Kate McCafferty
PhD. University of Arizona Tucson

Kate McCafferty earned her first degree at the University of California at Santa Cruz, under great American writers like the poet Lucille Clifton, poet and social analyst Gloria Anzalduas, and the late dramatist George Hitchcock.  She began her graduate studies in the unique Department of the History of Consciousness at UCSC. While still in Santa Cruz she won several prizes for poetry, including 1st prize in the Poet Laureate competition for the University of California system, and published her first three short stories. From there, she went on to earn an MFA in fiction writing from the Writers' Workshop of the University of Arizona, Tucson.  In Tucson she was privileged to study with luminaries such as Joy Harjo and N. Scott Momaday, winner of the Pulitzer Prize.  She continued at U of A, earning her PhD in English and Cultural Studies.  During that time there were more publications of stories, poems, and scholarly articles.  In Arizona she won various prizes, among them the Downs Award for Fiction.

McCafferty has taught in several universities in the USA as well as Europe and the Middle East, while continuing her own writing.  In 2001/2003 she published her first novel, Testimony of an Irish Slave Girl through Viking Penguin, New York.  She left academe for a time to undertake two publicity tours in the USA, including university lectures, conference panels, and media interviews.  Testimony fictionalises an historical tragedy which is little-known - the enslavement of tens of thousands of native Irish.  Irish slaves formed the British experiential basis for the African slave trade to the Sugar Islands. Eight years of research went into this book. 

She has written articles on historical and modern slavery for The Dublin Times, RTE,  and other venues.  In 2005 Testimony was chosen by Thompson Gale Publishers to be anthologised as part of an online resource on Prejudice and Discrimination in Literature. Currently, Dr. McCafferty is working on a book set in modern Mexico.  It deals with globalisation, among other things.  Jim Coatzee, winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature, praised her work for its revelation of hidden aspects of colonialism.  She herself says, "The highest compliment I think I ever received was when a fiery ex-professor recognized me for being what he called `a literary activist'. I have always believed that words that probe for truth can change the world.' 

A one-month course is too fast-paced to work on writing a novel, so Kate will offer her MLI students expert attention in the genres of memoir, travel writing, drama, and short stories. Interaction with diverse communities, neighborhoods, and historical periods of Paris is part of the plan. She brings in- depth editing and submission information to creative writers. Her course offers 6 credits.  Assessment projects will be surprising, memorable, and high caliber.