Aaron Chan, BFA 2014

Aaron Chan, BFA 2014

Aaron Chan is a musician, filmmaker, and writer born and raised on unceded Coast Salish territories (Vancouver). He holds a BFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia, and his writing has been published in literary magazines and publications including Plenitude, filling Station, Polychrome Ink, and Xtra. His piece “A Case of Jeff” won subTerrain‘s Lush Triumphant Literary Award in Creative Non-Fiction, and he has published a poetry chapbook, ROMANTIC HOPELESS. His first book, THIS CITY IS A MINEFIELD (Signal 8 Press), is a collection of memoir and personal essays.

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

Some of the memoir and personal essay pieces in THIS CITY IS A MINEFIELD were written and workshopped during my time in the Creative Writing Program. Moreover, Andreas Schroeder and his creative nonfiction class directly inspired me to write a memoir that eventually became THIS CITY IS A MINEFIELD.

What’s your latest published/performed work?

My debut book, a memoir collection about growing up gay and Chinese in Vancouver titled THIS CITY IS A MINEFIELD (Signal 8 Press).

What are your most recent awards?

subTerrain magazine’s Lush Triumphant Literary Award for “A Case of Jeff”.

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

I am connected to some other BFA alums.

Aaron’s Website: http://www.theaaronchan.com

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Meg Stainsby, MFA 2015

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

It deepened my appreciation for the need for precise and concrete detail

It compelled me to try poetry (finally!) — which then led me to swift success in terms of winning the first poetry contest I’ve ever entered. Lesson learn — write fearward!

The summer residencies (OptRes MFA) were rich opportunities to dive into a community; I especially appreciated the coaching and experimenting with reading at the mic to other writers

What’s your latest published/performed work?

-Two poems (titles below) in the RCLAS e-zine (fall 2019)

-Latest book review (on two Canadian memoirs) published by EVENT Magazine (spring 2019)

-“Writing My Father” (cnf) is to be published imminently by The Ormsby Review (online)

What are your most recent awards?

-“Tillie’s Colander” (poem) won 1st place in the Royal City Literary Arts Society’s (RCLAS’) WriteOn! contest, 2019

-“Late Comfort” (poem) was given honourable mention (same contest/year

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

Member of the EVENT Magazine advisory board since 2010

Contributed a cnf piece to local poet Bonnie Nash’s (ed) collection, Concussion and Mild Head Injury: Not Just Another Headline (2016)

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

Currently enrolled in a PhD in CRWR at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David (that whole mouthful is the institution’s name, otherwise UWTSD) in Lampeter, Wales

Thesis: a memoir of intergenerational trauma and living with posttraumatic stress disorder

Well into the writing; expected completion June 2021

Mark Leiren-Young: Bar Mitzvah Boy

  

M.F. McDowell: Open City, Closed Set

 

Andrea Miller: Awakening my Heart

 

Sonal Champsee, MFA 2017

Sonal Champsee’s short fiction and essays have been published by magazines such as The New Quarterly, Ricepaper, and Literary Mama. She was a finalist for the Writer’s Union of Canada’s 2017 Emerging Writers Short Prose contest, and has had a play produced by Prathidhwani Drama Wing in Seattle. Sonal holds an MFA in Creative Writing from UBC, and has studied writers such as with Gail Anderson-Dargatz, Sarah Selecky, Zsuzsi Gartner and Jessica Westhead. She served on the prose editorial board for PRISM International for five years, and is a creative writing instructor for Sarah Selecky’s Writing School. Sonal lives in Toronto.

www.sonalchampsee.com

Marie Powell, MFA 2011

Marie Powell is the author of more than 40 published children’s books, including the young adult fantasy Last of the Gifted: Spirit Sight (Summer 2020) and Water Sight (Fall 2020). She holds a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. Her award-winning short stories and poetry appear in such literary magazines as Sunlight Press, SubTerrain, Room, and Transition. She has been fiction-nonfiction editor of the literary magazine Spring, has edited Windscript for teen authors twice, and is judging the 2020 Exporting Alberta award for the Canadian Author’s Association–Alberta branch. Marie lives on Treaty 4 land in Regina, Saskatchewan, and her writing workshops and readings are popular across the province.

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www.mariepowell.ca

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Buy Marie’s Books and learn more at:

Amazon

Writers Union Profile

Kobo

Five River Publishing

Barnes and Noble

Smashwords

Chapters Indigo

John Mavin, MFA 2010

John Mavin has taught creative writing at Capilano University, Simon Fraser University, the University of British Columbia, with New Shoots (through the Vancouver School Board), and at the Learning Exchange in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. A past nominee for both the Aurora Award and the Journey Prize, his short fiction has been translated, studied, and published internationally. His new book, Rage, will release with Thistledown Press this fall.

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www.johnmavin.com

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Publications:

Rage, Thistledown Press (Fall, 2017)

Buy John’s books Here:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Indigo

 

Andrea Miller, MFA 2012

I’m an editor and staff writer at Lion’s Roar (formerly the Shambhala Sun) and I’m the editor of three anthologies: Right Here with You: Bringing Mindful Awareness into Our Relationships; Buddha’s Daughters: Teachings from Women Who Are Shaping Buddhism in the West; and All the Rage: Buddhist Wisdom on Anger and Acceptance. My writing has been featured in a wide range of publications including Prairie Fire, the Antigonish Review, the Best Women’s Travel Writing series, The Best Buddhist Writing series, and In the Company of Animals: Stories of Extraordinary Encounters. I also have two forthcoming picture books: Baby’s First Book of Canadian Birds (Nimbus Publishing) and The Day the Buddha Woke Up (Wisdom Publications)

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Publications:

Buddha’s Birds, Lion’s Roar

The Dude and the Zen Master, Lion’s Roar

Wise Guy, Lion’s Roar

Buy Andrea’s Books at:

Shambhala Publications

Paul Mitchell, MFA 1985

www.sjmultimediallc.com

Life on Mars

The Home Makeover Show