I’m a happy camper today. This issue of The Voice Magazine is one of the better ones, and there’s enough to talk about in it that I don’t think I’ll have room to rant on anything else.
To start with, our feature article is an interview with what I’ve come to consider a “typical” AU student, while at the same time acknowledging there’s really no such thing. But Charla Arnold, this week’s interviewee, comes close. You’d think that would make for a feature that isn’t all that interesting, but you’d be wrong. Charla gives a great interview, a good read and one that I’m sure many will come away from identifying with her and her life and connection to AU.
We also take a look at some of what’s going on surrounding AU’s 50th anniversary, as Francesca Carone looks at some of the history of AU, and what their doing to celebrate this anniversary, including some special scholarships, so you don’t want to miss out on that.
Then, new writer Natalia Iwanek takes on the tricky subject of the recent cancellation of a speech at the University of Regina. It’s a tough case, in my mind. Is reading the poetry of a murderer something that should not be done? What about a racist? Does free speech trump all? While I don’t presume to be able to give definitive answers to such a question here in The Voice Magazine, Natalia’s look at the planned lecture of former poet laureate George Elliot Clarke at the University of Regina, the context, reaction, and results at least gives us all a base to consider these questions. What are your thoughts? Did the university do the right thing? Did professor Clarke?
I haven’t figured out my own thoughts on this subject. I think one way for a while, then think of counter arguments that sway me. And I can thank this article for giving me the background to do that. Hopefully you’ll find it the same.
Also this week, for those who’ve followed me for a long time, you’re probably aware of how I like to run reviews of various media in The Voice Magazine, even though we haven’t done so for quite a while and even though, honestly, such things don’t seem to get a lot of traction from readers. There’s a lot of competition out there for that kind of thing, after all. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try, and this time, we’re not doing new music from small up-and-coming groups you probably haven’t heard of. Instead, new writer Milica Markovic tries her hand at “Beats from the Basement”. A look back at old music you may well be familiar with. Does it still hold up today? Is it worth dusting off and putting vinyl on your digital stream? She starts off with Natasha Bedington’s album Pocket Full of Sunshine with a solid track-by-track review. Check it out!
Finally, did you know it’s backwards day? What better day then, than to check out the Vintage Voice. This time, we’re looking back at a couple of great articles that consider what it might be like to “go back”, in very different ways. What they do have in common, however, is that both of them are great reads from over a decade ago. I usually don’t push our older stuff, but then I see things like this that remind me why it was important to be sure all of our back issues were available online. Enjoy the read!
