Common House Magazine
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Leyla Abdolell
Editor-in-Chief
Leyla is a fourth-year history and professional writing student. She has worked as a writer and editor for the Fulcrum, the Clio undergraduate history journal, and the federal government. In her free time, she enjoys reading sci-fi, horror, and graphic novels and making the most of her ByTowne Cinema membership.
Jillian Clasky
Managing Editor
Jillian is a third-year English and creative writing student. She enjoys semicolons and the font Garamond.
Hayley Apted
Editorial Assistant
Hayley is a third-year English and geography student. She enjoys fantasy and horror literature. When she is not reading books such as those, she enjoys watching movies of the exact same genres.
Ian Soutar
Editorial Assistant
Ian is a fourth-year English student. His love of creative writing and the world of publishing brought him to Common House. When he’s not busy reading and writing, he is the president of the Green Party of Canada and a soloist for uOttawa’s acapella group, the Glee Gees. He also believes Garamond to be the best of all fonts.
Youssef Wasef
Editorial Assistant
Youssef is a first-year English student. He was born in Cairo, Egypt, but grew up in both Toronto, Ontario, and St. John’s, Newfoundland. Seeking solace in the art of communication, he writes poetry and prose fiction. He is also a news reporter for CHUO 89.1 FM.
Salem Paige
Web Designer
Salem is a fourth-year communications and professional editing student. They work as a writer and designer for the Government of Canada in Ottawa, where they spend time napping excessively, thinking about bugs, and annoying their partner and their two cats. They can be found at @corpseofapoet on Instagram and Twitter.
Madeleine Merritt
Cover Artist
Madeleine’s practice is research based and revolves around the artistic processes and creations born out of insights within the process of making. Her work often engages with satire and the absurd and bridges ideas of crafty and dignified art. Often, her work focuses on commentaries on technology and pop culture in the form of “personal” narrative. Through exposures in varying formats (photographic, mechanically-printed, hand-printed) and integrations of hand-drawn imagery, she unfolds the traditional “comic book” and presents narratives as extensions of story panels. Madeleine’s riso print “Sleepy Ottawa” is featured on this issue’s cover.
Saanya Chopra
Featured Artist
Saanya is an Indian Canadian emerging artist currently based in Ottawa, Ontario. Within her BFA practice at the University of Ottawa (2023), she explores the languages of painting, photography, object-making, and creative writing. Her work investigates the relationship between materiality and sensibility while also exploring the complexities of the vulnerability and poetics found in deconstruction in the context of identity, sensitivity, displacement, and belonging. Two of Saanya’s collages are featured on this issue’s landing page.
Lia Bosquet
Social Media Manager
Lia is a fourth-year communications and psychology student. She loves everything social media and is currently working towards her social media marketing certification. She currently works as a communications officer in member engagement, and she spends her spare time reading, listening to aggressive classical music, and antique collecting.