Becoming an Author: How One UAF English Major Found National Recognition Through a Personal Piece

Kat Reichert, CLA Public Information Office
December 15, 2025
cla-pio@alaska.edu

Before her words ever reached a national audience, Margaret Thomas wasn’t sure anyone beyond her workshop classroom would read them. Her piece Pause, written privately and without the intention to publish, would become the work that carried her to Denver and into the pages of Scribendi, the national honors literary and arts magazine. Out of more than 500 submissions, only 33 were selected for the 2025 edition. One of them was hers.

For Thomas, a non-traditional, part-time undergraduate, learning that her most intimate work had been chosen was both surreal and humbling. It was a piece that felt fragile, even uncomfortable to revisit. Yet Scribendi embraced it wholeheartedly, inviting her to speak at its annual release celebration at the Western Regional Honors Conference. "It was in that moment that I became an author. I wasn't "someone who writes", I wasn't "someone who had a knack for writing". I'm an author - and it's not always easy to remember that, and I certainly don't always feel that way, but that doesn't change the facts," she says. “It was that transformative experience that made me realize that, though I am my harshest critic, I don't need to be defensive or shy about my work… And now I'm able to look at my work with much kinder eyes.”

Thomas’s development as a writer has been guided in part by the mentorship she’s found in the UAF Department of English. Early in her studies, she took two classes back-to-back with Dr. Brightwell, whose workshop environment helped her understand her creative strengths. In their very first class, Brightwell introduced the idea that writers tend to be either “Pantsers or Planners” — a distinction Thomas had never encountered. As she remembers it, “you either wrote by the seat of your pants, or you planned out every single moment before writing.” Realizing she was firmly a pantser changed everything. Letting go of rigid planning opened space for her stories to unfold naturally, and for the first time, she found herself writing with momentum and joy.

Other lessons arrived more gradually. Thomas describes Dr. Williams’ American Literature course as a “slow burn”—a class whose impact revealed itself months later. After years of reading mostly British novels, his guiding question, What is the Great American Novel?, pushed her to reconsider her own reading habits and literary identity. That puzzle stayed with her well beyond the semester, eventually leading to the realization that she connected more deeply with the punch and immediacy of American writing. She credits Williams for prompting that shift, noting that his reading lists and willingness to let students wrestle with big questions helped her discover where her own tastes truly lived. It’s a moment of insight she pairs with her gratitude for Dr. Brightwell’s mentorship, both faculty members shaping her growth in distinct but lasting ways.

Her academic interests also extend beyond English. Thomas chose to pursue an Alaska Native Studies minor out of what she describes as a deep respect for the place she calls home. “As someone who is not Indigenous, I do not write about Indigenous experiences… I chose it out of respect for the place where I live,” she explains. Learning about Alaska Native cultures broadened not only her understanding of the state but also encouraged her to explore her own cultural roots, which has shaped much of her recent fiction. Participation in the Arctic Leadership Initiative further expanded her perspective. “The choice to get involved beyond myself… and to go to Arctic Encounter where I got to meet people from all over the world, has inspired far more diverse and political topics in my writing—one of which was chosen for the Farthest North Fiction Contest earlier this year,” she says. For Thomas, stepping into new intellectual spaces is essential: “It challenges the way you look at the world, and for a creative writer that is a must.”

Community has also been central to Thomas’s growth as a writer—especially the disciplined, sometimes uncomfortable practice of giving and receiving critique. Workshop, she explains, taught her how to sit in silence while others discussed her work, resisting the urge to clarify, defend, or explain. That experience became foundational. “Writers need to have a group that will read their work and provide feedback, both positive and critical—but they have to learn to accept the critical,” she says. The “cone of silence,” as Dr. Brightwell’s classes call it, helped her understand that feedback isn’t a judgment of her as a person, but part of the writing process. Learning to listen first—to hear how her work landed with readers, to glean even one meaningful insight—changed how she approached revision and strengthened her confidence far beyond the classroom. It also prepared her for the realities of participating in a wider literary world, where rejection is common and resilience essential. As she puts it, “Have a group of people in your life that will criticize the hell out of your work, and learn to take it in stride. It’s imperative.”

Thomas also speaks passionately about the importance of the liberal arts, drawing on her own experiences as a young student who once felt pressured to treat English as frivolous. Today, she sees clearly how essential the field has become. She recalls the familiar classroom moment when students are asked why “the curtains are blue,” a question that is so often dismissed as overthinking. But for her, that exercise is the point. “It’s to teach people how to read past the surface level meaning. What could this mean, what could the author have been thinking about—those skills are necessary tools for navigating the world,” she explains. That capacity for deeper reading, media literacy, is something she believes is increasingly urgent. Without it, she argues, it becomes harder to recognize nuance, bias, or the motives shaping the information people consume. In a time when generative AI can rapidly summarize news or entire books without context or critical engagement, she worries about what may be lost. For Thomas, this is why a strong grounding in the liberal arts matters not just for college students, but for everyone. “Everyone should have media literacy skills.”

Thomas’s journey extends far beyond Pause and her appearance at WRHC. She traces her love of writing back to middle school, when English first became the class she looked forward to each day and a passion she learned to defend long before she stepped into a university classroom. Returning to that love as an adult student, she has steadily built a body of work shaped by curiosity, mentorship, and her willingness to keep learning. Her publication in Scribendi is one milestone in that ongoing path, not a culmination but a beginning. As she continues writing, revising, and exploring new subjects, Thomas looks ahead with both clearer confidence and a sense of purpose rooted in the same commitment that started it all years ago: the desire to understand the world more deeply, and to express something true on the page.

About the Department of English

UAF’s Department of English offers bachelor’s and master’s degrees that emphasize critical thinking, creative expression, and strong writing skills adaptable to any career path. Students explore literature and a wide range of writing practices, developing the analytical tools and communication abilities that today’s workplaces need. Our program is powered by dedicated faculty mentors, dynamic workshop environments, and opportunities for students to publish, present, and participate in real-world projects. Whether studying creative writing, professional writing, or literary studies, students gain confidence in their voices and the ability to shape meaningful ideas and skills that stay with them long after graduation.