With Caffeine and Caring Thoughts
Interviewing some of the minds behind the English and Drama Student Society and its literary journal, Folia

With another academic year wrapping up, The Medium spoke to some students working in the English and Drama Student Society to receive their thoughts on how the society and its literary journal’s experience  in the 2025-2026 year. 

The first person interviewed was the President of the EDSS, Shunsho Ando Heng.

The Medium: Can you introduce yourself?

SHUNSHO ANDO HENG: Hello! My name is Shunsho Ando Heng! I’m a fourth-year specialist in the Theatre and Drama Studies Program and I am the President of the UTM English and Drama Student Society.

TM: What is EDSS to you, and why did you join it? 

SAH: To me, EDSS is like a big family of people who come together to celebrate and explore their passion for everything english and drama related […] and as a way for anyone at UTM to explore their interests in our fields even if they aren’t part of our department. […] I originally joined EDSS as the Equity Director for the 2023-24 academic year, as I am passionate about minority representation and I wanted to create more opportunities for minority groups. When I became President, I continued to push that focus while also creating a focus on student work and showcase original works. I not only wanted to create more opportunities for students to be involved but I also wanted to bridge the gap between the various programs in our department. 

TM: How has the ‘25-26 academic year been for EDSS? 

SAH: The 2025-26 academic year has been a huge success for EDSS! We’ve had many panels with industry professionals, workshops, and other events that have really created a space for students to explore their interests and showcase their talent. […] A recent spotlight was our production of In the Shadow of Jupiter written by Mateo Scott, a student in the English and Drama department, which was performed at the 2026 UofT Drama Festival at Hart House Theatre. This festival is always exciting for us because it’s our chance to showcase student-written work downtown with other drama societies from UofT St. George and UofT Scarborough. This year, there were 10 productions, and I am happy to announce that UTM EDSS won the IATSE Local 58 Award for Technical Achievement, Janet Bessey Award for Excellence in Stage Management (awarded to Ember Ross), and the Robert Gill Award for Best Direction (awarded to Zack Radford and myself)!

TM: How does EDSS interact with Folia?

SAH: Folia is an integral part of the department as it provides students a platform to showcase their work. Yoon and I worked together to create the rebranding of the academic journal, which originally was named With Caffeine and Careful Thought. I not only pushed for more issues, but more collaboration with the department with things like our special edition of Folia created by the ENG259 students. We also collaborated with Professor Bruno on our Special Issue titled Diversity Texts and History of Black Art in North America, which was a huge success. It wouldn’t be right though to talk about all this stuff without highlighting the amazing work our editor-in-chief, Yoon, has done, […] and because of her hard work, we’ve reached a point where we are flooded with submissions. 

TM: What are your hopes for the future of Folia and EDSS after you graduate?

SAH: I hope EDSS and Folia will continue to grow so that more students are able to showcase their works and explore their interests outside of a classroom setting. I hope our workshops continue to support students and that our community continues to grow,  connecting the different programs in our department and beyond! 

TM: Thank you for your valuable input!

Next, Gillian Marr provided valuable insight on both EDSS and Folia, as an executive in both organizations.

The Medium: Can you introduce yourself?

Gillian Marr: My name is Gillian Marr, I’m a second-year English major with minors in creative writing and forensic science, and I work with Folia as a poetry editor!

TM: How does the club interact with the EDSS and English and Drama community as a whole? 

GM: We have received wonderful support from the EDSS (which I am also currently a part of as the events associate for English) all the way through our editorial process. The English and Drama community really showed up to support us this year—we got 106 total poetry submissions! We are hoping that this year’s launch is our biggest yet, and that all sorts of people from the English and Drama department will come out to see our finished product and celebrate alongside us!

TM: How has the ‘25 – ‘26 academic year been for Folia? (i.e. notable events, the third issue, new changes…feel free to write a lot for this part if you have a lot to say!)

GM: We […] had members of the team collaborate with other clubs for certain events, such as our songwriting workshop with Harmonix. This year the team welcomed a new associate editor, who has done an absolutely outstanding job in her role. Our editor-in-chief will be graduating soon, and although I will be sad to see her go since she’s accomplished such a lovely rebranding, I personally believe that our associate editor could be a great person to fill her shoes! In the meantime, our third issue “Friction” will be launching on April 2nd, and details will be posted soon about our launch gala….exciting!

TM: What are your hopes for the future of Folia?

Overall, I hope Folia continues to be the amazing platform for emerging creative writers and artists that it has become over the past few years. I think the team has created a space for these diverse voices to explore the concepts that move them, and it makes me so proud to be a small part of that. I do plan to stay on with Folia next year, and perhaps in a new role. I’ve been wanting to try my hand at prose editing one of these years. But no promises yet! 

TM: Wishing you the best on your journey in Folia!

Last, but certainly not least, was Yoon Bae, the Editor-in-Chief of Folia herself.

The Medium: Can you introduce yourself?

YOON BAE: My name is Yoon Bae (she/her). I am a fourth year majoring in Philosophy and double minoring in creative writing and English. I have been serving as the Editor-in-Chief of Folia since the 2024-2025 year! 

TM: What is Folia’s role, and how did it come into being at UTM?

YB: To be perfectly candid, I didn’t even know the English department had a literary journal at first. I received an email about a position opening for a journal called With Caffeine and Careful Thought, and my first thought was: wow, we might have to change that name. My second thought was: why have I never heard of this before? I had spent most of my second year submitting my work to journals and lit mags, but I had never encountered one on my own campus. So of course, I applied. When I did apply, it was actually a little funny, because I was the only one who did. But there was also a general consensus within the department that the journal needed new energy. Part of that meant finishing the 2023–2024 issues, which were still outstanding at the time. Working through those really made it clear to me that the journal needed a stronger presence within the English and Drama community. That experience ultimately led me to relaunch the journal as Folia in my first year serving. The idea was to create the kind of literary space I had wished existed when I first started writing and submitting work. The name itself also felt fitting for U of T, which has all these tree motifs—Acorn, Quercus, and so on—so Folia felt like a natural continuation of that tradition. Since then, the goal has been to foster a small but genuine literary community within EDSS and the broader English and Drama department. Not everyone comes to a journal for the same reason. Some people want to write, some want to publish, some want to edit, and others are interested in the design or the behind-the-scenes work of literary publishing. I wanted Folia to be a space where all of those roles could exist and grow together. Folia’s role is just a space for voices to grow and be planted. 

TM: How has the ‘25-26 academic year been for Folia? 

YB: This 2025–2026 academic year has been a challenging one for me personally, but also an incredibly meaningful one for Folia. I’m especially grateful for the team that has helped make everything possible: Elizabeth Perron, my associate editor; Kirsty Carnan, our marketing lead; Aspen Purvis, our creative director; and of course our wonderful editors. One of the biggest lessons I took from last year was that running a journal really requires a team. Previously, much of the work fell on just me and the editors, so this year it’s been incredibly rewarding to distribute responsibilities among such talented people and watch everyone bring their own strengths to the journal. […] The creative direction this year was also fantastic. Elizabeth proposed the theme “Friction,” which opened up so many possibilities for contributors. We received work from a wide range of voices, and many of the pieces carry a remarkable intensity and power. It’s been exciting to see how writers interpreted the theme in such different ways. […] Another highlight this year has been our weekly workshops. Attendance can vary, sometimes it’s just two people, sometimes closer to twenty, but they’ve become a really special space for writers. Even in a small group, the environment feels both vulnerable and supportive, and it’s been wonderful to see people share their work and grow more confident in it. Creating that kind of literary community is something I’ve always hoped for, and seeing it take shape through Folia has been one of the most rewarding parts of this year.

TM: Since you are graduating this year, what are your hopes for the future of Folia? 

YB: My hope is that Folia continues to grow and becomes recognized across the tri-campus community. We’ve already started to see some engagement from students at St. George, and it would be wonderful if Folia eventually became the kind of journal people across U of T want to read, contribute to, and be part of editorially. That said, while that’s the dream, it isn’t strictly necessary for me to feel proud of what Folia has become. […] More than anything, I hope the next Editor-in-Chief continues to nurture that space and sustain the sense of community that has started to form around the journal. If Folia can keep offering students a place to create and connect through literature, then I think it will already be doing exactly what it’s meant to do.

These are three of many, dedicated people working in front and behind the scenes to bring together a community within the English and Drama department at UTM. Folia’s third annual issue is releasing soon, so make sure to grab a copy when it does!