Alumna Thea Lim to share an ocean of writing expertise with University College students

Students at U of T's University College will soon be able to access an ocean of writing expertise from one of Canada’s top young authors.

Thea Lim (BA 2004 UC), a Singaporean Canadian writer whose debut novel An Ocean of Minutes received widespread acclaim, has been named University College’s Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor for the 2022/23 academic year.

Lim is an internationally renowned writer whose work has won several awards and been included in many high-profile publications, including Granta, The Nation, The Paris Review, Best Canadian Stories, The Guardian, and The Globe and Mail. In 2018, her novel An Ocean of Minutes was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and longlisted for Canada Reads. Lim holds a Masters of Fine Arts degree from the University of Houston and, in addition to her work in creative writing, has experience as an editor, book critic, and story consultant for film and television. 

As a UC alumna, Lim has maintained close ties with the college and was teaching at the UC Writing Centre while penning An Ocean of Minutes.  

"University College is such a massive part of my psychic geography, and so formative for me as a thinker, writer, and teacher,” said Lim. “I am beyond delighted to soon meet and work with the students who make the college what it is today."

The Barker Fairley Distinguished Visitor is an annual position established in 1985 to enhance links between University College and Canada’s prominent cultural figures by inviting them to enter into the intellectual and social life of the college. The Barker Fairly Visitor acts as a writer-in-residence, participating in UC events and meeting with students for one-on-one mentoring sessions related to all forms of writing. Lim’s residency will start in the fall of 2022.

Originally published by University College