An Interview with My Panelli, 2025 Carol Shields Tin House Workshop Scholarship Recipient
“When looking at the previous recipients, I was completely floored, it’s an honor to be recognized alongside such brilliant people.”
My Panelli is the 2025 recipient of The Carol Shields Prize Foundation Scholarship for Indigenous Women and Non-Binary Writers. We asked My some questions after their transformative experience at the workshop. Learn more about the scholarship and previous recipients on our programs page.
The Carol Shields Prize for Fiction (CSPF): What was your reaction to learning you had received the The Carol Shields Prize Foundation Scholarship for Indigenous Women and Non-Binary Writers to attend the Tin House Summer Workshop?
My Panelli: I was so immensely grateful. It’s a gratitude I carried throughout my experience and carry with me now. Attending Tin House was a dream of mine but it always felt out of reach because of the cost of admission. I took a chance when I applied with the hope that I would receive a scholarship, but I was honestly in disbelief when it actually worked out. When looking at the previous recipients, I was completely floored, it’s an honor to be recognized alongside such brilliant people. This was such a blessing and I couldn’t be more thankful.
CSPF: What was the Tin House Summer Workshop experience like? What impact did it have on your work, and on you as a writer?
My: Tin House was one of the best experiences I’ve had as a writer. I was able to meet interesting and smart people, I made some beautiful connections. This was my first time attending a writing workshop and I couldn’t have asked for a better cohort. Everyone was fully committed to being present with each other's work. I learned so much from everyone in that room; mainly how much empathy and investment it takes to give quality feedback. My faculty was Kim Fu, who was phenomenal. I am beyond lucky to have received their guidance. Some of the other faculty were writers that I have studied and loved for years. Having the opportunity to speak with them and share how much their work impacted me was monumental. The past couple of years I had taken a break from writing, I didn’t know if this was the path for me. This experience gave me confidence in realigning my life with writing at the center.
CSPF: What are you currently working on?
My: I am working on a collection of short stories exploring different forms of queer relationships, platonic and romantic, through the lens of archetype and mythology. I am drawn to writing about gender roles, death and rebirth reflected in nature, loneliness, and horror in the mundane. I’m interested in creating transgressive narratives, and characters that exist on the fringes of society as someone who is non-binary and has both Southern Cheyenne and Italian heritage.
CSPF: What is the importance of community as a writer?
My: For someone like me who hasn’t completed an MFA or even been published for fiction, there’s so much that feels unknown and impenetrable about the writing world. I’ve found that I need community to continue to have faith in the work that I do and support in navigating these sometimes exclusionary academic systems. Beyond that the best writing I’ve done has been in conversation with other writers whose opinions I value and trust.
About My Panelli:
