The past two years have been, to put it simply, a blur. Mediatic terms like èpisteme and echo chambers found their foothold as global shifts, local reckonings, and dorm-room silences filled our collective existence. Our minds raced with thoughts, ideas, images and, most importantly, emotions which would embed themselves into our artwork. 

This past year, in particular, marked an interesting challenge. We yearned for others to converse with — to create with — whether through the inescapable medium of Zoom™ or punctuated face-to-face periods between the crests of the pandemic. Despite the awkward moments learning how to participate in breakout rooms or, more recently, participate within the confines of one singular room once again, we recognized that learning from each other — hearing from each other and sharing with one another — was the only way we’d figure out where to go from here.

So to all those who offered their works of the past year to us at Beacon, thank you for your vulnerability, thoughtfulness and wisdom. And to those who I’m honoured to host in this year’s volume, thank you for taking me along for your personal journeys where you found (and re-founded) your identity through Time, ripped open trinkets from your youth and dissected the magnetic tape technology that would’ve captured Gen X’s baby steps. For walking us through the dangers of dog-whistle and double-speak and how the imaginings of Blade Runner 2049 portend today’s discussions around privacy. For laying out climate fiction’s cautionary tales of misguided action, literary criticism’s misguided (and misogynistic) past but future, femme-led potential when understanding Nabokov’s Lolita, and audience-members’ ability to inform our reception of Netflix shows like Bridgerton through YouTube roundtables. Additional appreciation belongs to the faculty members for their invaluable insight and guidance and to the Bachelor of Media Studies department for their ongoing support. And last, but certainly not least, an unfathomable amount of gratitude to our entire editorial team for their creativity and collaborative capabilities — with creators and with each other. 

That’s all we’ve got for the prologue. Now go learn, share, create and remediate onwards.