With an interest in a career in a creative industry, Brenna Lam Kennedy enrolled in the BMS program at UBC Okanagan

Video interview with Brenna Lam Kennedy talking about her time in the BMS program. 

Brenna Lam Kennedy worked hard throughout her undergraduate degree to build industry-ready skills in design, media and visual arts at UBC Okanagan. Lam Kennedy says that she came to UBC Okanagan specifically for the Bachelor of Media Studies (BMS) program because it stood out as something unique when she was looking at universities. She completed her BMS degree with a minor in visual arts in the spring of 2025.

“I had initially applied to business and management elsewhere, but once I realized I wanted to pursue a creative field, this program struck me for its variety, it is a diverse program,” Lam Kennedy says. “If you’re not exactly sure which creative direction to take, BMS is a great stepping stone to help you figure that out.”

The BMS is a first-year direct entry cohort program, so students stay with the same group of students throughout the course of the degree.

“During the time that I was here, I was able to become really close with my other peers in this degree, which was really valuable actually, especially when you’re with people who have known your since first year—they know your exploration as an artist and they really get to understand your style.”

Lam Kennedy says that getting critique and feedback from those individuals is really beneficial.

“Because of the nature of this cohort system, I know that I’m going to have connections with these people for years to come, which will be really valuable because I know I’m still going to go to them for critique, and I’m really excited to see where they go with their life and who they become as artists. I was really lucky to find such amazing people through this degree, and that’s really where I made most of my connections at UBCO because we were in a lot of the same classes.”

The media studies program includes a diverse range of required courses—animation, videography, film, photography, graphic design—all of which help students explore different mediums and discover their strengths.

Photography has always been her main focus she says, noting that is what she wanted to concentrate on at school. “Since I started, I’ve branched into videography and graphic design, thanks to the encouragement of some great professors.”

A highlight of the program is the capstone project in the final year of the program—a year-long course where students focus on one major piece of work that reflects their growth. Lam Kennedy’s capstone focused on large-scale digitally manipulated photography prints.

“It gave me the space to explore color theory and really develop my artistic practice, and of understand where my interests lie as an artist. For me, having this time for exploration over the course of the term was really valuable and is something I know I will use in future projects.”

Throughout her time at UBCO, Lam Kennedy says that she also had incredible work opportunities. She joined the webcast crew for UBCO Heat Athletics and eventually became the webcast student lead, and worked as a media production assistant with the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies, producing content for social media, print materials, and digital displays.

“Having those opportunities really helps to work as a stepping stone when stepping out into the big wide world, having those experiences on your resume. I think it really helps to show employers that you have experience and that you are keen and that you really focused your time into exploring your skills and finding valuable experiences within your community.”

When asked what advice she would give to new students, she said: “First, seek out critique—it’s scary at first, but it’s what makes your work stronger. Second, put your all into every project. Some of the best opportunities to explore your skills come early on, and that work can really elevate your final portfolio.”

“This program helped me see how creative skills like photography, videography, and branding translate into real job markets. Before I started, I wasn’t sure how these skills would be applicable, but now I know exactly where I want to be.”

Lam Kennedy’s capstone photo project, ‘Proximity’ captures moments of closeness segregated in time. This photo series illuminates the personal relationship of the subjects and their ability to lose track of time in each other’s presence.

Winners of the film festival (left to right): Jess Williams, Grace McCulloch and Nicholas Volk

The Student Okanagan Film Festival, hosted and organized by the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS), showcases emerging student filmmakers from high schools and post-secondary institutions around the Okanagan Valley.

A public screening was held on Monday, April 28^th at UBC Okanagan to a full audience to celebrate the talent in the valley.

“With over 80 submissions this year, the jury had a tough time narrowing it down to the twenty-three films that were chosen for the screening,” says Denise Kenney, one of the festival judges. ”We were all impressed by the quality of the films by these young local filmmakers, and were excited to be able to host this screening to show this selection.”

The 2025 festival Jury members were FCCS faculty members Denise Kenney, Dan Keyes, Michael V Smith, Myron Campbell, and Jacen Dennis, and the student reps were Lauren Naidoo and Anneka Rode.

Awards were given to the top films in three categories:

• 2025 SOFF Live Action Short Film Award: Daily Encounters by Nicholas Volk
• 2025 SOFF Short Animated Film Award: July by Jess Williams
• 2025 SOFF High School Short Film Award: Sunflowers by Grace McCulloch

Films selected for the festival were:

• Due Last Week by Gavin Visscher
• Spidderball vs Masterhand by Brandon Mar
• Lost by Gudmund Rothing
• The Underbelly by Kailee Fawcett
• Chicken Skin by Erika Rios Prado
• Skin Shed by Hailey Johnson
• Meep Transformations by Ivy Ye
• Invisible String by Quinn Mortensen
• Cranial by Lauren Naidoo
• The Pea and the Princess by Sophie Murphy
• Heartwired by Liliana Chen
• Tar Wolf by Joshua Huddlestone
• Full Throttle by Giuliano Cardarelli
• Sunflowers by Grace McCulloch
• First Contact by Charlie Carr
• Three Greedy Pigs by Noémie Schirrer
• July by Jess Williams
• UNLIKE YOU by Connor Robertson
• Abattoir by Alyssa Norlin
• Unsunny by Sara Vallejo and Ana Vallejo
• freezer burn by Mae Glerum
• Thought Bobbles by Julian Lamprecht
• Daily Encounters by Nicholas Volk

Media Studies student Lauren Naidoo was also selected to create the branding and graphics and poster design for this year’s festival.

For this year’s festival, students in Myron Campbell’s Advanced Practices in Media Arts class were tasked with designing the festival’s identity, including a poster, title graphics, and social media assets. After the projects were completed, a jury consisting of Myron Campbell, Denise Kenney, Dan Keyes and Shauna Oddleifson  selected the top 7 designs, with Lauren’s work earning the top prize. Moving forward, the works of the remaining 6 students will be incorporated in future festival materials.

Graphic design by BMS student Lauren Naidoo

View the full 2025 Student Okanagan Film Festival reel

Mikah Assaly has always been a creative person, and she says that the media studies program was really appealing to her in that there were many of different avenues of creativity you could explore.

She completed the Bachelor of Media Studies (BMS) program in the spring of 2025. She chose the BMS program for the many avenues of creativity a student can explore, noting that the classes are so diverse, a student has so many opportunities to learn a variety of media.

Two of her favorite classes have been second-year Visual Arts courses, a communications branding design course taught by Myron Campbell, and a darkroom film photography class with Andreas Rutkauskas.

“It was exciting to see the level of passion in the course. We dove into graphic design work for the first time in the program. It was really neat to get hands-on film development experience in the darkroom and explore a more technical side of photography, especially since it’s something I’ve been working with for quite a few years now.”

In the second semester of her third year, Assaly participated in a semester abroad through the Go Global program, studying at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, on the South Island of New Zealand.

“Go Global is something I could talk about endlessly because it was such an amazing experience. I can’t encourage people enough to seek out those opportunities. The media studies degree is perfect for a semester abroad because of the many electives, which give you the freedom to explore unique courses without falling behind.”

To someone entering the Media Studies program, a piece of advice Assaly gives is to really use the classroom as a learning opportunity, be open to feedback, criticism, and ideas contributed during critiques.

“It’s a really special time, and you’re not going to get that kind of feedback for the rest of your life, especially when you’re working independently as a freelancer. So, soak it all up and take it seriously.”

Assaly says that she has been really fortunate throughout her degree to have a lot of opportunities to explore different career paths and work, having a few job opportunities that were referred to her through her professors, and consequently, has been doing freelance photography and design work in the last year of her studies.

She was selected to create a branding package and some marketing pieces for SpokenWeb, which is a constellation of universities across Canada putting together a poetry and spoken word conference at UBC in May.

“I really enjoyed being able to work on this project, and see the things I created being produced in real life like the t-shirts, beach towels, stickers and digital design assets,” she says.

Assaly is also working on a project with local interior design firm Be Grand Fast, which is a collaboration between them, the City of Kelowna, and Westbank First Nation, redesigning eight community rooms in Kelowna City Hall.

“My job was to digitize some work that was on display at the Vernon Art Gallery, which served as inspiration for the space they’re trying to create. I did some photography as well as digital asset generation—creating tangible design pieces pulling from those works to incorporate into the design of the space.” She adds that this is an ongoing project that she will continue to work on it after graduation. “It’s been really cool to get feedback from people in the design and photography industries in Kelowna, who are impressed by my work and portfolio. That kind of response has been really validating.”

Assaly goes on to say that the professional opportunities she had in her fourth year have helped her to see how employable a Media Studies degree really is.

“In the first couple of years, the program felt really innovative and out there, and I often wondered how all the different pieces would come together to create a career. But in my fourth year, with all these experiences and my semester abroad, I’ve gained a global perspective on what I’ve learned. It’s been incredibly rewarding.”

Samantha Wigglesworth in the FINA Gallery, March 2025

Throughout their academic and artistic career, Samantha Wigglesworth has been deeply invested in queer activism.

“In 2016, alongside several high-school classmates, I co-founded the Pride Walk in my hometown, Fort St. John. This event, which continues to grow, has provided a visible platform for LGBTQ+ advocacy in a community where such representation is often scarce,” they explain.

This intersection of activism and art has remained a consistent theme in their work.

After graduating from high school, Wigglesworth attended the University of the Fraser Valley (UFV), and due to the pandemic, completed three years of the undergraduate degree online from their hometown before finishing the final year in person.

“After earning my Bachelor of Fine Arts, I felt I had more to learn.”

This desire for continued education led them to pursue a Master of Fine Arts here at UBC Okanagan.

In July 2021, Wigglesworth held their first solo exhibition, “Spectrum,” a portrait series exploring diverse genders and sexualities. The exhibition aimed to normalize queer identities in a community where many had never encountered such representations.

Between their BFA and MFA, Wigglesworth received a grant from the BC Arts Council to create portraits of transgender and gender-nonconforming individuals as a form of visual activism. This work was shown on campus in the FINA Gallery in March 2025.

“By presenting these portraits, I hoped to prompt viewers to confront and ultimately reduce their biases. My artistic practice has consistently centered on queer identity, and this project laid the foundation for my graduate thesis, which continues to explore these themes,” they note.

Encouraged by their professors and supervisors at UBCO, Wigglesworth has started to experiment with new artistic forms.

“While my earlier work focused on realistic portraiture, I have recently embraced an abstract representational style, allowing me to convey deeper emotional experiences then what I think traditional portraiture might capture.”

Wigglesworth says that their creative process has evolved significantly since beginning the MFA program.

“In previous work, I started with a more analytical approach. Conceptualizing an idea, photographing my models – who are always people I know – and ensuring they understood how I intended to portray them. Now, my work is more intuitive and emotionally driven.”

This shift has led to a combination of realism and abstraction in their latest pieces, capturing a broader emotional spectrum and convey the complexities of queer experiences. Ultimately, their work seeks to challenge and expand perceptions of gender and sexuality, particularly in communities where such conversations remain limited.

“Through a combination of realism, abstraction, and emotional expression, I strive to create art that not only represents marginalized identities but also fosters empathy and understanding.”

Wigglesworth says that one of their most significant recent works, ‘Governed Flesh’ reflects their anxieties about the increasing threats to transgender rights both in the United States and Canada.

“During the creation of this series, I often listened to Trump’s speeches or heavy rock music to channel my emotional responses into the artwork,” they explain. “This raw, expressive approach has not only strengthened my thesis but has also allowed me to engage more intentionally and powerfully with themes of pain, resilience, and identity.”

Looking ahead, Wigglesworth aspires to continue practicing as a full-time artist while also pursuing a career as a professor, and says “As I continue my journey, I remain committed to using my art as a powerful tool for visibility, activism, and change.”

Beyond their thesis work, Wigglesworth engages in a variety of creative pursuits to maintain a balanced and sustainable artistic practice. These include lino cuts, collage-making, and clothing alterations—activities that provide both personal fulfillment and potential passive income.

“By diversifying my artistic output, I aim to prevent burnout and ensure a holistic engagement with my craft.”

Left to right: Ana Vallejo (featured in the documentary and 3rd year creative writing student); Neha Iyer (filmmaker and 3rd year BFA student); Kailee Fawcett (filmmaker and 4th year BMS student).

UBC Okanagan students Kailee Fawcett and Neha Iyer were recognized for their hard work and creativity at the 2025 Okanagan Screen Awards, receiving second Place Overall and Best Story in the Short Documentary category for the documentary As Long As I’m Allowed.

While unveiling the financial exploitation done by post-secondary institutions, this film documents the experience of international students at UBCO, therefore urging reflection on systemic change and empathy in Canadian education.

Neha Iyer says that they felt that the documentary was becoming increasingly relevant and deserved a wider audience. “I had a strong feeling we might win, but with so many talented filmmakers, nothing felt certain. Hearing our names called on stage—not once, but twice—was exhilarating. It’s a moment I’ll never forget.”

As Long As I’m Allowed is a short documentary that explores the impact of Canada’s new International Student Cap through the voices of students directly affected by the policy. It aims to humanize both a provincial and federal issue and give space to those whose experiences are often left out of the conversation. The film challenges viewers to consider who gets to belong—and who gets left behind—within Canada’s education system.

“It felt surreal, inspiring, and incredibly exciting to be recognized among working filmmakers—something I never expected. Being acknowledged alongside professionals affirmed that I’m on the right path, and it’s given me even more drive to keep learning, growing, and reaching for more,” says Fawcett.

Kailee Fawcett, a fourth-year student in the Bachelor of Media Studies program says that Filmmaking is what initially inspired her to apply to the program because she has always loved storytelling and the emotional impact of film.

“Throughout the program, I also discovered a passion for animation and interactive media. Now I work across all three—film, animation, and interactivity— because I’m fascinated by how different forms can open up new ways of telling stories,” she adds.

At the Okanagan Screen Awards, Fawcett also received Best Animation for her stop motion/2D piece The Underbelly.

“It’s no surprise to me that Kailee is being recognized for her amazing work. Her work ethic is exceptional and her drive to be innovative is equal,” says visual arts instructor, Myron Campbell. “Specifically, I really appreciate her wish to bring in tactile textures into her animation work. The collage style she is employing really blurs the line between digital and analog. The result is quite exciting to experience.”

Fawcett says she was drawn to UBCO because of how interdisciplinary the BMS program is – combining critical thinking with hands-on creative practice across areas like film, animation, design, and interactive media.

“The small class sizes and strong sense of community here really drew me in—I wanted a place where I could experiment, grow, and collaborate, and this program offered all of that. It felt like a place where I could grow not just as an artist, but as a person.”

After graduation this spring, Fawcett says she is taking a bit of a break to rest and reflect—being a full-time student while working and volunteering has been non-stop. She says she wants to be intentional with my next steps, focusing on creative opportunities that align with her values.

“I plan to keep creating immersive, interactive work that brings together film, animation, performance, and storytelling. I’m especially excited about the idea of integrating performance into my art, while continuing to make documentaries that highlight local stories, and social and environmental issues.”

Fawcett says that she would love to travel, collaborate internationally, and take part in residencies that challenge and inspire her, and apply to master’s programs that allow her to continue growing as an artist and exploring new directions in her practice.

Neha Iyer is a third-year student in the Bachelor of Fine Arts program, also doing a minor in Computer Science. Iyer says she chose the BFA program at UBCO for its vibrant creative community and the chance to pursue what she loves, all while experiencing a new city without being too far from her hometown of Surrey BC.

“Though I followed a full STEM track in high school with plans to become an architect or engineer, my true passion has always been in drawing and film,” Iyer says.

Throughout her degree so far, Iyer says she has had a number of professors that have had a strong impact on her, playing a key role in shaping her artistic direction.

“In an advanced painting class with Shawn Serfas, he encouraged me to incorporate my STEM and math background into my visual work, which completely shifted how I approach painting. Yujie Gao in advanced media arts, pushed me to explore more experimental forms of film, expanding the boundaries of my practice.”

In a Narrative Film class with Denise Kenney, Iyer says she was guided into taking on producer and designer role. “This is something I hadn’t considered before—which opened up a new side of storytelling for me.”

Iyer, explains that she chose to concentrate on filmmaking for its versatility. “It lets me visualize my thoughts in ways I wouldn’t normally consider. I love how it connects to other areas like animation and game design, making it a dynamic and expansive field to explore.”

Dr. Jordan Stouck introducing the ECS Research Exchange

The Department of English and Cultural Studies (ECS) held a public event on April 2, 2025 showcasing recent faculty research. Faculty members were interviewed by colleagues and grad students about their recent projects and publications

The event showcased the department of English and Cultural Studies’ commitment to understanding historical and cross-cultural literacies as well as analyzing power relations in society. Humanities research is diverse and relevant to other disciplines, addressing equity, sustainability, and ethical issues vital to our time. A public research event such as this encourages wider dialogue on our campus as well as celebrating our faculty and graduate students’ accomplishments.

“For the last five years, ECS has had an internal annual research celebration, but this year we wanted to go public and share recent faculty publications and research projects with the wider UBCO community,” says Jordan Stouck, ECS department head.

The format of the event was interview style so that attendees could hear faculty members talk about their work in a very direct way.

“I’ve attended many conferences where the best, most compelling points were made in the question and answer periods, so we wanted to create that context for communicating directly to a diverse audience. It also allowed more scholars to share a taste of their work, with follow up questions and discussion always welcome.”

Included in the exchange were: Anita Girvan and Ali Yazdizadeh on E-race-sures & Reclamations Digital Map; Anita Chaudhuri and Eve Kasprzycka on Linguistic Equity; Maria Alexopoulos and Jessica Beaudin on Queer Theory in Transnational Contexts; Michael Treschow and Robert Eggleston on Paratext and Codicology in Old English; Astrida Neimanis and Julia Jung on Interdisciplinary Collaboration on Ocean Arts & Sciences; Sean Lawrence and Jessica Beaudin on Peace in Shakespeare.

Masters of Arts in English and English Honours students were also invited to share their research after the faculty portion of the event, with the recognition that research mentorship is important, and a great way to build capacity for excellence as scholars begin their careers.

“It was wonderful to hear from 2 M.A. and 4 Honours students on their projects and plans for future research. Many thanks to English Course Union president, Lindsay Baerg, for organizing this component,” says Stouck.

This public forum has not been available for Honours students before, but it is something the department would like to do every year, so faculty and other students can hear about the student projects and so the Honours students have that experience of presenting their work. The students who presented were: Maggie Wileman, Aditri Chatterjee, Lindsay Baerg, Maren Mcintosh, Mckenna King, and Matthew Holdt.

Below are photos from the event showing the researchers and students.

Dr. Anita Girvan and DAHU PhD student Ali Yazdizadeh

Dr. Anita Girvan is an Assistant Professor, and her research interests include: Cultural Studies; Environmental Humanities; Political Ecology and Environmental Justice; Black and Indigenous Feminist Ecological Thought; Stories, Metaphor; Critical Canadian Studies.

Ali Yazdizadeh is a PhD student in the Digital Arts and Humanities theme in the IGS program, he explores the shifting dynamics of control, resistance, and recuperation within the context of the algorithmic media. It is an exploration of the possibility of users’ agency within the coded enclosures of algorithmic sovereignty.

Anita Chaudhuri and PhD student Eve Kasprzycka

Anita Chaudhuri is an Associate Professor of Teaching at the Department of English and Cultural Studies. Anita is interested in identity construction of student writers and their communication styles. She is involved in projects and committee work on equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), educative approaches to academic integrity, and open education  at UBC.

Eve Kasprzycka is a doctoral candidate in IGS and a sessional instructor in FCCS. Her research bridges theoretical and intersectional perspectives on violence, governance and animals which can be found in Animal Studies Journal, Building Abolition: Decarceration and Social Justice and Philosophia.

Maria Alexopoulos and MA English student Jessica Beaudin

Maria Alexopoulos is a Lecturer in English and Cultural Studies. Alongside her work presented during the event, her main research focus is the relationship between ‘mass hysteria’ and feminine adolescence.

Jessica Beaudin (pronouns she/her) is a graduate student in the MA English program working in the field of Critical Animal Studies; her thesis explores the ethical disjuncture at work in the practices of euthanasia, specifically in terms of differential logics accorded to the putting-to-death of both human and non-human animals.

Dr. Michael Treschow and Dr. Robert Eggleston

Michael Treschow is an Associate Professor, whose research focusses mostly on Old English Literature. He has a PhD from the University of Toronto and the Centre for Medieval Studies and a Medieval Studies Licentiate from the Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies. His most recent publication is a chapter in an edited volume called The Age of Alfred titled “Easing Unease in the Old English Soliloquies and Boethius.”

Robert Eggleston is the English Program Coordinator in the Department of English and Cultural Studies.  His research focuses on late 17th-and 18th-century drama, and he teaches courses on the history of English literature and late 17th- and 18th-century English literature.

Dr. Astrida Neimanis and PhD student Julia Jung

Astrida Neimanis is Associate Professor in Cultural Studies, with a cross appointment in Gender, Women’s and Sexuality Studies, and Canada Research Chair in Feminist Environmental Humanities. She is also the Environmental Humanities Concentration Lead for UBCO’s Bachelor of Sustainability degree.

Julia Jung (dey/dem/deirs) is a PhD student in Sustainability as part of the Interdisciplinary Graduate Degree Program. Deir research explores the potential of polyamorous thinking to support transdisciplinary collaborations in ocean science and marine conservation.

Sean Lawrence and MA English student Jessica Beaudin

Sean Lawrence completed his PhD at the Vancouver campus, started at Okanagan University College, and was reclaimed by the mothership when it descended in Kelowna. He is the author of Forgiving the Gift: The Philosophy of Generosity in Shakespeare and Marlowe and co-editor of a special issue of Levinas Studies.

Jessica Beaudin (pronouns she/her) is a graduate student in the MA English program at the University of British Columbia Okanagan, gratefully working on Syilx territory. Drawing significantly on the field of Critical Animal Studies, her thesis research is interested in the ethical disjuncture at work in the practices of euthanasia, as well as the differential logics of obligation accorded to the putting-to-death of both human and non-human animals.

Students in the CORH Capstone course presenting their final project, April 2025

Experiential learning is an important part of the educational experience here at UBC Okanagan. It involves direct real-world experience and focused reflection and has been shown to increase student engagement in their learning, applying theoretical knowledge to practical scenarios.

But how do we know it is working and that students are benefiting from their experiential learning projects? With funding from the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SOTL) program at UBC, professors Sherry Breshears and Jordan Stouck are conducting a study to answer that question. The study investigates student perspectives about their learning in community-engaged experiential learning projects in two Communications and Rhetoric (CORH) courses.

SOTL provides faculty with funding to investigate their own teaching practices in ways that extend beyond simple course evaluations. This initiative fosters research that contributes to broader pedagogical discussions and improvements.

“As part of this program, Dr. Stouck and I have been exploring experiential learning, a pedagogical approach that integrates real-world experiences into academic curricula, encouraging students to actively reflect on their learning process,” says Breshears.

In CORH 304, Persuasive Rhetoric, Public Speaking, and Advocacy, students engage in advocacy projects aimed at implementing concrete policy changes within the UBC Okanagan community. These projects require students to navigate institutional structures, identify key decision-makers, and mobilize support through petitions, letters, and public engagement. Similarly, in CORH 499, the capstone course for the Communications and Rhetoric certificate, students collaborate with community organizations or academic professionals to develop communication strategies and programs, reinforcing the connection between coursework and real-world application.

A significant component of experiential learning is reflection, which enables students to evaluate the effectiveness of their actions and develop problem-solving skills. Through structured group discussions, class dialogues, and written reflections, students assess their progress, identify challenges, and strategize solutions.

“By surveying students at the end of the course and conducting focus groups, we want to see how experiential learning fosters confidence in students’ ability to drive meaningful change in their communities.”

As part of our SOTL-funded research, Stouck and Breshears are working with JungAh Lee, a PhD student in education who assists in refining their methodologies, troubleshooting challenges, and connecting back to a larger group of researchers working on similar projects.

“There’s some overlap between what other people are researching and our project, so we can be inspired and learn from each other, and refine our pedagogical approaches,” notes Breshears.

Beyond this specific study, Breshears says that this research contributes to discussions about the role of humanities education in developing critical, creative, and socially engaged thinkers. “I think one of the ways that we can build relevance into our programs is by highlighting these kinds of learning activities.”

This is a unique way to find out to find out how students feel about this kind of learning and to see if it is particularly valuable to them.

“We want to find out what our students get out of these projects and make sure the ways we are teaching really does help them develop the confidence, knowledge and leadership skills .”

By integrating experiential learning into communication studies, Breshears says they hope to highlight its potential for enriching curricula, enhancing student agency, and reinforcing the humanities’ essential role in addressing societal challenges.

Left to right: Umar Turaki, contest organizer; Steven Lattey, 2nd place; Wendell Zylstra, 3rd place; J.J. Hills, 1st place; Nancy Holmes, contest judge

The finalists of the 27th annual Okanagan Short Story Contest were announced at a public event by creative writing emeritus professor, Nancy Holmes, who also initiated the contest in 1997. The event was held on March 19th at the Alternator for Contemporary Art with each of the writers reading a part of their story.

After reading all of the shortlisted stories, Holmes notes that this was such a difficult process in choosing the winners.

“Both the high school and adult categories contained absolute gems of short fiction,” she says. “I felt myself in a nearly impossible position—in the adult category, the top five stories in my opinion were all so good I could hardly bring myself to rank them.”

J.J. Hills took the first prize with his story, Clinical Care, about an elderly woman taking her step-granddaughter to a clinic was simply dazzling in characterization and dialogue.

“From the first page I fully believed in the reality of these two people and a few pages later in the staff person at the clinic. These three women struggle to do their very best in a situation sabotaged by a horrible past and troubling human failings.  The story concerns just an hour or two in the lives of these characters but exposes in painful detail how nearly every decision they (and by sympathetic relatability – we) make. The story also skillfully unrolls the mystery of the visit to the clinic and keeps the story heavy with conflict and tension.”

Steven Lattey placed second with the story He Died Laughing.

“This story is a depiction of the banality of human evil, to quote Hannah Arendt.  The story verges on allegory and gestures towards the politically infused magic realist school of writing while it unpeels the layers of horror of how ordinary people become perpetrators of crimes against humanity.”

Third place went to Wendell Zylstra for Garbage, a story that takes place in a possible near future that points towards a crumbling society and a frightening future of machine-human fusion.

“This story is told from the point of view of a nearly feral boy who lives on or near a giant garbage dump, a setting that takes on superb and unrelenting symbolic presence in the story.  Just as the young protagonist, a violent, angry, and vulnerable young man, lives on the edge of a dumping ground, the reader gets a dark feeling that the culture itself—our culture—is on the edge of apocalypse and impending post-humanism. This story is chilling and mysterious.”

Holmes also acknowledged two other stories in the adulty category that she says she could barely let go of.

“Their themes matched the winning stories for resonance and significance, and their writing was superb,” she adds. Honorable mentions went to Philip Seagram (Nelson) for The Way You Say It, and Miracle Adebayo (Kelowna) for Treasures from Daycare

The young writers in the high school category tackled themes perennial to young people— such as journeys into frighteningly unknown futures- but tinged, I suspect by the complicated times in which we live, explains Holmes.

“So many of these stories dealt with fear of the loss of friends and loved ones, awareness of a life saturated with loneliness and a kind of hopeless or destructive longing, as well as conveying a very dark view of the state of the natural world,” she adds. “The winner of this category was a stand-out however. From the moment I read it, I knew it was a winner.”

Briar Fagan from Selkirk Secondary School took the top prize for their story, Angels Don’t Smoke Earwigs.

Holmes says that many things make this story outstanding- the writing first of all.  Imagery that never lets up on delivering a sense of decay, disintegration- each phrase contributes to the feeling of despair and hopelessness.

“This was an astonishing story, sophisticated, beautifully written about a young man being sent off to some mysterious war— the story presents a feeling of a not-too distant future or some other country in the current geopolitical now. The story takes place over a few short hours as the young man and his lover take their leave from each other.”

The annual contest, organized by the Creative Writing program in the Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies (FCCS), is a writing competition open to fiction writers in British Columbia’s Southern Interior. Writers submit their stories, which are then read, anonymously, by faculty, and the shortlisted stories are sent to a guest judge to choose the winners in the adult and high school categories.

The first-place writer received $1,000; second-place winner received $400 and third-place received $200. The top high school student received a $200 prize. Co-sponsors of the contest are FCCS and the Central Okanagan Foundation.

View the full shortlist for this year’s contest.

The annual UBC Giving Day is Thursday, April 3 – a special 24-hour celebration of giving that brings students, alumni, faculty, staff and donors together to make our voices heard. Last year, thousands of donors helped open doors, boost potential and create new opportunities for our community.

In FCCS, we are supporting the Indigenous Art Intensive (IAI). The IAI is like a brush dipped in both tradition and new vision, painting a shared canvas where contemporary Indigenous creativity can flourish. This month-long residency gathers students, artists, curators, writers and scholars to engage in contemporary ideas and discourse—a place for new ideas rooted in Indigenous art-making.

Your support this UBC Giving Day would mean the world to us, it goes beyond funding a program—it directly supports the Indigenous artists who bring this vision to life. Supporting the Indigenous Art Intensive ensures these artists can continue creating, sharing, and teaching in meaningful ways.

This program directly supports artists, with funds going directly towards supporting our Indigenous artists in residence. Art requires engagement and connection; and supporting artists directly is the best way support creativity in our places.

Please join us on April 3 to keep this creative circle strong, where Indigenous voices paint brighter horizons and our shared community grows even stronger.

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Denise Kenney leading the students in exercises

To address the need to focus on developing communication skills for interacting with clients, Melanie Willson, Associate Director of the School of Nursing at UBC Okanagan, reached out to theatre professors Denise Kenney and Tracy Ross to work with first year nursing students in a class with lecturer, Maggie Weninger.

“This was originally inspired by a third-year student who took Tracy’s improv class as an elective,” says Willson. “I was excited by the links that she was making between the skills from improv and her communication with clients in clinical practice.”

Performance practice shines a light on human interaction and we are trained in the art of relational aesthetics, in all of its manifestations, explains Denise Kenney.

“This is what makes this collaboration such a good fit. It was also interesting that when faced with a class with ‘theatre people’ the students felt the same kind of nervousness that their patients might have entering an unfamiliar health care context,” she says.

Sometimes positioning something as ‘make believe’, such as drama or theatre, frees students up to take more risks and play/practice with less inhibitions.

Weninger says they actually use a lot of art and performance in nursing. “We call this ‘the art of nursing’ as they know it to be their relational practice.”

For the performance pieces in nursing, they use a lot of simulation, anywhere from low fidelity simulators (ie. simulated body parts) to high fidelity simulators, such as mannequins that can blink, breathe, have body sounds, etc., to actors who come in to play different roles, like actors who play patients with mental health illnesses.

“This is incredibly important for our students to practice in a safe space and try out different skills without being concerned that they will hurt someone or say the wrong thing,” Weninger adds.

Kenney and Ross applied performer training activities and improvisations to address interpersonal dynamics as they pertain to Non-Violent Communication and de-escalation techniques in a hands-on way that is safe, prior to them practicing it in ‘real life’ situations.

The Non-Violent Communication process involves four steps: observation; identify the feelings surrounding the situation; identify the needs that underly the feelings; and make or offer a request for the need.

“We collaborated with Nursing Professors Maggie Weninger and Melanie Willson to design a series of activities that helped students explore and practice, in an embodied, dialogical and interactive way, the dynamics of nurse/patient encounters,” Kenney notes.

These activities are grounded in performance training designed to explore mindfulness, observation, emotional and sensory literacy, subtext, improvisation, and consent.

Weninger notes that it was nice for students to get up and use their bodies vs sitting in the classroom. “Tracy, Denise, and I all noticed that they had the nervous giggles at first, but then really settled into it quickly. Most were very engaged and took it seriously, and a few of them asked me at the end of class if we were going to be doing this again!”

Kenney adds, “I think all involved learned something new from the collaboration.”

Nursing students Sara McCreght & Cheyanna Wolff exploring how to act out (and detect) subtext for a script.

Jenny Kwan, Devon Jennings & Davina Wilson with Tracy Ross and Denise Kenney (centre) talking about how body language can have an effect on our interactions