UNTIL Magazine issue 11: Esquimalt

The theme of UNTIL issue 11 is Esquimalt, with special guest editor Laura-Beth Keane. The Victoria Arts Council is seeking submissions of literary works (poetry, prose, essays, and non-classifiable texts), visual art, moving image, and audio/musical arts to be included in the next issue of UNTIL.

About the Theme:
It’s a little off the beaten path – is how I describe Esquimalt when asked. The Township of Esquimalt is geographically close to Victoria, but it’s identity and culture often feel miles away.

This Place of Shoaling Waters is a pastiche of historical context, current realities and collective narratives. It is a place with complex land use as both the home of the lək̓ʷəŋən People and the site of Canada’s Pacific Coast naval base.

There’s an electric charge about a place that still sees itself as the scrappy underdog to the capital city and yet chooses to celebrate this identity fiercely.

Newcomers to Esquimalt are initiated to a culture slathered in BBQ sauce, waving pirate flags and standing gobsmacked at the edge of Saxe Point Park the first time the Olympic mountains come into view on a clear day.

Through this issue of UNTIL I hope to explore everything Esquimalt. What does this place and its history mean to you? How do the stories we tell ourselves define our identity? What does it mean to create art in a place so often characterized by what it’s not?


Please email submissions to: [email protected] with UNTIL ISSUE 11: ESQUIMALT in the subject line

Accepted file types include jpg, png, tif, pdf, doc, mp3 & mp4.

With your emailed submission, please include:
- Bio (max 250 words)
- Artist statement as it might relate to the theme (max 500 words)
- Title, medium, dimensions and year of work
- Contact information
- All contributors will receive an honorarium as well as one free annual membership to the VAC.

Deadline to Submit: 1 April 2022
Issue 11 will go live: 1 May 2022


About the Guest-Editor:
Laura-Beth (she/her) was born and raised on the ancestral, and unceded territory of the hən̓qəmin̓əm̓ and Sḵwx̱wú7mesh peoples, known otherwise as Burnaby, B.C. Canada. She now resides on the lək̓ʷəŋən Territory. She first cultivated a deep love and passion for the performing arts through her career as an emerging dancer and musical theatre performer.

Most recently, Laura-Beth founded the Esquimalt Community Arts Hub, where she currently works and leads community-focused art activations in the Township of Esquimalt. Through this role she has the privilege of exploring creativity at the grassroots level and creating a low-barrier, welcoming arts hub for artists and visitors of diverse backgrounds.

In her private work, Laura-Beth is a painter and enjoys creating surreal and oftentimes haunting characters and landscapes. In her public practice, she works in public art and installation-based artwork.