Words from the Editors
Muses from the North (MFTN) has received a good readership inside and outside the UCN community since its first publication online and in print (ISSN 2561-4274) in Fall 2017. On April 7, Kyle Darbyson, a journalist from Thompson Citizen, wrote a report on Muses from the North, the student journal, together with the quint, UCN’s interdisciplinary academic journal. Mr. Darbyson’s report can be found under the title “UCN celebrates 10 years academic publishing and brings new student journal into the fold” (http://www.thompsoncitizen.net/news/thompson/ucn-celebrates-10-years-of-academic-publishing-and-brings-new-student-journal-into-the-fold-1.23256823).
As Mr. Darbyson points out, “Outside of being an intellectual pursuit, Muses from the North also serves an educational function for students, where they get to apply their academic writing skills to a completely different environment.”
Our published student writers shared their happy experience of publication and recognition with their peers at the MFTN Writers’ Workshop held on February 20, 2018. Furthermore, in a presentation at the UCN’s “Research-in-Action” series on February 22, Ms. Kassidy Burden, print copy designer, together with Drs. Kong and Atoyebi, editors of MFTN, shared the story of her accomplishment in helping to bring the print version of the first issue of MFTN to the readers. Also, at the UCN Council of Elders meeting of April 13, Ms. Kassidy Burden, Ms. Ellora Reddy, and Mr. Peter Harris, together with their professors, Drs. Gilbert McInnis, Joseph Atoyebi, and Ying Kong gave a presentation on “The Impact of Publication and Recognition on a UCN student’s Life and Career.” At the end of the well-received presentation, the elders were unanimous in their high praise for the establishment of a student-centered publication outlet, namely, Muses from the North (MFTN). The Council of Elders also used the opportunity to encourage UCN student writers to tell more stories about the Northern culture and Indigenous traditions. Therefore, in the light of some of the suggestions which were received from the Council of Elders, plans are underway to redirect the next MFTN writers’ workshop to focus on transcribing and documenting oral stories. We will also address ethical issues as it relates to presenting the stories of the Indigenous peoples of Canada.
In this second issue of MFTN, we are very pleased to welcome new writers into the fold. This issue showcases offerings from different genres and a special column for students in the UCN Nursing Intent Program. Our new writers have not only written about their life stories but also about events that are peculiar to the North. Talking about events, this second issue of MFTN has two reportorial articles from the 2018 edition of the annual Trappers’ Festival in the town of The Pas. One socio-economic issue that found its way into public discourse in recent years is the damaged rail lines between Thompson and Churchill. One of our students who is a person with visual challenge makes an oral contribution to the rail line issue in MP4 format. Also in the issue, a student writer revisits the residential school system, comparing it with the boarding house school system of her native Ghana. Like in the first issue of MFTN, we have included some graphic stories in the collection.
We invite everyone to join us in savouring the beautiful offerings in this second issue of MFTN.