Lit Matters: The gargantuan humour of John Kennedy Toole

“When Fortuna spins you downward, go out to a movie and get more out of life,” said Ignatius J. Reilly, the fat, slovenly anti-hero of John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces. Set in mid-century New Orleans, the book features a menagerie of hilarious characters that revolves around the bombastic Reilly. Lover of medieval philosophy […]

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25 years ago in Nexus: October 21, 2015 issue

Don’t forget to make your voice heard: The story “No student elections for Lansdowne!” in our October 16, 1990 issue was notable enough for its outrageous use of an exclamation point in a headline (ugh), never mind the content: due to a shortage of candidates, the student council elections for that October had to be […]

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The Functional Traveller: The sound of silence (is too loud)

The invention of the modern dorm (or party-house, depending on how you view it) has mostly curbed the amount of contact necessary between normal society and the rowdy youth. Some schools, like Camosun, still have not adopted the dormitory model of student housing, whether it be due to financial or social reasons. For Josai International […]

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25 Years Ago In Nexus: October 7, 2015

Did you know we are turning 25 this year? That’s right: the very first issue of Nexus, known back then as The Nexus, appeared on stands around Camosun in September 1990. So we’re relaunching our 20 Years Ago column as 25 Years Ago and starting back at the beginning… Changing attitudes: In the editor’s letter […]

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Lit Matters: Haruki Murakami’s fusion fiction

“The good thing about writing books is that you can dream while you are awake,” Japanese author Haruki Murakami once said. Murakami’s books, often featuring a dream-like blend of realism and surrealism, have sold millions of copies worldwide and made Murakami a literary superstar in his native Japan. But the literary life came as a […]

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Look: Art, fun, and creativity

I was transported back in time last week to the land of elementary school field trips. Back then, the field trip was the holiest of holidays. Would our parents sign? Of course, now, I’m 43. I can sign my own permission form, which is what I did, so to speak, when it was time to […]

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Lit Matters: Yukio Mishima finds true beauty

“True beauty is something that attacks, overpowers, robs, and finally destroys,” wrote Yukio Mishima, a Japanese author who is as famous for his death at age 45 as he is for his prodigious literary output. It is hard to overstate the expanse of Mishima’s life. Considered the most important Japanese author of the 20th century, […]

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25 years ago in Nexus: September 23, 2015

Did you know we are celebrating our 25th anniversary this year? The first issue of Nexus, known back then as The Nexus, came out in September 1990; we’re relaunching the 20 Years Ago column as 25 Years Ago to celebrate. Commenters anonymous: Our September 19, 1990 issue was our second issue, and in it we […]

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The Functional Traveller: Organized chaos

We’re all familiar with the saying, “Packed like a can of sardines.” I myself have certainly used this phrase before but, admittedly, living amongst the diluted populace of Victoria, have not truly experienced any situation near claustrophobic. A crowded Victorian bus often constitutes several people standing metres apart while four people accommodate an eight-person bench […]

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Look: Mindfulness

Either everything is for a reason or nothing is: it’s a world of pure chance or coincidence. But as I look around every day I realize that I probably fall into the group that believes that everything happens for a reason, that the world isn’t just stuck hobnob on the tip of a planet without […]

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