese lives and works in Toronto.

teresemasonpierre.com

VIVIAN MEI

Vivian is a hobbyist artist currently stuck in her hometown in Connecticut. She graduated from University of Toronto in 2019 with a B.Sc. in Neuroscience and Psychology and is now working as a pharmacy technician. During this quarantine she is most likely to be found working overtime at the pharmacy, playing animal crossing, or spending far too much time on social media. She can also be found at vivinyl.net.

YAN LIU

Yan is currently a masters student studying pharmacology at the University of Toronto. During the COVID 19 lockdown, he bought a bird feeder and now spends all his spare time trying his luck with bird photography. An important lesson he has learned is that squirrel proof birdfeeders are not designed to withstand squirrels that DIVEBOMB BIRD FEEDER FROM TREES THAT ARE 4 METERS AWAY.