On Friday, Apr. 3rd, Vox: UNBSJ’s Student Arts Annual held their 2015 launch at Magnolia Café on Prince William Street.
The launch ran from 8 p.m. until after midnight. The Magnolia Cafe filled up fast, guests weaving in and out of the cozy café all night long.
The event started off with readings from student poets Nick Mitchell, He(Sam) Yan, Katrina Pridgeon, and Jenna Albert.
After the poetry readings and a brief break for guests to get some food and drinks, live musical performances began.
Some of the musical talent included Nick Michell and Thomas Ans, Erin Muir, Jenna Albert and Kyle Watson, Sofia Lamprea, and Adam Smith.
Kyle Roberts, editor of Vox, also got up and played some interesting and poetic original songs.
David Mudge finished off the evening with a wonderful performance of Saint John themed songs. The crowd had thinned out somewhat, but a happy and slightly inebriated group remained that listening in awe and cheered his performance of “Born in the Eye of a Hurricane.”
This year’s MC of the event, Scott Lilly, said that this was “the fourth time I have attended the Vox launch and once again there was a considerable amount of people there to show their support for their fellow students’ artistic talents,” and that it is “great to see attendance growing each year.”
Lilly commended Vox, stating “it is wonderful for these individuals to have an outlet, like Vox magazine, to showcase some of their talent.”
This year’s edition of Vox featured a comprehensive series of visual art, photography, and writing based on Joseph Campbell’s “Hero with a Thousand Faces.”
Each piece of visual art and writing was based on one of the seventeen steps of the monomyth, or, the Hero’s Journey. The result was not a steady narrative throughout the book as each piece followed a different theme. Vox VIII was rather a series of flowing ideas combined into a beautiful student publication, arranged by editor Kyle Roberts and Aaleen Anjum.
The winners for this year’s Vox were Michael Crate for photography, Jack O’Connor for visual art, Jenna Albert for poetry, and Kelli Gunn for short fiction.
It will be interesting to see what Vox 2016 will bring!