Allison

Graves

Allison Graves received her BA in English literature from Dalhousie University and her MA in creative writing from Memorial University, where she wrote a collection of short stories called Soft Serve that was shortlisted for an Atlantic Book Award. She received the Craig Dobbin Legacy Scholarship to study at University College Dublin. Graves is working toward a PhD in Irish literature and teaches in the English department at Memorial University in St. John’s.

Writers & Books

Program History

2025 - none

Rising Stars

Selected by

Michael Crummey

Citation

“Allison Graves’ subtle, incisive stories occupy those liminal spaces in life that are almost impossible to describe or classify. Her characters find themselves between things, struggling with the suspicion that the milestones and accomplishments we’re told will give meaning to our existence — love, career, parenthood, faith — are illusory. That there is, in fact, no there there. Miraculously, she manages this without resorting to irony or cynicism. Graves’ writing is generous even when it bites, and it’s hilarious as often as it is sobering, which makes her a joy to read. She has already found that rarest of things: a voice that feels uniquely her own.”—2025 WT Rising Stars selector Michael Crummey