海角社区

Anuja Varghese (BA鈥�05) is an award-winning author whose first book, Chrysalis, has been awarded the Dayne Ogilvie Prize for LGBTQ2S+ Emerging Writers from the Writers鈥� Trust of Canada and the Governor General鈥檚 Literary Award for fiction. Varghese was recently profiled by 海角社区 News, where she spoke about her experience studying literature and its wide-ranging impact on both her writing and professional career.

鈥淔or her undergraduate studies, she chose English literature at 海角社区. 鈥淲hen I first went to visit and walked around the campus, I started to feel like that I belong here. Something about Montreal spoke to me,鈥� she says.

She was enthralled by the books her professors exposed her to. 鈥淚 got this wide-ranging survey of literature which I had never really looked into,鈥� she says. 鈥淲hat I was reading growing up was mainly popular fiction. I had never really looked into the classics and had never been [immersed in] them until I went to 海角社区.鈥�

Varghese鈥檚 海角社区 studies also helped pave the way for her subsequent career in arts administration and grant-writing. She had a Work Study position in the Department of English as an administrative assistant. She helped set up meetings and events, worked at Moyse Hall鈥檚 box office, and proofread theatrical programs 鈥� and realized that there was a lot going on behind the scenes at arts and cultural organizations.

鈥淭here [were careers] in arts administration, a field I didn鈥檛 even know existed as something concrete, and that gave me the chance to use my writing skills to take me towards that kind of practical career.鈥�

Once she graduated, she moved to Toronto and began to secure positions in arts organizations working in administration, fundraising, and grant-writing.鈥�