Genevieve Scott, MFA 2015

Genevieve Scott, MFA 2015

Genevieve Scott is a Canadian writer and writing teacher based in Southern California.

Genevieve’s first novel, Catch My Drift, was published in 2018 with Goose Lane Editions. Her second novel, The Damages, which examines the widespread and varied impacts of a single sexual assault, was published by Random House Canada in July 2023 as part of a two-book deal. The the third book is forthcoming in 2025.

Her short fiction has been published in literary journals in Canada and the UK, and her short films have screened at festivals worldwide. She was Story Editor for the indie feature film Jump, Darling, starring Oscar-winner Cloris Leachman, which has screened at over three dozen film festivals worldwide.

Genevieve currently teaches writing at the Laguna College of Art + Design in Laguna Beach, California, and in the limited-residency MFA in fiction program at the University of King’s College in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

As a volunteer, Genevieve mentors at-risk teen writers through the LA-based nonprofit, WriteGirl.

How did your time in the Creative Writing Program influence your work?

Before I took classes in creative writing, I spent years thinking about writing, which is not writing. After trying a few night school workshops, I developed the confidence to apply to the MFA program at UBC. The combination of accountability, deadlines, peer feedback and professor mentorship at UBC really excited me, challenged and pushed me to get work done.

To make writing a priority like that was the best choice I’ve ever made. Being in the opt-res program meant I could develop the skills to balance writing with the rest of my life straight away. I truly appreciated the opportunity to experiment with different writing genres at UBC as I learned techniques and ways of thinking that have shaped my own writing and the way that I mentor and teach creative writing today.


Brandi Bird: The All + Flesh

Nafiza Azad: Writing in Color

Kevin Spenst, MFA 2011

Kevin Spenst is the author of four full-length books of poetry along with sixteen chapbooks including Surrey Sonnets (JackPine Press), Recto Verso Chez the Devil’s Printers (co-written with Joshua Pitre for Collusion Books) and Hymned Data (Pinhole Poetry.) He is one of the organizers of the Dead Poets Reading Series, has a chapbook review column for subTerrain magazine, and teaches poetry at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səl̓ilw̓ətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territory where he cohabitates with the one and only Cheryl Rossi.

How did your time in the Creative Writing Program influence your work?

UBC revived my love of poetry in the biggest way imaginable.

What’s your latest published/performed work?

A Bouquet Brought Back from Space (Anvil Press, 2024)

Are you connected to any creative writing communities you’d like to mention (UBC alums, film and theatre communities, etc)?

The Dead Poets Reading Series, Poets Corner Reading Series and Wax Poetic on Co-op radio.

Is there anything else about your writing career you’d like to share?

Through the ups and downs of juggling all the bits and pieces of working as an author, I’m glad to have studied at UBC with Rhea Tregebov as my thesis advisor, an undertaking which resulted in my second published book, Ignite (2016, Anvil Press.) I learned an invaluable amount from Rhea about poetry and life. She was a stellar mentor!


Josiah Neufeld: The Temple at the End of the Universe

Adam Meisner: For Both Resting and Breeding

Genevieve Scott: The Damages

  

Buffy Cram: Once Upon An Effing Time

Curtis LeBlanc: Sunsetter

Jill Yonit Goldberg: The Fire Still Burns