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Sky O’Brien

Assistant Professor of Creative Writing

Center for Narrative, Meaning, & Media

Sky O'Brien is a writer from Perth, Western Australia. He holds an MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics from the University of Washington and is the Managing Editor of Dispatches Magazine. based in Berkeley, CA. He is interested in historical fiction, wordplay, and art.

Education

  • MFA in Creative Writing & Poetics, University of Washington
  • BA in English: Creative Writing, Principia College

Scholarly Interests

  • Modernism
  • Postmodernism
  • Beat poetry and literature
  • Australian literature

Contributions to the Field

Publications & Presentations

  • O’Brien’s writing appears in Dispatches Magazine and other magazines and journals. His essay “Dreams of Iron” is forthcoming in Artworks for Jellyfish edited by Ted Hiebert and Amanda Boetzkes.
  • Essays and reviews
    “Stings Real Bad” in Dispatches Magazine, 5 Jan 2026.
    “Let Us Pray” in Dispatches Magazine, 19 Oct 2025.
    “The Long Goodbye: Dispatches at the DNC” in Dispatches Magazine, 19-22 Aug 2024.
    “Through a Screen, Darkly” in Dispatches Magazine, 16 Feb 2024.
    “On Oppenheimer” in Dispatches Magazine, 13 Oct 2023.
    “Steinberg’s Tantric Universe” in Dispatches Magazine, 19 May 2023.
    “Postpostwar: Postwar Modern at the Barbican” in Dispatches Magazine, 28 Oct 2022.
    “Dreams of Iron” in Artworks for Jellyfish, eds. Ted Hiebert & Amanda Boetzkes, 2022.
    “The Art of War” in Dispatches Magazine, 10 May 2022.
    “The Gift That Keeps on Giving” in Dispatches Magazine, 20 Dec 2021.
    “Lost, Damned and Confused” in Dispatches Magazine, 18 Jul 2021.
    “We’re Not Done Yet” in Dispatches Magazine, 12 May 2021.
    “Searching for Solace” in Dispatches Magazine, 16 Jan 2021.
    “Vigil in Perth” in Dispatches Magazine, 10 Nov 2020.
  • Interviews
    “In Conversation: Dinah Ryan” in Dispatches Magazine, 20 Jan 2026.
    “Person-to-Person: Leonardo Drew” in Dispatches Magazine, 12 December 2025.
    “Person-to-Person: Willis Barnstone” in Dispatches Magazine, 17 July 2024.
    “In Conversation: Susan Chen” in Dispatches Magazine, 13 Aug 2023.
    “Person-to-Person: Sarah Schulman” in Dispatches Magazine, 5 Sep 2023.
    “Person-to-Person: Alfredo Jaar” in Dispatches Magazine, 26 July 2023.
  • Poetry
    Her Prophecies of Cake with Amy Hirayama, FFFAFFF Press, Jul 2023 (chapbook).
    “Forest dream” and “Edge of the Forest” in Clamor 2022.
    “Four poems” in Hex Enduction Quarterly Summer 2021.
    “Harold, a young accountant” in High Shelf Press online, March 2019.
  • Fiction
    “Dream Tonight of Peacock Tails” in Dispatches Magazine, 13 December 2024.
    “The Cleaning Tools of Amateur Astronomers” in Maestranza Magazine.
    “The Story” in Maestranza Magazine, Sep 2023.
    Beginners: Or, The First Voyage of Discovery (MFA Thesis), Jun 2022.
    “Three pieces from a fiction in progress” in Hex Enduction Quarterly Spring 2022.
    “Shoes in the Suburbs” in Puerto del Sol online, Jun 2019.
    “The Union” in NonBinary Review online, Apr 2019.
    “Harry’s Bird” in Drunk Monkeys online, Feb 2019.
    “Engineers” in Principia College Creative Writing Contest 2018 (1st place).
    “Appliance” in Principia College Creative Writing Contest 2016 (2nd place).
    “65 Inches Wide and 37 Inches High” in Mistake House online, May 2017.
    “Escaping Reality” in Armadale Young Writers’ Award, 2011 (1st place).