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As one of the top fine arts schools in Canada, we have a vital impact on culture both at home and abroad. We also host over 200 events a year, both on- and off-campus. Read our blog for all the latest Fine Arts stories, follow for breaking news on Twitter or find us on or Instagram.

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Media archive

As acknowledged experts in fields ranging from classical and popular music to art history, digital media, pop culture and so much more, our faculty are frequently in the news. Catch up on our expert opinions by visiting our media archive, which offers story briefs and links to media coverage.

2025: Year in Review

December 29, 2025
It’s hard to believe 2025 is already over: some years crawl like watching paint dry on a canvas, while others speed by at the rate of a can’t-put-it-down bestseller. Given that the 2000s will likely come to be known as the century when attention spans...
Read more: 2025: Year in Review

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Orion Lecture: Poet Karen Solie Oct 21, 2025
Acclaimed poet & UVic alumna Karen Solie spoke to our students in October, just ahead of winning the Governor General's Literary Award for Poetry in November for her latest collection, Wellwater. In this video, she reads from her work and engages in conversation with Writing professor Gregory Scofield. Karen Solie was born in Moose Jaw and grew up in southwest Saskatchewan. She is the author of six collections of poetry since 2001: Short Haul Engine (Brick Books), Modern and Normal (Brick), Pigeon (Anansi), The Road In Is Not the Same Road Out (Anansi, FSG), The Caiplie Caves (Anansi, FSG, Picador) and Wellwater (Anansi, FSG, Picador). A volume of selected poems, The Living Option, was published in the UK by Bloodaxe Books. Pigeon was awarded the Pat Lowther Award, Trillium Poetry Prize and the Griffin Prize. The Caiplie Caves was shortlisted for the TS Eliot Prize and Derek Walcott Prize. Wellwater is shortlisted for this year’s Forward Prize for Best Collection. Solie is also a recipient of the Latner Poetry Prize, the Canada Council for the Arts Martyn Lynch-Staunton Award and a 2023 Guggenheim Fellowship. She has served most recently as Jack McClelland Writer in Residence at Massey College (University of Toronto), the Holloway Visiting Poet (UC Berkeley), the inaugural International Writer in Residence (York University) and will be the Shaftesbury Creative Writer in Residence for Victoria College (University of Toronto) in 2026. She currently teaches creative writing half-time for the University of St Andrews in Scotland.
Orion Lecture: Saeed Teebi in conversation with Writing professor Deborah Campbell on Oct 14/25.
Saeed Teebi is an acclaimed writer and lawyer based in Toronto. His non-fiction has appeared in The Globe and Mail and The New Quarterly. His debut collection of short stories, Her First Palestinian — about Palestinian immigrants in Canada navigating their identities in circumstances that push them to the emotional brink — was a finalist for the Atwood Gibson Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize, the Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize, the Danuta Gleed Literary Award and the Forest of Reading Evergreen Award. The title story was shortlisted for the 2021 CBC Short Story Prize. Teebi was born to Palestinian parents in Kuwait and has lived in Canada since 1993. His non-fiction book, You Will Not Kill Our Imagination: A Memoir of Palestine and Writing in Dark Times, has been described as a vital, fearless memoir that explores what it means to be a Palestinian in this moment, the effects of the genocide on Palestinian art and imagination, and that to even claim a belonging to the land from a country thousands of miles away is an act of subversion.
Canada Council Director & CEO Michelle Chawla in conversation with Visual Arts Chair Megan Dickie
While imported goods are the main focus of the current tariff concerns, let’s not forget about how Canadian culture fits into the economic frame: with $60 billion in annual GDP contributions, 850,000 jobs nation-wide and an enviable legacy as global cultural ambassadors, Canada’s arts sector is a vital part of the national fabric and should be supported as much as home-grown veggies or Hawkins Cheezies. This was the message shared by Canada Council for the Arts | Conseil des arts du Canada Director & CEO Michelle Chawla during her recent 2-day visit to UVic, where she met with faculty, students, community members and local arts leaders, as well as attended some of our cultural programming. “We’re not doing this alone: we’re part of a dynamic arts ecosystem ... and universities are an important part of this world,” Chawla said while in conversation with Visual Arts professor Megan Dickie (left). “We need to tell the story of what the arts bring to our communities and why that matters. Every sector struggles, so instead of telling the instability story, we need to focus on impact stories.” UVic is an essential part of that story: home to BC's only stand-alone fine arts faculty, we're busy training the next generation of arts practitioners, cultural leaders and creative researchers, and equipping them with the skills and knowledge to succeed in an ever-challenging world.
Orion Lecture: Screenwriter Michael MacLennan, Feb 2024
Screenwriter, producer, playwright & UVic alumnus Michael MacLennan gave this Orion Lecture to UVic's Faculty of Fine Arts on Feb 8, 2024: “How to Kick an Elephant: A Border Town Survival Guide”. Michael MacLennan has been nominated seven times for the Writers Guild of Canada Canadian Screenwriting Award, and received the WGC’s 2018 Showrunner of the Year Award. A producer of nearly 300 episodes, his credits include co-executive producer of Queer As Folk (Showtime/ Showcase), creator and EP of Godiva’s (CityTV), co-EP on Flashpoint (CBS/CTV), Bitten (Space) and the hit series The Fosters (ABC/Freeform). He co-created and show-ran Bomb Girls (CBC), which was twice nominated for Best Series by the Canadian Screen Awards and honoured as Outstanding Dramatic Series by the US Gracie Awards. He served as executive producer and showrunner of The Bletchley Circle: San Francisco (ITV/Britbox) and, most recently, created Tiny Pretty Things for Netflix, which was their number-one series worldwide for 14 days. Michael received a degree in English Honours at UVic and, as an award-winning playwright, began his writing career in Victoria. A two-time nominee for the Governor General’s Award for English-Language Drama (The Shooting Stage and Last Romantics), he has also written two operas with Canadian composer Jeffrey Ryan.

See more videos from the Orion Lecture series playlist on YouTube.