Ep. 106: Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li | University of British Columbia
Ever heard of an MFA program with 12 different genre concentrations? On this episode, Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li tells Jared about how UBC’s multi-genre emphasis allowed her to work across fiction, nonfiction, poetry, screenwriting, filmmaking, comics, and more. Plus, she discusses self-funding her degree, receiving a grant to do research in China for her novel, and UBC’s online option for distance learning.
Vivian is a queer and neurodivergent Chinese-Canadian writer, director, musician, and interdisciplinary artist who recently graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from The University of British Columbia. She is the winner in the short story category of the Creative Writing Collective Sustaining Shared Futures Writing Award and she was longlisted for the 2024 CBC Short Story Prize. Her fiction and poetry have been published in The Massachusetts Review, The New Quarterly, QWERTY, and elsewhere. Her chapbook Someday I Promise, I'll Love You from 845 Press was nominated for The bpNichol Chapbook Award. Her debut experimental novel titled To You, in the Waves of the Future will be going on submission soon. She can be reached @vivianlicreates on X/Instagram or vivianlicreates.com.
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