By Alexandra Alarcon
At UC Santa Barbara’s 2025 Raab Writing Fellows Showcase, students turned poetry, journalism, and memoir into platforms for exploring identity, community, and the spaces that shape us—from the alleys of Rome to the housing and food cooperatives of Isla Vista.
The Raab Writing Fellows Program, founded in 2016 by writer and philanthropist Diana Raab and directed until this year by Writing Program faculty member Ljijlana Coklin, gives selected undergraduates the chance to complete an independent year-long writing project under faculty mentorship. Fellows enroll in a small, seminar-style course led by Writing Program lecturer Peter Huk, where they draft, revise, and present work in a collaborative environment. Huk is the incoming director.
“Every year I’m just floored by what these students accomplish,” he said in his opening remarks at the showcase. “They write, revise, cry a little, and grow in ways they probably didn’t expect when they applied.”
The program supports a wide range of genres—including memoir, journalism, research writing, and creative nonfiction—as long as the projects are original, writing-centered, and deeply personal or socially engaged. Fellows receive $750 in funding and meet biweekly to share drafts, workshop ideas, and learn from one another.
“I always tell the students that the most important part of a college education is the learning part,” said donor Diana Raab, who spoke at the event. “Having a passion for learning and whatever profession that you decide to go with… just love what you do and do what you love.”
For Olivia Blair, a graduating student who majored in Film and Media Studies, the fellowship helped bring to life her dream of creating and printing a poetry book. While studying abroad in Rome, she wrote poems and snapped photos to hold onto the feeling of each place she passed through. Her project, Love Stretched Halfway Across the World, combines that travel with deeper emotional introspection.
Narrative Insights—a group of UCSB Raab Fellows including Olivia Blair, far right—presents work exploring identity through personal connections to history, love, community, and place at the 2025 showcase.
“Every time I traveled to a different city, I became increasingly aware of all the secret inner lives that exist within urban spaces,” Blair said. “We believe that if we surround ourselves with beautiful things, we would become so ourselves.”
Blair, who has been writing poetry since she was a kid and is completing UCSB’s Professional Writing Minor in the journalism track, said the fellowship helped her take her poetry to the next level—something she’d been wanting to do for years.
“I think I’m most proud of actually just creating a whole body of work. I’ve always wanted to publish my poetry, and this felt like a really good opportunity to actually do it,” Blair said.
While some projects focused inward, others turned outward, looking at the systems and structures shaping student life in Isla Vista.
Nathaniel Calilung, a third-year History of Public Policy and Law major, created a multimedia website to unpack the politics, people, and pressures behind Isla Vista’s cooperative housing system. The website, “Invested in Isla Vista,” weaves together interviews, photos, and audio to show how co-ops are fighting to survive—while navigating affordability and long-term sustainability.
Calilung said he was drawn to this topic because of the challenges students and community members face in Isla Vista: food insecurity, overpriced rent, and a lack of free public spaces.
“This is about basic needs. And this is about student needs. And this is about how students advocate for other students, for themselves, and for the communities that they’re a part of,” Calilung said. “That’s why I really want to talk about the co-ops, because they have done so much to materially change how I live and how I survive in the world around me.”
Calilung said co-ops offer more than just an affordable place to live—they help students connect with each other and find a sense of community in Isla Vista. “They provide so much more than just housing and food itself. They provide community understanding and ways in which we can form social connections that are uniquely specific to IV.”
Calilung credited the Raab Fellowship for making the project possible and helping bring it to life.
“This was something that I wanted to do for a really long time, and I think that the Raab Fellowship gave me the resources and the structure and the mentorship to do it,” Calilung said.
The showcase featured a wide range of topics —from environmental guilt, to hookup culture, to the pursuit of happiness—with many projects blending personal storytelling and broader social questions. It wasn’t just about sharing polished work; It was about unpacking topics that shape student life and perspective.
As Huk reminded the audience, “What makes this program special is that it's not just about writing…It's about transformation.”
The UCSB 2025 Raab Writing Fellows after presenting their year-long writing projects at the annual showcase. Writing Program Continuing Lecturer Peter Huk, far right, is the incoming director of the program, taking over from colleague Ljiljana Coklin.
Alexandra Alarcon is a fourth-year UCSB student majoring in Sociology and pursuing a minor in Professional Writing in the Journalism track. She is also an HFA Web and Media Intern.