Emily H. & Student Body Discover the Unseen

Invisible Children, a documentary which depicts the atrocities and stories of child soldiers in Northern Uganda, was filmed by three college students; Jason Russell, Laren Poole and Bobby Bailey. In 2003, following their trip to Africa, they began their now renowned organization, the Invisible Children. Presently, the organization is a global phenomenon; releasing the stories of those who cannot speak for themselves and gathering a garrison, whose mission it is to further spread the word and end such atrocities.

On March 12th, Invisible Children presented a screening of the documentary in order to inform, inspire, and motivate the students of Marianopolis. Students sat enraptured by the screening which provided a mere glance into the world of child soldiers in Northern Uganda. They learned of Africa’s currently longest war and how those most affected were not only the wounded, but those children who must trek day and night in order to find a safe haven so that they may not suffer the horror that roams through their country. Students learned that not only were mass amounts of people being killed without reason, but that children were the soldiers. The Lord’s Resistant Army, begun by Joseph Kony, has literally brought hell on earth for the people of Uganda, and, presently, the DRC. Innocent children are unwillingly being programmed into child soldiers, an issue all too present across the globe today. Forced to murder and rape their very own parents; this is a future the invisible children prayed to avoid.

Thankfully, people like Emily H., one of Marianopolis’ own, has brought this all too seemingly different reality to our attention. Emily too was unaware of the plight of the children of Uganda until she heard of the Invisible Children through the merchandise they sell. Emily speaks of her admiration of these small tokens of hope: “I admired the design of the bracelets, and especially because the bracelets were made by child soldiers and all the proceeds went towards a good cause. As I ordered the bracelet, I was able to check out the website, and I was completely in awe. I like to follow world issues and I was thoroughly unaware of the issues of child soldiers and the website explained the issue so clearly and its information was geared towards our generation.”

Initially, Emily wanted Marianopolis to participate in the organization’s Schools for Schools program. After discussing the matter with the very willing members of Congress, it was decided that Marianopolis would support the cause. “Invisible Children were so eager to come to the school and to Montreal that they convinced me that they wanted to come to our school still, more than ever, and that just to have the screening to raise awareness would fulfill their goal” says Emily. Emily emphasizes that she simply wanted to “inspire and motivate” the student body, for she believes that this issue is “important for our generation to deal with.”

Marianopolis Meets Provocations with Matthew Firth

Reading from Can You Take Me There, Now? Photographed by Owen Egan

“[…]these stimulating short stories are meant to give just a taste of what writers can do.”


Offensive? Yes. Provocative? Definitely. Boring? Not even close. Matthew Firth joined students of Marianopolis on Tuesday, the 11th, to read from his new book “Suburban Pornography”, causing a stir in the Canadian literature scene at the same time.

Firth was brought by the Marianopolis English Department and introduced to students by our very own Zsolt Alapi. The Ontario native, now residing in Ottawa, is not your typical Canadian literary writer, as is pointed out through the very catchy title of his new works. He’s been hailed as Canada’s Bukowski thanks to his extremely provocative and edgy style of writing. Alapi even generously described Firth as, “totally uncompromising [...] doesn’t try to cater to the academy.”

Along with “Suburban Pornography,” Firth read from his older works titled “Fresh Meat” and “Can You Take Me There, Now?” The three stories, one from each collection, were centered on a man and his sexual upheavals and adventures. One student politely asked Firth if that man was perhaps him, and for all you scandalous dreamers out there, you can be sure that one of the stories –involving a dark alleyway– did in fact revolve around Firth’s own personal experience.

Firth is especially known for the publishing of chapbooks through Black Bile Press, founded by himself. Many of these stimulating short stories are meant to give just a taste of what writers can do. Writers published include other underground and unconventional writers such as Mark SaFranko and our very own Zsolt Alapi. Matthew Firth is also Editor-in-Chief of Front&Centre. The small literary journal seeks to create an antidote to all middling, mainstream literary journals. According to Firth, F&C attracts writers looking for an outlet who are open to their type of writing. Within its pages, you’re sure to find riveting short stories and bold book reviews, with contributor Tony O’Neil, whom many of you might remember as one of last semester’s guest readers. Firth explains this journal’s purpose as meant to, “kick against the literary pricks, so to speak” and the writing as, “tak[ing] chances, can be offensive and abrasive, but [...] also well-crafted and serious.”In continuing the well-known underground literary journal, Firth hopes to “provide a forum for bold writer to express themselves and to see their work in print and to challenge readers, to expose them to salty writing.” You can catch the latest issue of Front&Centre (#20), due out this week.

Suprisingly, Firth admits yet to receive any harsh criticism due to his “out-there” style of writing. However, just because he hasn’t received it doesn’t mean he was a problem dishing some criticism out-there himself. Firth expressed his yearning for a more diverse national writing scene in which more stories could be told. Wishing there was more variety and life to Canadian literature, Firth describes the national writing scene as being “bloody boring and middle class, dull and insipid.” In a sense, Firth hopes to make, at least, a small change to this mundane cycle of workshop writers so as to give Canada a taste of something different and edgy.

As for all you aspiring writers out there, Firth –who’s been at this for 16 years or so– gives a little piece of advice. One, make sure you’re sending your work to the appropriate publications, which means researching the magazines and journals to see if your work matches what the magazine/journal is looking for. Two, develop a thick skin because instant success never happens overnight. Get used to being rejected and learn from it. Finally, learn to work hard, to listen to criticism but also to “stick to your guns and write the way you want to write.”

As for any upcoming works, Firth explains that he has “no master plan, I work it, push it, and see where it takes me.”

QAM: Too Shy to Come Out?

Marianopolis faculty & staff QAM sticker campaign. A "safe zone" for students to ask questions and discuss matters without fear of prejudice or shame.


Queer Allies of Marianopolis was founded around 4 years ago by one of the most enthusiastic leaders of GLAM (gay, lesbian, and more). Essentially, QAM is a sticker campaign oriented around the staff and faculty members of Marianopolis. The stickers themselves are easily recognized; just look for the rainbow colored upside down triangle that has the letters Q-A-M on the top and you can be sure that’s the sticker for QAM. Dr. Skerry and Brian Webb are the two faculty members that put the workshop together ad invited their coworkers to join the committee. The purpose of such a committee was to ensure the safety and comfort for all Marianopolis students. These workshops worked on how to handle certain questions and especially issues that may, if they hadn’t already, arise. One issue in particular is the use of the word “gay” as an insult (i.e. “that’s so gay”). Unfortunately, many people can’t comprehend that when using the word “gay” as an insult, there might be people around them who will get severely offended. So, not only is it offensive, but it’s also grammatically incorrect (see editorials). Thus, if any student has a question or simply wants to speak to one of the committee members, they need not feel ashamed.

The sticker, which can be found on most faculty and staff doors throughout Marianopolis, is a symbol of security, comfort and understanding. However, after speaking with Véronique Champoux, one of the committee members of QAM, I was informed that QAM has yet to be in action this year and was extremely slow on the promotion and action side of things last year. Champoux explains that with the stress and confusion of the Marianopolis site move, the committee has hardly had the time to meet, let alone discuss. What's more, this year students don’t seem to be as motivated as past year’s students. There’s no GLAM club this semester, and the result of that; there’s less promotion for QAM’s sticker campaign, and less awareness for the right of acceptance and ensured sanctuary of gay, lesbian, and more peoples of Marianopolis.

By the way, if you don’t see a sticker on a faculty or staff member’s door, it’s not because they’re homophobic. It simply means that the person does not feel comfortable discussing such an issue with student body of Marianopolis. That, and there’s a good chance that some new staff or faculty members haven’t yet had the chance to learn about QAM and the sticker campaign simple because they’re…well…new. But, with any luck, this article will spread the word and save the world. Ok, so that might be stretching it a bit but you can’t blame me for being optimistic. If you feel that you would like to be a part of the sticker campaign, although it’s a committee composed of only staff and faculty members, there’s not rule that prevents students from getting a sticker and promoting the campaign themselves. Hopefully, next semester, Marianopolis will re-introduce the GLAM club and will in turn be able to activate and motivate the student body to make a difference in the GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) world. So, no worries fellow students, the sticker campaign has not fallen, it’s just a little shy to come out at the moment. I’m just letting you know that they’re still there to help you with any questions or concerns that you might have, and if you’d like; feel free to speak with Véronique Champoux or Philip Dann, co-chair of QAM.