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Thesis Defence: Bad Weather
July 16 at 2:00 pm - 6:00 pm
Caolan Leander Wilkins, supervised by Professor Michael V. Smith, will defend their thesis titled “Bad Weather” in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing.
An abstract for Caolan Leander Wilkins’ thesis is included below.
Defences are open to all members of the campus community as well as the general public. This examination will be offered in hybrid format. Registration is not required to attend in person; however, please email Michael.V.Smith@ubc.ca to receive the Zoom link for this defence.
ABSTRACT
Bad Weather is a speculative novel about haunted landscapes and uncertain futures. Abandoning cause and effect for a relational type of storytelling, this work uses a polyphonic structure to imagine more-than-human perspectives across timelines. The story explores placelessness and grief through a convergence of planetary disruptions that change the landscape—and everyone within it—in unpredictable ways. By gesturing towards an anti-colonial way of knowing, this novel encourages readers to re-imagine their relationships with the natural world, and what futures lie ahead during the sixth mass global extinction.