Visions From the Fire

Wanda John-Kehewin (she/her/hers) is a Cree writer who uses her work to understand and respond to the near destruction of First Nations cultures, languages, and traditions. When she first arrived in Vancouver on a Greyhound bus, she was a pregnant nineteen-year-old carrying little more than a bag of chips, a bottle of pop, thirty dollars, and hope. After many years travelling (well, mostly stumbling) along her healing journey, she now writes to stand in her truth and to share that truth openly. A published poet and fiction author, her first novel for young adults, Hopeless in Hope, won the Sheila A. Egoff Children’s Literature Prize and was named to USBBY’s Outstanding International Books list. nicole marie burton (she, they) is an illustrator and art director living on unceded Algonquin land. Born in the US and now based in Ontario, they are a founding member of the Ad Astra Comix publishing collective and currently co-run Petroglyph, a comic art studio specializing in collaborations with scholars, unions, and non-profits. In addition to a number of shorter works, their published books include The Boy Who Walked Backwards, Wonder Drug, Enemy Alien, and The Beast: Making a Living on a Dying Planet.Kielamel Sibal (she, her) is a Filipino Canadian letterer, graphic designer, cartoonist, writer, and illustrator. She is passionately curious about the craft of different storytelling methods, from comics and video games to film and illustration. Born in Pampanga, Philippines, Kiela currently conducts her sparkling antics of wizardry in Winnipeg, Manitoba.Rhael McGregor (they/them/theirs) is a Winnipeg-based, Métis & Queer comic artist. They’ve been in the indie comics scene since 2018 with their debut comic Tinder and have recently stepped into the publishing world with their work on the books Mortified from Harper Collins and Little by Little from HighWater Press. Rhael’s work mainly revolves around Indigenous and Queer literature in Fantasy or Sci-Fi settings, focusing on representation, the connections between people, character growth, and spreading joy. Ryan Howe (he/him/his) is a Canadian cartoonist who fell in love with comics’ unique storytelling language at some point earlier than he can remember, and has been hooked ever since. He’s been collaborating with other comics creators since 2003, providing art for various projects and genres on both the web and in print.

There are many moments where the tug on the heartstrings is felt sharply throughout the story. I look forward to seeing what pops up in Vol. 3! I think all our readers will benefit from seeing how these characters evolve and mature to handle the issues they face.