Author: Darrend Brown

The Presidency of Donald Trump, and his wielding of the cudgel of ‘fake news’ against media outlets such as CNN, The New York Times, and The Washington Post, has led many to revisit George Orwell’s dystopian novel 1984, in which a “Truth Ministry” invents its own repertoire of facts. In the week after Trump’s inauguration, Orwell’s 1949 novel shot to...

Earlier this month, The University of Notre Dame announced Professor Kathleen Donegan was awarded Honorable Mention for the 2016 Early American Literature Book Prize for her book, Seasons of Misery: Catastrophe and Colonial Settlement in Early America.  According to a press release by Notre Dame, it was “noted by the committee (that,) ‘Donegan’s work is by turns troubling, provocative, and persuasive. Her...

In 1984, in an effort to encourage exceptional women and minority Ph.D recipients to continue their academic careers at the University of California, The UC System created the President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. The current program offers postdoctoral research fellowships, professional development and faculty mentoring to outstanding scholars in all fields whose research, teaching, and service will contribute to diversity and equal...

Each academic year, The English Department’s Holloway Series in Poetry welcomes several renowned and rising contemporary poets to campus to share and celebrate their work. This week, the series welcomes Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Gary Snyder.  A member of the Beat Generation and a prolific environmental poet, Gary Snyder is one of the most lauded poets of his generation.  A member of the...

Each academic year, The English Department’s Holloway Series in Poetry welcomes several renowned and rising contemporary poets to campus to share and celebrate their work. This week, the series welcomes Bay Area poet Tonya Foster. Tonya Foster teaches at the California College for the Arts in San Francisco.  Her book, A Swarm of Bees in High Court, was published last year....

When Orphan Black’s Tatiana Maslany scored a surprise Emmy Award this week for Outstanding Actress in a Dramatic Series, there was one Berkeley alum who could take a bit of writerly credit for her victory: grad alum Lili Loofbourow, whose New York Times Magazine profile of Maslany sketched the genius of the show and of Maslany’s performance in it. On...

Graduating senior Brian Yu (’16) was chosen to speak at the English Department’s 2016 Commencement Ceremony on May 21st, 2016.  What follows is the text of his address.  Dear Parents, Family Members, Esteemed Faculty, Staff, and the UC Berkeley English Class of 2016! Welcome to the 2016 English Commencement. I was sitting in an English class recently when a classmate turned...

  Chocquida Roekell Robins (’16) was chosen to speak at the English Department’s 2016 Commencement Ceremony on May 21st, 2016.  What follows is the text of her address, titled “Granite.” As a child I wanted to learn how to compare my life to granite––the falling grains of construction. The deconstruction of things that coalesce into something beautiful. I watched pebbles on...

Each year, the Department Citation is awarded to one outstanding graduating senior who is recognized by faculty nomination as having produced exceptionally high caliber work as an English Major. The following speech was given by this year’s winner, Maris Emily Dyer, at the department’s May graduation ceremony on May 23rd, 2016.  Hi, Class of 2016. Wow. I can’t believe I’m here talking to you today—I don’t...