The UBC School of Creative Writing is excited to announce a new initiative that celebrates our graduating MFAs. The Graduate Showcase is a highlighted section of our website featuring profiles of our MFA grads in support of their publication and production goals. We’ll be launching two showcases per year – one for May graduation and one for November graduation. Each showcase will remain available for a year.
About the Graduate Showcase
“We’re so proud of all our graduates. We know completing an MFA takes courage, focus and determination. We launched the Graduate Showcase to highlight the exceptional creative work produced by our graduates, and to celebrate all our graduates have accomplished. We hope that industry professionals will benefit from having easy access to the innovative ideas coming from our MFAs,” says Director Annabel Lyon.
Our first showcase includes 15 MFA grads with thesis projects in fiction, poetry, memoir, young adult, television and graphic novel. These works explore the meaningful conversations of this generation – the climate crisis, mental health, identity and autonomy, race and racism, and experiences of LGBTQIA2S+ and BIPOC people.
Whether sharing a coming-of-age story amongst a travelling cinema in Mexico, telling the parallel stories of two Chinese-Canadian teens, exploring the climate crisis through themes of care, motherhood and home, imagining flawed alternate societies in a reimagined Lagos or a musical utopia, or sharing personal struggles with OCD and anorexia, these projects demonstrate the outstanding capabilities of our MFA grads.
Each profile includes a photo, a brief bio, a summary of the graduate’s thesis project and an optional brief video clip. This might be a video of a reading or performance of their work, or an excerpt from their graduate thesis presentation. Each profile also includes a contact function to allow agents, editors or producers to connect with graduates if they’re interested in knowing more about their project.
List of May 2023 Profiles:
- Andrew Calderone
- Brook Ellis
- Casey Letendre
- Elisabeth Shenher
- Emily Chou
- Emily Leduc Gagne
- Emma Cleary
- Emma Leck
- Julianne Harvey
- Kortnee Paiha
- Léa Taranto
- Ricardo Mulhia
- Sonia Di Placido
- Tanya Banerjee
- Toke Adejoye
