By this time next year, Lauren Amariti ’21, ’24M will be on the cusp of earning their second and third degrees from Arcadia University, with no fewer than 12 published poems to their name. After graduating with a BA in English with a creative writing concentration, the Voorhees, N.J., native returned for the Creative Writing MFA, English MA dual degree program.

“Arcadia is a place I was already so familiar and comfortable with, and I had a great experience in the English department as an undergrad student,” Amariti said. “The dual degree program meant I could study the two things I love together. Part of the program is also spending your second residency in Scotland, and that was a lot of fun!”

Amariti was recently inducted into the prestigious Phi Chapter of Alpha Epsilon Lambda, the graduate student Honor Society. In the ceremony program they wrote, “In the last year and some months, I’ve had the honor and privilege of having twelve of my poems published in literary magazines and journals around the world. Having my poetry shared like this is particularly important: a significant theme in a lot of my work is queer identities, and particularly talking about my queer, transgender experience. No two people are going to have the same journey with identity, but people learn a lot from each other, and if something I wrote can help even one person learn or articulate something about themselves that they haven’t been able to before, then that alone is something to be revered and celebrated.”

We most likely haven’t seen the last of Amariti’s work. Upon graduation, they plan to revise their novel, start a few other projects, and launch a career teaching either English or creative writing at the college level. When they’re not writing, Amariti can be found reading, sewing, making jewelry, embroidery, and floral design – “My craft table is its own little world!”