Christine Ha

Christine Ha is a M.F.A. candidate for fiction at University of Houston's Creative Writing Program where she also serves as Fiction Editor for Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts. She received a B.B.A. In Finance/MIS from The University of Texas at Austin in 2001 but decided words rather than numbers were more her thing after an autoimmune condition caused permanent vision loss. Christine’s work has appeared in Fire Point, The ScissorTale Review, and PANK Magazine among others. She is also a contributing writer at the Houston Press food blog, Eating Our Words. When not at her desk writing or on the couch reading, Christine can be found in the kitchen cooking comfort food.

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Christine Ha

Christine Ha is a M.F.A. candidate for fiction at University of Houston's Creative Writing Program where she also serves as Fiction Editor for Gulf Coast: A Journal of Literature and Fine Arts. She received a B.B.A. In Finance/MIS from The University of Texas at Austin in 2001 but decided words rather than numbers were more her thing after an autoimmune condition caused permanent vision loss. Christine’s work has appeared in Fire Point, The ScissorTale Review, and PANK Magazine among others. She is also a contributing writer at the Houston Press food blog, Eating Our Words. When not at her desk writing or on the couch reading, Christine can be found in the kitchen cooking comfort food.

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News & Events

  • May. 2012:After being a contestant on season three of "MasterChef," I decide to change my M.F.A. concentration from Fiction to Nonfiction where the memoir which I'd been working on since last year will become my thesis.
  • Sept. 2011:Christine’s story, “The Reincarnation of Yellow,” is published in the inaugural issue of Fire Point. Also, her “Ask the Author” Q&A is posted on the PANK Magazine blog.
  • Jul. 2011: Christine’s story, “The Virtues of Being Mary,” is published online at PANK Magazine, and her essay, “A Literacy of the Hands,” receives Honorable Mention in the National Federation of the Blind nonfiction writing contest.
  • May 2011: Christine begins her gig as a writer for the Houston Press food blog, Eating Our Words. She has also graduated Grade Two of Braille, making her officially fluent. She begins reading a novel in Braille.
  • Mar. 2011: This is a busy month for Christine. Glitch, a one-act play Christine wrote under the mentorship of Mark Medoff is read onstage at UH’s Wortham Theater. Her short story, “The Strange Happenings at Southern Market One Tuesday Morning,” and poem, “Girl,” are published in the Winter 2011 issue of The ScissorTale Review. “Girl” also receives the Editor’s Prize in Poetry. Lastly, Christine introduces Gish Jen at her craft talk at the Honors College at UH.
  • Jan. 2011: After being an assistant editor for two-and-a-half years, Christine becomes a Fiction Editor at Gulf Coast. Now she plays a larger role in determining what gets published in the issues, editing stories as she sees fit. Christine’s essay about her year spent learning Braille entitled “A Literacy of the Hands” is short-listed for the Creative Nonfiction’s MFA Program-Off contest. She also takes her first nonfiction workshop with Nick Flynn.
  • Sept. 2010: Christine’s poem, “Alphabet Hospital Circa Christmas 2002,” wins First Place in the Center for Texans with Disabilities poetry contest. This semester, she takes a master workshop with Chitra Divakaruni and a playwriting workshop with Mark Medoff.
  • May 2010: Christine finishes her busiest semester yet: workshop with Alexander Parsons, a self-designed spiritual autobiography course with Martha Serpas, and fiction forms with Robert Boswell (where she wrote an entire bad novel in just a semester). Then she gets married too! After her honeymoon, she will start Braille classes.
  • Aug. 2009: Christine studies humor writing one-on-one with Mat Johnson.
  • May 2009: Christine serves as a judge for the Sylvan Karchmar and the Brian Lawrence undergraduate fiction contests. She also wraps up her second semester in the CWP which included a workshop with Antonya Nelson.
  • Apr. 2009: Christine meets and discusses fiction with writer-in-resident Bret Anthony Johnston.
  • Feb. 2009: Christine attends a week-long seminar with visiting writer Richard Ford.
  • Sept. 2008: Christine starts working as a fiction assistant editor for Gulf Coast, the nationally distributed literary journal staffed by UH creative writing grad students. Her duties include whittling down the piles of slush and contest entries.
  • Aug. 2008: Christine begins her M.F.A. in the Creative Writing Program at University of Houston. Go Cougs! In her first semester, she studies under Chitra Divakaruni and Matthew Zapruder.
  • Jan. 2006: Christine’s first publication ever is an essay entitled “Moments” which recounts the loss of her mother when Christine was a teenager. It appears in Challenger Magazine. The encouragement she receives from this small publication is what convinces her to pursue creative writing.

Publications