Fall 2022

Issue 1.2

Love is a universal feeling commonly associated with happiness, bliss, and overwhelming optimism; however, in reality it is far more complex. This issue of Inventio explores the darker sides of love and seeks to challenge our preconceived notions by daring to ask, is love always a positive emotion? 

Our fiction submission reflects on what it means to love and whether it is possible to love too much through an epic science fiction tale between a human and a cyborg. One poetry submission reflects on a blind search for love that consumes its seeker. 

Our second poetry submission deconstructs the traditional domestic fantasy. One non-fiction submission looks at how a lack of familial love leads to an appreciation of nature. The second non-fiction submission explores the effects of a parent’s expectations that, though born from love, may hold back the children they hold dear. 

We would like to thank our gifted contributors—Krista Gosselin, Joelle Lepage, Mahmoodulhasan Bhaiyat, Nicholas Mohammed, and Jessica Lappin—for honouring us with their works. We hope you enjoy this issue.

—Written by Leilani Carranza

Edited by Dunja Dudarin, AEiC 

The Copse of Trees in the Southeast Corner of Donna Park

The Copse of Trees in the Southeast Corner of Donna Park is a story that evokes nostalgia for those who find themselves looking to nature for its beauty and for its protection. Explore one teenager's journey of discovering this side of nature, juxtaposed with a pain-filled day of wandering.
Non-fiction

On Pluralizing the Future

Expectations can cause a lifetime of limitations—like having tunnel vision about your future because of the expectations of others. On Pluralizing the Future explores one person's journey of challenging those expectations through the telling of her own story, while inviting others to do the same.
Non-fiction

Cyborg in Love

This compelling work of science fiction follows Ciris, the daughter of the reigning Princeps of Anax—who, like most of her people, is a cyborg. When an embassy from a neighbouring planet comes in search of an alliance, Ciris is suspicious, as Anax, in all of its power, has much to lose. Ciris must decide if the bold and alluring General Rei will be a hindrance or help to her planet's future, and what that future should look like.
fiction

A Late Siesta

A cyclical domestic façade of muted mischief and the mulled over thoughts that accompany its man-made allyship.
Poetry

In the Garden of St. Iven

The shadow of Aphrodite’s passion begins a solemn, sightless journey, and a deep suffering that begs to be seen.
Poetry

Land Acknowledgement

We would like to begin by acknowledging the Indigenous Peoples of all the lands that we are on today. While we meet today on a virtual platform, we would like to take a moment to acknowledge the importance of the lands, on which we each call home. We do this to reaffirm our commitment and responsibility in improving relationships between nations and to improve our own understanding of local Indigenous peoples and their cultures. 

York University’s land acknowledgement may not represent the territory that you are currently on, and we would ask that if this is the case, you take responsibility to acknowledge the traditional territory that you are on and its current treaty holders. 

York University acknowledges its presence on the traditional territory of many Indigenous Nations. The area known as Tkaronto has been care taken by the Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, the Huron-Wendat. It is now home to many First Nation, Inuit and Métis communities. 

We acknowledge the current treaty holders, the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. This territory is subject of the Dish With One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement to peaceably share and care for the Great Lakes region.

From coast to coast to coast, we acknowledge the ancestral and unceded territory of all the Inuit, Métis, and First Nations people that call this land home. Please join us in a moment of reflection to acknowledge the effect of residential schools and colonialism on Indigenous families and communities and to consider how it is our collective responsibility to recognize colonial and arrivant histories and present-day implications in order to honour, protect, and sustain this land. 

In recognizing that these spaces occupy colonized First Nations territories and out of respect for the rights of the Indigenous people, please look for, in your own way, to engage in a spirit of reconciliation and collaboration.