New Faces on the Canthius Editorial Board: Natalie Lim, Rachel Shabalin, and Moni Brar

L to R: Natalie Lim, Rachel Shabalin, and Moni Brar

We’re excited to announce that Natalie Lim, Rachel Shabalin, and Moni Brar have joined the Canthius editorial board!

Natalie Lim is a Chinese-Canadian poet living on the unceded, traditional territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Peoples (Vancouver, B.C.). She is the winner of the 2018 CBC Poetry Prize and Room Magazine’s 2020 Emerging Writer Award, with work published in Arc Poetry Magazine, Best Canadian Poetry 2020, and elsewhere. Her debut chapbook, arrhythmia, was published in 2022 by Rahila’s Ghost Press.

On what she’s most excited about with her new role at Canthius, Natalie tells us: “It's been a goal of mine to be published in Canthius ever since I first learned about it, so it's an absolute dream to be a part of the team! I'm looking forward to reading all of the submissions, discovering new favourite writers, and putting together issues that challenge and expand the Canadian literary landscape.”

Rachel Shabalin (she/her) is a writer and editor living on Treaty 7 territory (Calgary, Alberta). She was the 2nd-Runner-Up for PRISM's Jacob Zilber Prize (2022), and has been shortlisted for Room's CNF contest (2020). Her work has appeared in PRISM, the Minola Review, subTerrain, and others. She likes to go for gentle walks and bird watch. 

She describes an exceptional submission as: “A voice, a feeling, an idea that lingers after reading. A line that gives me goosebumps or makes me laugh. I'm naturally drawn to audacious, disruptive writing that pushes boundaries. Writing that makes space for murky feelings and the unresolved.”

Finally, Moni Brar’s creative work aims to open space for class, gender, and racial equity. She has multiple nominations for the Pushcart Prize and the Best of the Net. The recipient of the 2022 Lieutenant Governor of Alberta Emerging Artist Award and The Fiddlehead’s Ralph Gustafson Poetry Prize, her writing appears in Best Canadian Poetry, The Literary Review of Canada, and Passages North. Find her on Instagram @monibrar.

When asked about her favourite part about Canthius, she explains: “I love its mandate. As a person with intersectional identities, I'm honoured to be part of an organization that creates a safe, inclusive space for writers of marginalized gender identities.”

The next issues of Canthius are in capable, creative, and inspiring hands with Rachel, Natalie, and Moni.