“BEFORE I EVEN TAKE THE WORLD IN, I AM GIVEN THE GIFT OF ON THE VERGE BRAVERY. TODAY THE 2021SUN HASWriting COME Contest UP JUST FOR US. IT TRICKS US INTO THINKING THE PREVIOUS GRIM DAYS HAVE JUST BEEN A DREAM, AND WE HAVE FINALLY WOKEN UP. IT IS THE FIRST WIN- TER I HAVE HOPE FOR SPRING.” “I DO NOT NECESSARILY DELI- GHT IN MAKING DECOLONIZATION A DAY JOB.”“YOU COME FROM A LONG LINE OF STRONG WOMEN.” “YOU KNOW YOUR HEART. AND IT’S NOT ALWAYS EASY. ONE DAY, YOUR PARENTS WILL REALIZE.” “A SMALL CLOUD OF DUST PUFFS OUT BEHIND ME, LIKE THE GHOSTS OF MY FOOTPRINTS GET UP AND LEAVE ME.” “BEFORE I EVEN TAKE THE WORLD IN, I AM GIVEN THE GIFT OF BRAVERY. TODAY THE SUN HAS COME UP JUST FOR US. IT TRICKS US INTO THINKING THE PREVIOUS GRIM DAYS HAVE JUST BEEN A ANTÚ C AIMONDI DREAM AND WE HAVE FINALLY WOKEN UP T IS THE FIRST WIN R , . I - AULA P BY TER I HAVE HOPE FOR SPRING.” “I DO NOT NECESSARILY DELIGHT DESIGNED ER V O IN MAKING DECOLONIZATION A DAY JOB.” “YOU COMEC UVic Libraries & the Office of Equity and Human Rights acknowledges with respect the Lekwungen people on whose traditional territory the University of Victoria stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt, and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 2 Fiction Charlie Eggeling, Goodbye to Peeling Leather 5 Sydney Low, I’m Going to Live with my Girlfriend 12 Non-Fiction Jenessa Joy Klukas, Identity 17 Sarah Holman, Sudoku and Speedos 22 Poetry Valentina Ibarra García, Ode To Angélica 28 Leanne Hill, If I can adapt then I will not die 32 Spoken Word Antonella Cecilia Luzardo Gonzalez, My Mother Looks At Me 35 Lindani Khoza, Dear White People 38 1 INTRODUCTION on the Verge is a writing contest that showcases and celebrates emerging UVic student voices by inviting submissions based on an annual theme under the broad rubric of equity, diversity, and human rights. Open to all UVic students, the contest invites submissions in the categories of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and spoken word. Co-sponsored by UVic Libraries and the Office of Equity and Human Rights, the contest would not be possible without the significant support of the Faculties of Business, Continuing Studies, Education, Engineering, Fine Arts, Humanities, Human and Social Development, Law, Science, and Social Sciences. In addition to winning a cash prize, all winners receive an award certificate, and a spot in a writing workshop with each year’s celebrity judge. The judge for 2021’s contest was award-winning, best-selling author Monique Gray Smith. The theme for the 2021 contest was resilience. In the year of a global pandemic, we asked student writers to respond to this theme through the following questions: Resilience is a capability many are seeking to help them make it through turbulent times. What constitutes resilience? How can we practice resilience in relation to decolonization and reconciliation, to the pandemic, to oppression and marginalization, and to our current global political arena? How can we bear the challenges of our times and recover from them to build new bonds of strength, hope and courage? Our winners were evaluated and selected based on the following criteria: excellence and proficiency in writing and technique; engagement with the theme in a meaningful way; awareness of equity, diversity, and human rights; and adherence to the word limit. Congratulations to all our winners and much gratitude to all who entered! 2 2021 CELEBRITY JUDGE Monique Gray Smith is a proud Mom of teenage twins and an award-winning, best-selling author. Her first published novelTilly: A Story of Hope and Resilience won the 2014 Canadian Burt Award for First Nation, Métis and Inuit Literature. Since then, Monique has had 7 books come out, including Speaking our Truth: A Journey of Reconciliation, which as a finalist for the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Award. In the fall of 2019, every child in Canada entering grade one received a copy of the dual language, English/French and Cree edition of My Heart Fills with Happiness. Monique’s new children’s book When We Are Kind has received positive reviews and landed on the BC Bestseller List before being officially released. In 2019, Monique received the City of Victoria Leadership Award for Reconciliation. She is appointed member of the Board of Directors of Royal Roads University and the Minister’s Advisory Council for Indigenous Women for the Government of BC. Monique is Cree, Lakota and Scottish and has been sober and involved in her healing journey for over 29 years. She is well known for her storytelling, spirit of generosity and focus on resilience. 3 FICTION 4 1ST PLACE GOODBYE TO PEELING LEATHER BY CHARLIE EGGELING Judge’s Comments: “From the first scene, I was engaged and a champion of the character. To be dismissed, and of at all places, Hospice lays a beautiful foundation for us to witness their resilience, the powerful relationship between them and their brother and to understand the deeper dismissal by their parents. The scene with the grandmother was enrapturing and the love and adoration was palpable. I was deeply moved by how the grandmother both saw and knew Jamie, these lines capture so much, “You know your heart. And it’s not always easy. One day, your parents will realize.” Charlie Eggeling is a second-year undergraduate student in writing and political science. He was born and raised in Kelowna, BC, and now resides in Victoria. He primarily writes fiction and screenplays, with an emphasis on themes of social issues, philosophy, and human connections. 5 GOODBYE TO PEELING LEATHER by Charlie Eggeling The hospice my grandmother stays at reminds me of elementary school field trips to the nearby care home. Except there is no bingo and the faces are not so excited to see me. I walk up to the receptionist’s desk. Say hello politely. Wait for any acknowledgement whilst she clack, clack, clacks her way on her computer keyboard. Nothing. I say hello again. She glances up. “I heard you. Who are you here for?” Eyes back on the screen. Clack, clack. “Josie Abington.” Clack, clack, clack. “Relation?” “Grandchild.” “Name?” “Jamie. And before you—” “There’s no Jamie listed, here. Only one grandson, Henry.” “Yeah, I was gonna say—” “Direct relatives only.” “I know that,” I snap, and pause when the receptionist gives me a look that says she’s never been snapped at before. I reach into my pocket for my wallet, slip out my ID. “There was a problem with the paperwork. Look, here. Jamie Abington.” At the very least, she does look—but still shakes her head. “We still need you whitelisted here.” She gestures to the screen I can’t see. “Isn’t the patient more important than a damn whitelist? She’ll beg you to let me in, just ask her.” Her brow lowers, looking like a parent receiving attitude from their child. “She’s 6 sleeping.” I glare. “Bull. Fucking. Shit.” * In my shitty, barren studio apartment, I sit on my second (or third, or maybe fourth) hand futon couch, trying to remember how much I had purchased it for. Its faux leather is mosaic-like, peeling in a gross sort of pattern. I pick at a piece that’s deceivingly loose, hanging on for dear life despite itself. In front of me are an overfilled suitcase and lightweight backpack. The rest of the room is empty, furniture having since been sold or tragically tossed away, leaving too much of what I don’t want. My phone rings and I grab at it, pressing accept without confirming the caller. “Got my text? Are you up for it?” I immediately ask. My brother sighs heavily on the other end. “I’m on thin ice with mom and dad, too, you know.” “They don’t have to know.” “Just like they don’t have to know their own child is leaving the province?” I swallow. “Just like that.” “Gram’s going to be so upset.” “I can’t just leave without saying goodbye.” Silence. I can picture Henry chewing at his already too-dry lip. “Tomorrow at noon?” I close my eyes, slouch in on myself. “Sure, that’s great. Thank y—” Tone. Call ended. I drop my phone to my lap. Fall to my side on the futon. “Maybe I can squeeze fifty bucks out of you.” “Got kicked out of the hospice yesterday. That’s why I needed you.” “Kicked out,” Henry repeats, eyes trained on the road as he drives. “Well, don’t sound too sorry for me.” 7 He glances at me. “Not sorry. Angry.” “Why? It’s nothing new.” Henry pauses. “The lawyer came to discuss the will the other day, while I was at mom and dad’s.” I tongue my cheek, but don’t say anything. “Everything’s in our names. Nothing for them.” I feel a strange warmth blossom within me, but I can’t tell the origin. Can’t tell if it’s selfishness or love at the forefront. Perhaps a bit of both. “Oh,” I manage. Henry tilts his head to the side. “Oh, except the tea set. That’s for mom. And a few other nick-nacks.” I huff a laugh. “They argued that she wasn’t sound of mind to make that decision, but apparently she wrote it long before she was diagnosed with Lewy bodies.” He looks at me, then, smiling softly. “You’re going to be alright.” It’s supposed to comfort me, yet all I feel is guilt.