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Hi, my name is Lys Morton and I’m the summer intern for The Discourse. Prairie boy, Island-bound, I escaped Alberta in 2017 and officially called Nanaimo home after having bounced back and forth while going to school at Vancouver Island University (VIU). With a bachelor of arts in creative writing, I’m a 2020 graduate and am learning to embrace all the bad dad jokes about that historical graduation.
As your Friendly Neighborhood Trans Guy, my goal in journalism is to heal and reshape how LGBTQ2+ stories are told in news spaces. That news has come a long way in how this community is reported on and that there is still a long way to go are both equal truths. And I’m eager to help develop practices that better inform instead of perpetuating stereotypes and misinformation.
When I’m not working with The Discourse Nanaimo, I am a freelance writer and editor while also working at VIU residence and as a food truck driver for Red’s Bakery. If you’re ever in the north end of Nanaimo on Wednesdays and see the truck, swing by and say hi.
As a jack-of-most-trades, you can find my writing at The Nav, Incline, Five Dials, and White Wall Review. Living in a pet-free rental, I am a plant dad to six succulents and a spider plant. I’ve also been recently adopted by a neighborhood cat who has taken to wandering in through my bug screen when the door is open so that they can yell at me as I try and prep supper. Want to know more about this year’s summer intern? What I’m reading, what exactly brought me to Nanaimo, an ‘embarrassed reporter’ story, or why I watch Captain America: The Winter Soldier at least once a month? Go ahead and ask me anything by email, and sign up for our weekly newsletter if you’re not already, to read my responses to this AMA. [end]
