The Team
Co-Editors-in-Chief
Jessica Kinuyo Bakar is a queer mixed-Asian writer from Northern California currently completing her B.A. in Creative Writing at Concordia, where she received the 2025-26 Gabriel Safdie Award in Drama. Jessica’s work has appeared or is forthcoming in Geist, Grain, Hippocampus Magazine, The Maine Review, and more. She is developing a nonfiction project on the 2023 Lāhainā fires and has recently received mentorship support from QWF and AWP. She is also developing her first play under Playwrights’ Workshop Montréal’s Young Creators Unit.
Frances Smith
Frances Smith is a creative nonfiction writer and History Honours student at Concordia University. She has published journalism and conducted interviews for university publications, and her creative non-fiction prose is shared on Substack. In her writing, Frances recounts stories of strange memories, unbreakable bonds, and self-forgiveness. Currently, she is developing a research thesis on historical memory and nationalism under the supervision of a professor in Concordia University’s History department.
Managing Editor
Kassie Frid
Kassie Frid is a writer, line cook, and student originally from Vancouver Island, now based in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal. She loves writing letters, and occasionally receiving them. Her work has been published in a few places, but she would prefer if you read her writing through her Substack, “far from discreet.”
Poetry Editors
Megan Au
Megan Au is a Montreal-born writer pursuing a B.A. in Creative Writing with a minor in Professional Writing at Concordia University. She is drawn to the mundane, conversations between strangers, and what may go unnoticed. Her poetry has appeared in Ahoy Literary and the Soliloquies Anthology. She has a habit of collecting trinkets and unfinished books on her bedside table (she’s just thinking about what to read next, she promises).
Kaia Hossain
Kaia Hossain is a poet and fiction writer currently studying English literature and creative writing at Concordia University. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Pixie Literary, Soliloquies Anthology, Encore Books and Records’ Window Poem Series, Arrival Magazine, Mothlight Literary and elsewhere. She’s currently obsessed with Kaveh Akbar and Bojack Horseman. She loves ice cream a possibly detrimental amount. If she is not eating soft serve right now, she is probably writing a poem, reading a book, or thinking about doing one of those things.
Rueben Moss
Rueben Moss is a writer and poet from Nova Scotia, currently based in Montreal. They are currently studying Creative Writing and Ecology at Concordia University. The practice of slowing down and becoming an observer is central to their creation process. They love books, and always have one with them. They aspire to write fiction like Becky Chambers, and poetry like Mary Oliver. You can find them cuddling their cat at home, or walking amongst old growth hemlocks.
Anna Evans-Cook
Anna Evans-Cook is an interdisciplinary writer and artist from Tkaronto (“Toronto”). She is currently studying in Tio’tia:ke (“Montreal”), pursuing a double major in Creative Writing and Sculpture at Concordia University. Her work explores stories embedded in physical objects and, conversely, uses objects to convey narratives. In her writing, this exploration appears through fragmented memories and sentimental heirlooms. Anna’s creative nonfiction and poetry have appeared in Ultraviolet Magazine and Young Voices Magazine.
Prose Editors
Jack Steer
Jack Steer is a BC-born writer and filmmaker. His work has been published in Headlight Anthology and The Blackbear Review. His favourite genre is whatever he last read, and he’s a shill for Ursula K Le Guin. This is his second time joining the Soliloquies masthead.
Valerie Page
Valerie Page is a Montreal-based writer and is pursuing a B.A. in Honours English Literature and Creative Writing at Concordia University. She has a background in film studies at the college level, which has profoundly influenced her prose. When she is not busy reading or writing, she can be found (or not) outside in a park or forest, sprawled out beneath the sun.
Zoë Vega
Zoë Vega is a Montreal-based writer and creative writing student at Concordia University. She received the QWF “College Writers” award for her short story “Née Godwin” in 2025. She is absolutely enamoured with Mary Shelley and often wears a pair of cameo earrings featuring the author. Zoë loves baking, collage, and her cat Rupert. She was recently published in Exclamation Mark Literary.
Lucine Tachdjian
Lucine Tachdjian is a second-year student pursuing a B.A. Honours in English and Creative Writing at Concordia University. Born in Vancouver, she first resolved to become a writer after hearing Stuart McLean’s The Vinyl Cafe stories on CBC Radio in her mom’s car. Lucine adores old films, art history, and alternative rock. She is currently working on a short fiction collection that blends mythology with the mundane.
Web-Content Manager
Ginane Deslauriers is a Syrian-Canadian student completing her B.A. in English Literature with a Professional Writing minor at Concordia. She’s passionate about Gothic horror fiction, especially Shirley Jackson’s We Have Always Lived in the Castle, with its uncanny exploration of isolation and human nature. Her black cat, Phoebe, is always nearby with her pink rhinestone collar, indulging in the same stories. Having worked as an editor for various student journals, she is excited to join Soliloquies as the Web Content Manager for their 31st edition.
Web-Content Creators
Kes Datus
Kes is a Montreal-based writer studying Creative Writing with an Education minor at Concordia University, and is possibly the closest thing to an actual faerie in human form. Her mind wanders easily; it then settles into her writing, published mainly on Substack and up-and-coming lit magazines. Her work often questions the value of human existence while discussing vulnerability, identity, black culture, and nature. She is a devoted fan of Nikki Giovanni, Absolutely, and Sylvia Plath, and when she isn’t at a park or in a cafe writing her latest prose, you will most definitely find her at the cinema.
Lilianne Lachapelle
Lilianne Lachapelle is a Laurentides-born, Montreal-based writer and an honours student in Creative Writing and English Literature at Concordia. Writing has always been an integral part of her life. Even before she could write, she would make her parents transcribe her stories. When she isn’t working at the Multimags or on personal essays, Lilianne enjoys reading any novel by Muriel Spark, L.M. Montgomery, or Shirley Jackson, sewing herself a new wardrobe out of thrifted fabrics, and scrapbooking about her current favourite books and movies.
Tehsin Ahmed
Tehsin Ahmed is a Pakistani writer currently studying Creative Writing and History at Concordia—her hobbies include reading and writing about women on the edge—and the quickest way to reach her is by scribbling a message on the underside of a leaf.
Graphic Designer
Maya Srivastava Rochon
Maya Srivastava Rochon is a writer trying to explore family, biraciality, food, connection, feminism, and life’s small joys. Some of her favourite things include swimming outside, trees, sweet treats, and dancing it out. She has a special appreciation for and interest in works experimenting with mixed media, colour, and font. Currently, she is a Creative Writing student at Concordia University, with minors in Professional Writing and English Lit.
Soliloquies Anthology 31 