When Elke Sorensen first started volunteering at CHLY 101.7 FM, she noticed the Nanaimo campus-community radio station had shows covering everything from Celtic folk to soul and funk, a morning news program, talk radio, and international programming, but it didn’t have a show about books.
Sorensen got her start on the VIU Meter, CHLY’s open-access daily music program, where any student can volunteer, but she said she was “really excited to start my own.” The show she built to fill that gap is called Likely Story: Suspiciously Good Literature — a program focused on interviews with, and news about, local and Canadian writers, with a particular ear for emerging voices.
Getting it off the ground took longer than she expected. The show itself, sparked by her personal interest, soon became a directed study with VIU professor Joy Gugeler in the fall term of 2025. Developing a pitch, episode plan, press kit, and recording the first interviews for the pilot meant a December launch.
Even the show’s name took time. Sorensen had originally chosen Writer’s Block, but discovered another university station was already using it. She eventually settled on Likely Story — punchy, book-adjacent, with a nod to the investigative tone of the show.
Once the first episode aired, though, the hard part was behind her. “There are so many people in Nanaimo and on the Island who want to talk about their writing, so getting guests has never been an issue,” Sorensen said.
Each episode includes a calendar of literary events and a section in which Sorensen asks her guest to read a piece of their own choosing —to give listeners without prior knowledge of the author or book a way in.
She also frames her interview questions to include the listener, contextualizing books and authors as she goes. It’s a thoughtful approach to a genuine challenge: making a show about literature feel accessible to someone who just happened to switch on the radio.
Her guest list has ranged from VIU students and emerging local authors to established figures in the literary community — Sharon Butala, Marilyn Dumont, Amy Mattes, Neil Surkan and others.
For CHLY station manager Jesse Woodward, a show like Likely Story represents exactly the kind of student involvement he hopes to cultivate. Most students get their start hosting the VIU Meter, learning the basics of on-air presence and audio production. A spoken-word show like Sorensen’s means planning segments, conducting and editing interviews, and producing content that holds an audience.
“It’s a step beyond,” Woodward said. “You’re not just relying on music to fill airtime — you’ve got to fill that airtime with content you’ve recorded and edited and produced.”
That kind of experience matters beyond the station walls, he noted. For students with ambitions in journalism, creative writing, or media production, a show like Likely Story is a significant portfolio piece.
It also matters to CHLY’s mandate; locally produced spoken-word content counts toward the station’s CRTC licensing requirements, making student-led programming a genuine institutional asset. CHLY broadcasts from Campbell River to Washington State to the Sunshine Coast, over 100 KM-radius, so Likely Story is a way of telling listeners in the lower mainland and beyond that interesting, culturally rich conversations are happening in Nanaimo.
Sorensen is graduating in June, but she isn’t ready to let the show go. She’s actively looking for one or more successors— ideally VIU students with an interest in both radio and literature — and plans to make the transition gradually.
Students interested in taking on the role can reach out to CHLY at chly.ca/volunteer or contact Gugeler or Craig Taylor (Chair) via VIU’s Creative Writing department.
