March 2026 newsletter
issue 3, volume 23
Last day for Early Bird discount!
Calling all emerging writers—this contest is for anyone who hasn’t published their poetry in book form (literary journals and anthologies are ok). The entry fee is discounted, with a deeper Early Bird discount until today, March 31!
This year’s judge:
Kevin Irie
Scroll to learn what he’s looking for in a winning poem.
Entry fee (includes a one-year print subscription):
CAD $25 for each entry from Canada *$15 until March 31
CAD $35 for each entry from elsewhere *$25 until March 31
CAD $15 for each additional entry, no limit
Dayne Brelyn interviews Lareina Abbott, issue #233 creative nonfiction contributor
DB: Thank you so much for sharing “Misi Yehewin–Big Breath.” “Misi Yehewin–Big Breath,” as well as being the title, is so central to this piece and creates a gentle rhythm throughout it. How did Misi Yehewin guide your writing in this piece? Does the idea of Misi Yehewin–Big Breath guide any of your other writing?
LA: This essay was one of the first pieces that came to me when I switched over to the writer’s path. At the time I was struggling with chronic illness and the realization that there were things I would never be able to do again. It was also at the start of my back-to-culture journey and my perception of time was changing from a western viewpoint that involved achieving milestones in a linear fashion, to looking at my life events as a series of spokes on a wheel, that did not have to be repeated to be re-experienced.
The breaths indicate moments where I was both breathing to manage pain, and breathing to drop into important experiences in my life. Through this practice I discovered the astonishing power of stories as medicine. I would say that this concept of time is a part of most of my writing, although I didn’t realize that until now.
Lareina Abbott interviews Dayne Brelyn, issue #233 creative nonfiction contributor
LA: One powerful line in this piece is, “without sheet music to guide my mind, I’m discovering how music lives inside of me.” How do you think this serves as a greater metaphor for how colonialism has tried to shape the thinking of Indigenous peoples and how we can break free of that thinking?
DB: For me, breaking free of that thinking was a very uncomfortable process, and one that is still ongoing. Growing up, I had no Indigenous references for how to be or understand the world around me, and so I was reliant on the ways of knowing that were taught to me both explicitly and implicitly. And it can be a little scary to rattle your own foundation. But I made an intentional investment in challenging myself to unlearn and relearn through taking classes on Indigenous literature and storytelling, reading Indigenous literature, and participating in my Métis community. I think it’s hard to answer this question directly because my avenue to “breaking free” was storytelling and fiddle, but I think it could be anything as long as one is intentional about receiving what that thing has to say. I mean, it’s amazing all the lessons I’ve learned through Indigenous storytelling, both from the stories themselves and the philosophy surrounding storytelling. That, along with fiddle, have allowed me to find a guide that’s more innate and rooted in my being. I’m very grateful for that, and I’m still learning.
Kiran Bassi interviews Kevin Irie, Far Horizons Award for Poetry judge
KB: This year we are lucky to have you judging the Far Horizons Award for Poetry contest. What are you looking for in a winning entry?
KI: I’m looking for a poem that takes me where I wasn’t expecting to go yet seems inevitable in its destination. As a reader, I come with my own biases and expectations and preconceptions of where I think a poem will go after reading the opening lines, or the title. I really love poems that confound expectations, that take me down to unexplored poetic depths or up to fresher air and leave me with lines or images or a perspective of life that I did not expect—and the unexpected can be delivered in many forms, be it free verse, rhyme, erasure, prose poems. But much depends on the behind-the-scenes craftwork: knowing when to break a line, when to shift tone, when to stop, when to leave the reader dangling. Essential work that is unseen.
Name acknowledgement & the Malahat Nation
When The Malahat Review was founded in 1967 at the University of Victoria, the name “Malahat” was taken and used without consultation, permission, or acknowledgment. In response to our desire to make right this wrong, the Malahat Nation has graciously offered the words that follow.
Malahat Nation is part of the W̱SÁNEĆ People, one of five Nations with deep roots along the lands and waters of southern Vancouver Island. Our people speak SENĆOŦEN, hul’q’umi’num’, and Samish—traditional languages that carry our teachings, stories, and responsibilities.* We are a Coast Salish Nation, living and working together as we walk forward in a good way.
[…] The name “Malahat” (MÁLEXEŁ, me’luxulh, ma’7lexelh) means “caterpillars.” This name speaks to our relationship with the land, with its beings, and with the cycles of life. Over time, settlers expanded the use of the word to cover the whole west side of the inlet and the mountain, but its meaning remains tied to our people.
Moving Beyond Acknowledgements for Deeper Reconciliation Action
Malahat Nation continues to walk forward in the teachings of our ancestors—building community and governance in a way that honours our Elders, uplifts our youth, and protects the land and waters for generations to come.
Malahat Nation, through the ȾEX̱NÁLEṈ Initiative, invites you to join us in our walk of stewardship and reconciliation. The ȾEX̱NÁLEṈ Initiative provides one avenue through which monetary contributions may be made to Malahat Nation to acknowledge and reciprocate the on‐going stewardship responsibilities that Malahat carries so that we can all continue to enjoy the gifts of these lands. For more information on the ȾEX̱NÁLEṈ Initiative, reach out to: lands@malahatnation.com.
Donate to the ȾEX̱NÁLEṈ Initiative:
https://malahatnation.com/news/malahat-nation-exnalen-initiative
Malahat Nation is not affiliated with nor endorses any content included in The Malahat Review. The Nation has been engaged with the magazine on the name of the magazine itself and is open to the magazine continuing to use the name.
latest issue: winter #233
Guest Editor Richard Van Camp
Cover art by Kristi Bridgeman
Art by Jenn Ashton, Crystal Behn, Kristi Bridgeman, Samantha Erron Gibbon, giiwedinongkwe, Hali Heavy Shield, Michael J. Leeb, Autumn Moosehunter, Heather Rampanen, Syndel Thomas Kozar
Poetry by ʕAʔíCKʷALAʔ, Jennifer Adese, Michelle Poirier Brown, Cathi Charles Wherry, Henry Heavyshield, Mika Lafond, Samantha Martin-Bird, Victor Hugo Mendevil, Autumn Moosehunter, Shantell Powell, Athena Serbourne, Raymond Sewell, Syndel Thomas Kozar, Jenna Timmons-Oikawa, Jayli Wolf
Fiction by Brandon Bobb, Jessie Conrad, Francine Cunningham, Annie MacKillican, Mason Mantla, Jason Pearce, Daly Quintal, Kieran Kalls Rice, Stacie VanEvery
Creative nonfiction by Lareina Abbott, Odette Auger, Dayne Brelyn, Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway, Jaymie Campbell, Marion Erickson, Marshall Hill
Reviews of new books by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, Chris M. Cannon, Andrea Currie, Jennifer David, Kyle Edwards, Sarain Frank Soonias, Dallas Hunt, Patty Krawec, Chyana Marie Sage, and Shannon Webb-Campbell