June 14th  |  Seattle

She Mastered That!

Please join us in celebrating

Asia Ashley-Emerson

on the occasion of her Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing & Poetics from the University of Washington Bothell

After spending the past few years doing the deep work — writing, imagining, and building worlds with words, it’s time to celebrate what that commitment has made possible.

June 14, 2026 | Alaska Airlines Arena 3870 Montlake Blvd NE, Seattle, WA 98195

Doors open at 10:00 a.m PST. Procession begins at 11:00 a.m PST.

We have reached our limit for in-person guests, but please reach out to Mariah Ashley-Emerson, and we will prioritize you if we can secure more tickets.

The events below have no guest cap, so please feel free to join us. 

❋ Thinking of joining in-person?

Seattle is a long flight away. If you can't make it in person but would still like to enjoy commencement, please visit this link to join virtually.

❋ Need to celebrate virtually?

Here are a few additional celebrations and ways to interact with the work Asia created over the past two years.

  • The Spring Festival is a day of readings and performances by graduating MFA candidates and a guest writer or artist. This year, Asia will take the stage to present her thesis — the culminating work she has spent the last two years building. Come witness it, lunch provided. 

    RSVP Required— both virtual and in-person attendance available.

    University of Washington Bothell |  North Creek Events Center (NCEC) 18325 NE Campus Way, Bothell, WA 98011

  • There is a pre-commencement celebration to honor African, African American, and Afro-Caribbean students who embrace the value of community and scholarship, culminating in a Kente Stole presentation. 

    No RSVP required

    Alaska Airlines Arena | 3870 Montlake Blvd NE, Seattle, WA 98195

  • Lavender Graduation celebrates LGBTQ+ students at UW and honors their resilience, achievements, and community.

    RSVP Required

    Loction TBD: Seattle, WA

  • Rooted in my thesis, if ever you know again, this exhibit transforms the page into an immersive exhibit that explores memory and Black interior life under the pressures of erasure, control, and systemic injustice, while imagining the possibilities of Black futurity. It is both an artistic offering and an invitation into the project's emotional world beyond the page.

    RSVP Required

    Location shared with confirmed guests

  • “If I didn't define myself for myself, I would be crunched into other people's fantasies for me and eaten alive.”

    Audre Lorde

  • "The job of a writer is to make revolution irresistible."

    Toni Cade Bambara

  • "You have to go the way your blood beats. If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life, you won’t live any life at all,"

    James Baldwin