![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fiualumni-eastus.azurewebsites.net\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Marci.jpg\")
<\/a>Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello MFA \u201914<\/strong><\/h2>\nBorn in South Korea and raised in Ithaca, NY, Calabretta Cancio-Bello draws inspiration from her heritage.<\/p>\n
Her latest book, Hour of the Ox<\/em><\/a>, is inspired by haenyeo<\/em>, pearl-diving women from Jeju Island in South Korea who can free-dive for up to three minutes, even in their 60s and 70s. Haenyeo<\/em> have become the breadwinners of their culture, but the tradition is dying out.<\/p>\n\u201cMy poems seek to highlight the island\u2019s culture, these powerful women and a diminishing way of life,\u201d she said. \u201cI also wanted to incorporate Korean folklore as a backdrop for filial duty, expressions of grief over deep loss, perseverance and measurements of distance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calabretta Cancio-Bello appreciates the MFA program\u2019s holistic curriculum. In addition to cross-genre training in poetry, which encouraged her to explore both fiction and nonfiction craft, she learned how to place her work into historical context and about the professional side of being a writer. And her professors, including McGrath, Duhamel and Lynne Barrett, pushed her to develop her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of trying to make carbon copies of their own style, they meet you where you are, help you figure out what you\u2019re trying to do and work with you to hone your best style.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calabretta Cancio-Bello serves as program coordinator for the Miami Book Fair, overseeing all year-round creative writing programs and managing children\u2019s and poetry programming during the fair each November. She is also working on a new manuscript examining the political history of neocolonialism between Korea and America, and she is helping to translate the work of feminist Korean poet Yi Won into English.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is to continue bringing poetry to the people, building community through creative opportunities and giving voice to the voiceless.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fiualumni-eastus.azurewebsites.net\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/AshleyJones31of63B-300x200.jpg\")
<\/a>Ashley M. Jones MFA ’15 (Photo by Jennifer Alsabrook-Turner)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAshley M. Jones MFA \u201915<\/strong><\/h2>\nJones uses poetry to study her roots. Her latest book, Magic City Gospel<\/em><\/a>, explores what it is like to grow up African-American in the South and draws on her own history as well as the history of Alabama and America.<\/p>\nMoving from Alabama to Miami in 2012 to study at FIU inspired Magic City Gospel<\/em>. \u201cBeing so far away from home made me homesick in a way I had never felt, but that homesickness drove me to try to recreate my home on the page,\u201d she said.<\/p>\nHer time at FIU helped her to develop a strong voice, and she took the opportunity to learn from her professors, including prolific poet and essayist Julie Marie Wade and Donna Aza Weir-Soley, who Jones says was instrumental in her feminist education.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo see a Black woman teaching in higher education, and teaching Black literature as well, was very inspiring, and I keep that memory close to me as I embark on my own journey as an educator,\u201d Jones said of Weir-Soley.<\/p>\n
Jones is now a creative writing teacher at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, the school that helped her first understand her love for writing as an adolescent. She also teaches seminars at the University of Alabama at Birmingham that use film and literature to examine race and oppression in America. In addition to continuing to publish, she hopes to one day be a school administrator.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m so lucky to be able to teach exactly what I love,\u201d Jones said. \u201cCreative writing and cultural studies have been my passion for as long as I can remember, and I\u2019m grateful that I was able to graduate from FIU and get a full-time teaching job in the field I wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/fiualumni-eastus.azurewebsites.net\/stay-connected\/alumni-news\/newsroom\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/Ariel-Francisco-241x300.jpg\")
<\/a>Ariel Francisco\u00a0\u201913, MFA \u201917 (Photo by Gesi Schilling)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nAriel Francisco \u201913, MFA \u201917<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u201cMy poems seek to highlight the island\u2019s culture, these powerful women and a diminishing way of life,\u201d she said. \u201cI also wanted to incorporate Korean folklore as a backdrop for filial duty, expressions of grief over deep loss, perseverance and measurements of distance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calabretta Cancio-Bello appreciates the MFA program\u2019s holistic curriculum. In addition to cross-genre training in poetry, which encouraged her to explore both fiction and nonfiction craft, she learned how to place her work into historical context and about the professional side of being a writer. And her professors, including McGrath, Duhamel and Lynne Barrett, pushed her to develop her voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cInstead of trying to make carbon copies of their own style, they meet you where you are, help you figure out what you\u2019re trying to do and work with you to hone your best style.\u201d<\/p>\n
Calabretta Cancio-Bello serves as program coordinator for the Miami Book Fair, overseeing all year-round creative writing programs and managing children\u2019s and poetry programming during the fair each November. She is also working on a new manuscript examining the political history of neocolonialism between Korea and America, and she is helping to translate the work of feminist Korean poet Yi Won into English.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy hope is to continue bringing poetry to the people, building community through creative opportunities and giving voice to the voiceless.\u201d<\/p>\n Jones uses poetry to study her roots. Her latest book, Magic City Gospel<\/em><\/a>, explores what it is like to grow up African-American in the South and draws on her own history as well as the history of Alabama and America.<\/p>\n Moving from Alabama to Miami in 2012 to study at FIU inspired Magic City Gospel<\/em>. \u201cBeing so far away from home made me homesick in a way I had never felt, but that homesickness drove me to try to recreate my home on the page,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Her time at FIU helped her to develop a strong voice, and she took the opportunity to learn from her professors, including prolific poet and essayist Julie Marie Wade and Donna Aza Weir-Soley, who Jones says was instrumental in her feminist education.<\/p>\n \u201cTo see a Black woman teaching in higher education, and teaching Black literature as well, was very inspiring, and I keep that memory close to me as I embark on my own journey as an educator,\u201d Jones said of Weir-Soley.<\/p>\n Jones is now a creative writing teacher at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, the school that helped her first understand her love for writing as an adolescent. She also teaches seminars at the University of Alabama at Birmingham that use film and literature to examine race and oppression in America. In addition to continuing to publish, she hopes to one day be a school administrator.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m so lucky to be able to teach exactly what I love,\u201d Jones said. \u201cCreative writing and cultural studies have been my passion for as long as I can remember, and I\u2019m grateful that I was able to graduate from FIU and get a full-time teaching job in the field I wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/a>Ashley M. Jones MFA \u201915<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Ariel Francisco \u201913, MFA \u201917<\/strong><\/h2>\n