GC Society Members Write In and Look Back: Sigal Samuel

Sigal writes from Washington, DC:

“The two years I spent at Green College while working toward my MFA in Creative Writing were some of the happiest I've had to date. The day I moved in, I started talking to a math student and we spontaneously caught a bus downtown to explore our new city; today, ten years later, she’s my best friend. I’ve also remained close friends with several other Greenies, who continue to shape me both personally and intellectually. I work as a journalist at Vox these days, and whether I’m writing an article on neuroscience or artificial intelligence, I have a Greenie ‘source’ I can reach out to for pointers. (I’ve even quoted them a few times!)

While living at Green College, I was writing several short stories and a novel (The Mystics of Mile End), to which several Greenies contributed their ideas. One night, I sent out an email on our listserv asking if anyone could think of an experience they wished they had a specific word for. People wrote back with great responses, like ‘homesickness caused by an uncertainty of where home really is’ and ‘the sensation of being slightly choked by a turtleneck.’ These ended up in my story ‘Words I Wish I Had.’ I also benefited greatly from our Writer in Residence, the poet and translator Oana Avasilichioaei. I still remember the thrill I felt when she left a note on the door of my suite telling me how much she liked a play I’d just written. Her encouragement spurred me on.”

This is an excerpt from the 2018-19 Green College Annual Report. View a copy of the full report here: https://greencollege.ubc.ca/sites/greencollege.ubc.ca/files/2018-19_GCAnnualReport%20WEB_0.pdf