How has VIU’s Portal magazine evolved over the years?

How did Portal magazine evolve from a black-and-white photocopied and stapled chapbook to a nationally distributed literary magazine?

Joy Gugeler, Publisher of Portal magazine, took people on a journey through time to learn about the magazine’s evolution during her spring 2024 VIU Arts and Humanities Colloquium lecture. Gugeler, alongside current and former students, shared how the magazine responded to the shifting publishing landscape, developed a monthly reading series, a national contest and created a spotlight section to feature diverse voices.

Gugeler is a VIU Creative Writing and Journalism and Media Studies Professor. She has edited more than 100 books for ECW, Raincoast, Beach Holme, Quarry presses; ARC and Room magazines; Suite101, Orato and NowPublic sites. She reviewed for The Ottawa Citizen, Vancouver Sun and the Globe and Mail; and hosted shows on Bravo!, CBC Ottawa, Write On (CKCU) and CHLY’s Books and Bytes. She co-founded The Children’s Book Camp at Vancouver Public Library in 2000 and has been on the Canada Council for the Arts and the boards of the Red Cedar Award, Word on the Street and Vancouver Island Children’s Book festivals.

Watch Gugeler’s presentation:

Since 2009, Arts and Humanities Colloquium presentations have inspired conversations about ideas among members of the Arts and Humanities faculty and their communities both at VIU and in the mid-Island region. Presenters show how important the arts and humanities are to understanding today’s world.