Alumni Stories

This summer, IAS alum Corbin Louis (B.A. Culture, Literature & the Arts 2014; MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics 2017)  has been active in the poetry and music communities in Seattle, finding ways to share his work with a variety of audiences. Louis, a Seattle artist with deep roots in slam poetry and DIY music, says of his practice, "as a UW Bothell alum, my goal is to write with a reason. For me that means ...

IAS alum Scott Bentley (MFA 2021) has been selected as a 2021-2022 Hugo Fellow by Seattle's Hugo House. The fellowship supports emerging writers in the Seattle area who are working to complete a proposed project. Bentley will use the fellowship to continue working on his manuscript of visual and translation poetry Bwai \ Remapping, which began as his MFA thesis. The poems rely ...

Akshara Balakrishnan, Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies ('21), is now at the UW Seattle Q-Center, working on creating a cohort for trans femmes of color. This space is open to both UW students and non-students alike. Akshara, who was GWSS Student Representative for the 2020-21 academic year, is excited to ...

As a current student in UW Bothell’s Master of Arts in Policy Studies program, Phoenix Horn (Law, Economics & Public Policy, 2020) examines systemic racism, gender inequality and transphobia, in the interest of making the world more equitable. His current research project looks into how antiracism is practiced in Western Washington’s K-12 classrooms. Keith Nitta, faculty in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, notes that Horn’s hopes and ambitions are about social and political change, and that this makes him a great match with Policy Studies program values and curriculum. “Phoenix is committed to the public good above all else,” says Nitta.

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 ...