FREE! Writers Go Wild! showcases the work and talent of the Spring 2023 graduating students of UCF’s creative writing MFA graduate program.

This reading will feature works by Steven Archer, Brandon Bradley, Madison Brown, Kayla Cayasso, Wendy Dye, Alex Gurtis, Charlie Klenk, Tammy Komoff, Ian Lindsay and Veronica Silva. Arrive early to enjoy a showcase of other projects from the English department, including:

  • The Florida Review, UCF’s international literary journal
  • The Cypress Dome, UCF’s undergraduate student literary journal
  • Writers in the Sun, UCF’s visiting writers’ series
  • Literary Arts Partnership at UCF
  • Graduate Writers Association, the student organization that runs PARCELS, a monthly community-based student, faculty and alumni creative writing reading series.

Department of English logo.

Writers Go Wild!

Headshots of the creative writing MFA students.
6:30-7:00 p.m. Open House
7:00 p.m. Program
Kayla Cayasso
Ian Lindsay
Wendy Dye
Vero Silva
Steven Archer
Brandon Bradley
Madison Brown
Tammy Komoff
Alex Gurtis
Charlie Klenk

Steven Archer is a Haitian-Peruvian writer and editor from Hollywood, Florida. He received a UCF Provost Fellowship in fiction. His graduate thesis, a collection of short magical realism, centers queer people of color in states of displacement, and explores the intersection of these identities with faith, tradition, and family. He is a finalist for the 2023 AWP Intro Journals Award.

Brandon Bradley is a Sanford, Florida native with a BA in English. Currently, Brandon works in elementary education. Brandon is passionate about working with young writers and creating stories that reflect the multilayered lives of African American youth. As an aspiring children's and young adult author, Brandon seeks to offer the representation he sought in literature as a young reader.

Madison Brown holds an MA in English from Mississippi State University. She is an Editorial Assistant with Braddock Avenue Books and Autofocus Books. She serves as President for the Graduate Writers Association and Assistant Director for Writers in the Sun. Her work can be found in Little Patuxent Review, Hoxie Gorge Review, JMWW, Rain Taxi and elsewhere.

Kayla Cayasso is an Afro-Latina writer and poet from Jacksonville, Florida. She is a recipient of the 2012 Hollins Creative Writing Book Award, the FAMU Graduate Feeder Fellowship, and placed first in fiction in the 2021 FAMU Annual Writing Contest. Her work can be found in CaKe: A Literary Journal, Olit Magazine, Hyacinth Review, Jabberwock Review, Saw Palm, and elsewhere.

Wendy Dye writes science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories. Her work has appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine, and her short story, “Don’t Go into 5C,” was a Royal Palm Literary Award Finalist. She was a stage manager on and off-Broadway in New York City. Wendy holds a BA in Theatre from Florida State University, an MA in Technical Communication from UCF and is a graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop. Her MFA thesis novel project is a science fiction reimagining of Shakespeare’s The Tempest.

Alex Gurtis is a poet and critic whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in Islandia Journal, HAD, Eunoia Review, Rejection Letters, Saw Palm and others. He is the recipient of the Ruth Weiss Foundation 2022 Maverick Poet Award Finalist, Alex is co-owner of the independent bookstore, Zeppelin Books.

Charlie Klenk (they/them) writes creative nonfiction and fiction stories about transgender experiences, pain, and ways that we love each other and survive. When you read their work, you should imagine a shambling mass of stars and space dust plunking away at a keyboard- it'll be better that way.

Tammy Komoff’s work has appeared in DreamForge Anvil, Bards and Sages Quarterly, among others, and is forthcoming in Abyss & Apex Magazine. She lives in the Orlando area with her husband and their two girls. For more of Komoff’s work or to contact her, please visit www.tammykomoff.com.

Ian Lindsay is a Fiction Finalist for Solstice Literary Magazine’s annual literary contest and a recipient of the UCF Frances Lefkowitz and Barnes and Keller Awards. As a first-generation Filipino American, he strives to find intersectionality and celebrate culture in writing. His work can be read in Pinyon, Miracle Monocle, Variant Literature, The Ravens Perch, The Eckerd Review, and more.

Veronica Silva is a Cuban-American poet from Miami. She received a Provost Fellowship from UCF for her graduate study. Her work has appeared in PANK Magazine, Passages North, Hayden's Ferry Review, Pleiades, and The Pinch. She was a finalist for the Mississippi Review poetry prize and nominated by Hayden’s Ferry Review for her work in Best of the Net 2023. Veronica has taught poetry workshops with the UCF Literary Arts Partnership and worked with publishers such as Copper Canyon Press, the Feminist Press, and the New Press.