Stories from the Creative Edge
Graduate
Uplifting Indigenous voices on Giving Tuesday
Giving Tuesday is coming up fast on December 2! We encourage you to join UVic's campus community and grads from around the world by pitching in to support student success, health, well-being and the programs that help make UVic the special place it is. This year, the...
Writing students engage with COP30 climate summit
The COP30 UN Climate Change Conference may be convening in Brazil this month but that doesn’t stop our students from getting involved. A series of climate survivor testimonials taken by Department of Writing students Ashley Ciambrelli, Raamin Hamid and Fernanda...
Robert Amos receives Honorary DFA
An artist, art historian, author and arts writer, Robert Amos has dedicated most of the past four decades to documenting — both journalistically and visually — Victoria’s visual arts scene, whether with the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the Times Colonist newspaper...
Writing professor wins Bill Good Award
Congratulations go out to UVic Writing professor Sean Holman on winning the Bill Good Award at the 2025 Webster Awards on Nov 3! The Bill Good Award is presented to a BC individual or organization that makes a significant contribution to journalism in the province, or...
Call for grad student proposals: 2026 ONC ArtScience Fellowship Program
UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) are now calling for graduate student applications for the paid 2026 ONC ArtScience Fellowship program. The application period closes on December 23, 2025. The ArtScience Fellowship strengthens connections...
UVic double alumna Lyana Patrick practices the art of health in all she does
Writer-director Lyana Patrick. All images courtesy the National Film Board of Canada, Lantern Films & Experimental Forest FilmsThese days, UVic double alumna Lyana Patrick is a picture of success in multiple arenas. She’s a lauded professor at Simon Fraser...
Danielle Geller named Associate Dean Indigenous for Fine Arts
Danielle Geller in 2025 (photo: David Murphy)Representation matters when it comes to enacting meaningful long-term change in both UVic’s teaching and administration arenas, which is why the Faculty of Fine Arts is particularly excited to announce the appointment of...
Deb Miller Landau makes a name with her crime story
Every journalist is always on the lookout for their next great story. For Vancouver-born Deb Miller Landau, a magazine article on a cold case in the American South became the assignment of a lifetime, leading Landau to write an entire book on the explosive,...
Southam Lecturer explores journalism in polarized times
At a time when unity in the face of American threats is crucial, Canadians are increasingly divided. While Americans may be on the brink of civil war, Canadians are sorting ourselves into mutually hostile camps. The fragmentation of our media ecosystem is both cause...
New play by Writing student explores trans joy & resilience
It's always exciting to see student work spring off the campus and into the community. Local playwright and fresh Writing alum Jasper Mallette — who just graduated in June 2025 — is now debuting Expiry Date, a brand new piece of transgender theatre, which runs at...
Climate professor receives $2.5 million grant to document stories globally
Fires rage, floods devastate, storms surge: every day we hear about the impacts of climate change, with ever-increasing casualty counts and infrastructure damage tipping into the billions. But all too often, climate politics and media reporting favour the voices of...
Sean Holman wins BC journalism award
Congratulations go out to UVic Writing professor & Climate Disaster Project founder Sean Holman on being named the 2025 recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation's Bill Good Award. Presented annually by Western Canada's preeminent journalism foundation, the Bill...
Climate Disaster Project play wins award
Congratulations go out to the Climate Disaster Project on winning Silver in the "Environmental and Climate Change" category at the Canadian Association of Journalists Awards on June 1 for Eyes of the Beast:Climate Disaster Survivor Stories, a documentary play about...
Writing grad Kyeren Regehr is Victoria’s newest Poet Laureate
Once again, the City of Victoria's Poet Laureate position has gone to a Department of Writing alumni. Writing grad Kyeren Regehr was recently appointed as the City of Victoria's latest Poet Laureate. Regehr (MFA ’13, BFA ’11 + a Fine Arts Victoria Medal recipient) is...
Sean Holman presents at My Climate Story summit
When 20 of the best climate storytellers from around the world present their ideas at the international My Climate Story project on April 10, UVic will be in the room as well: Writing professor Sean Holman was selected out of nearly 100 submissions to share a...
Submission call for $1K Student Impact Awards!
Are you a current or graduating Fine Arts student who’s been involved with some community-engaged creative activity between January 1 2024 & May 31 2025? If so, you could qualify for $1,000 via our annual juried, donor-funded Community Impact Awards. Since 2021,...
Three REACH Award winners in Fine Arts
Congratulations go out to three Fine Arts professors who have been named recipients of UVic's annual REACH Awards, which recognize outstanding achievement by teachers and researchers who are leading the way in dynamic learning and making a vital impact on campus, in...
New Indigenous student listserv
Xʷkʷənəŋistəl | W̱ ȻENEṈISTEL | Helping to move each other forward—UVic’s Indigenous Plan Are you an Indigenous student in any of our Fine Arts units (Art History & Visual Studies, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts or Writing)? If so, you may like to sign up for our...
Orion Lectures: Michelle Chawla
The OrionLecture Series in Fine ArtsThrough the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, is pleased to present:Photo: Christian LalondeMichelle Chawla Director & CEO, Canada Council for the Arts A...
2025 Lehan Lecture: d’bi.young anitafrika
When it comes to activism and the arts, it’s hard to think of anyone more suitable than d’bi.young anitafrika. The author of 12 plays, seven albums and four poetry collections, they embody, create and teach decolonial performance praxis on a global scale. The third...
Orion Lectures: Anosh Irani Author, playwright “Building Character in Fiction”
The OrionLecture Series in Fine ArtsThrough the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, is pleased to present:Anosh Irani Author, Playwright "Building Character in Fiction" 2:30 pm Friday , February 7 Room...
Top 10 Fine Arts stories of 2024
There’s no better time than the start of a new year for a moment of reflection on the previous year’s accomplishments. With that in mind, we're happy to present the Fine Arts Top 10 of 2024: an inspiring series of story highlights about our students, faculty and...
Double Your Fine Arts Gift on Giving Tuesday
December 3 is Giving Tuesday, a day when the entire UVic community will unite around a common cause — supporting the students and programs that make this university the very special place it is. This year, UVic's Faculty of Fine Arts is raising funds to honour and...
Call for grad student proposals: ONC ArtScience Fellowship Program
Call for grad student proposals: ONC ArtScience Fellowship ProgramUVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts and Ocean Networks Canada (ONC) are calling for graduate student applications for the paid 2025 ONC ArtsScience Fellowship program. Note: the application period closes on...
Explore UVic on Nov 30
Considering a future as a student in UVic's Faculty of Fine Arts? Join us on Saturday, Nov 30, as we open our doors as part of Explore UVic—UVic's free, all-day open house. We’ve created a fun-filled day of student panels, sample lectures, presentations, tours and...
Jeannette Armstrong and Lina de Guevara awarded Honorary Doctorates
The Faculty of Fine Arts is thrilled to announce that Jeannette Armstrong will be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Letters (DLitt) and Lina de Guevara will be awarded an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts (DFA) at the Fall 2024 Fine Arts convocation ceremony. You can watch as...
Indigenous Writers & Storyteller Series
When this year's installment of the sxʷiʔe ̕m “To Tell A Story” Indigenous Writers & Storytellers Series returns to UVic on November 1, it will be the latest gift to the community by the Department of Writing and professor Gregory Scofield.“My goal is to honor the...
Kathryn Mockler wins Victoria Book Prize
The Writing department's 2024 Victoria Book Prize finalists (from left): Tim Lilburn, Ali Blyth, Kathryn Mockler, Arleen Paré This year, October should be renamed the “Month of Mockler”, given how much Department of Writing professor Kathryn Mockler has been popping...
Southam Lecture:John Vaillant
Humans, aided by the fossil fuel industry (AKA the “fire industry”), have altered the chemistry of our planet and its atmosphere in life-changing ways. As a result, we are now crossing a threshold into a new climate regime marked by previously unimagined extremes and...
Orion Series presents Carleigh Baker
The Orion Lecture Series in Fine Arts Through the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, is pleased to present: Carleigh Baker Writer "Writing Fiction in our Complicated Contemporary World" 2:30-3:50pm,...
Orion Series presents Zehra Naqvi
The OrionLecture Series in Fine ArtsThrough the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, is pleased to present:Zehra Naqvi Writer, poet "Shaping Water: Finding a Form for your Writing" 11am-noon, Wed, Oct 16...
Orion Series presents Atom Egoyan
The OrionLecture Series in Fine ArtsThrough the generous support of the Orion Fund in Fine Arts, the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Victoria, is pleased to present:Atom Egoyan Writer, Director, Producer In Conversation with Atom Egoyan (Q & A) Moderator:...