The creative writing department’s annual MFA graduation reading, Curtain Call, took place at USF’s Contemporary Art Museum. This year’s ten graduates read for a packed house of around 200 audience members. Each of the readers (Sarah Basil, Adam Carter, Casey Clague, Bianca Hernandez, Lorie Jewell, James Josue, Hannah Lay, Alison Missler, Erika Staiger, & John Williams) was introduced by their thesis director. Handmade chapbooks featuring original writing by the graduates were sold to benefit the graduates’ charity of choice. This year, the class of 2019 raised over $225 for Metro Inclusive Health, a nonprofit that provides health services to low-income and LGBTQ+ populations in Tampa Bay.
The MFA class of 2019 boasts accomplishments in publications, writing awards and nominations, teaching, and service learning. Before the Curtain Call reading, Sarah Basil and Adam Carter were honored at the annual English Department Awards Ceremony, receiving the Ann & Edgar Hirshberg Award for Graduate Achievement in Creative Writing and the Estelle J. Zbar Award for Teaching & Academic Excellence in English, respectively.
After Curtain Call, the graduates, friends, family, and professors gathered downtown at Armature Works for a celebration with food and drinks. The class of 2019 formally graduates in May.