Phoebe Wang marvels at the heights reached in a short time by her small but mighty band of fellow graduates.
They were all part of an Arts & Science English master of arts program launched in 2004 aimed at preparing students for careers as professional writers. The English in the Field of Creative Writing program numbers about seven participants per year but creates a large impact by drawing on faculty expertise and strong relationships with the writing and publishing communities.
“It only has had about 100 or so graduates so far, but they’ve had about 50 books published, so it averages out to half the program,” says Wang, a writer and educator who earned her English master’s in creative writing in 2012.
Wang is the author of two collections of poetry, including Admission Requirements, which was nominated for the Trillium Book Award, and Waking Occupations.
A former writer-in-residence at the University of New Brunswick, Wang has been a poetry editor with The Fiddlehead and Brick Books and is a consultant at OCAD University.
“I love writing poetry but I think it almost doesn't matter how people express themselves creatively, whether it's dance or sports or even scientific investigation: If you don't make room for ideas, they tend to go away,” Wang says.
Over the last few years, she also returned home to the A&S creative writing program as an adjunct faculty mentor.
She’s following the example set by her mentor, A. F. (Albert) Moritz, a senior lecturer at the program and former poet laureate of Toronto who’s published more than 15 books of poetry and garnered numerous awards, including a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.
“Al is really generous, giving and supportive. He's the kind of mentor that focuses on the positive, and that's the approach I take as well.”
Her poetry reflects perspectives and emotions about time, space and belonging. A first generation Chinese-Canadian, Wang says being mentored allowed her to develop her own brand as an immigrant woman of colour in the writing industry.
“The continuity is important, and I'm looking forward to this generation of students having mentors with similar experiences, like being immigrants or having parents who are immigrants, and to think in terms of what Canada means to them,” she says.
“It's also great to have mentors who are based in Toronto, can meet with students, and come with insights about challenges and barriers students may be experiencing.”
She shares deep bonds with a wide network of students, mentors and alumni. A kind of “echolocation” keeps graduates intersecting socially and professionally, says Wang, and she still workshops with one exceptionally close group of classmates more than a decade after graduation.
“Part of the value of the program is the connections and community,” she says. “A lot of the alumni have transitioned into writing, teaching and editorial work, and that has been really valuable.”
Wang is currently working on a book of essays about colonialism and the sailing culture of Lake Ontario, a passion she discovered after an editor reached out with an unexpected assignment.
“At the time I didn’t feel qualified. I was new to the sport and my family hadn’t done it for generations but now I’ve been sailing for about 12 years and I’ve done my race officers training with Ontario Sailing,” says Wang.
“There aren’t a lot of women of colour who sail but the book collection has grown out of the idea of how sailing has become a part of my identity. I feel like more people should know how accessible it is.”