Alumni Stories

Amadanyo Oguara has published his third book, Danku of Nembe Kingdom. Oguara is an alum of the M.A. in Cultural Studies program and published his first two books, Fisherman’s Son and Asanda of Agirisaba, in 2020. Danku of Nembe Kingdom narrates a ...

IAS faculty member Ching-In Chen and MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics alum Scott Bentley’s work has been included in the Submergence: Going Below the Surface with Orca and Salmon Exhibition, an innovative, multi-media ...

MFA alum Denise Calvetti Michaels' newest book, The Things Downriver (Cave Moon Press, 2020), is comprised of lyric passages focused on interludes of summer on the farm in Salinas, California, home of her paternal grandparents, Agostina & Ercole Bianco.   

“During this period of childhood, my brother and I explored the boundaries of the farm and steeped ourselves within diverse cultural exchanges among neighbors, family and friends,” said Michaels.

Alum Nicole McCarthy’s first book is set to be published in 2022 by Heavy Feather Review. The book is an expansion of McCarthy’s MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics thesis, “Manor of Memory,” which she completed in 2017. “It wouldn't have been the book it is now without my thesis advisor, Renee Gladman, a visiting writer in our MFA program who graciously agreed to work with me,” said McCarthy.

IAS alum Malak Shalabi graduated from University of Washington School of Law this June and may be the first to wear a hijab during the graduation ceremony. In this Seattle Times article, Shalabi discusses her path to law school and the discrimination she’s faced – and transcended.

Shalabi graduated from UW Bothell in 2018 with a degree in Law, Economics & Public Policy. As a student, she researched sectarian violence in Syria and the voices of Syrian people in the United States ...