We had the chance to catch up with Kerri Majors (’98) recently about her new book for young adult writers. The conversation ended up meandering across a number of different topics, including the current boom in college writing and MFA programs, why writers should buy planners, and Majors’s own writerly biography. It contains a lot of advice for young writers, and plenty to interest writers and readers of all ages.
On average, the English Department graduates between 300 and 400 majors every year–in 2012-13, the specific number was 375. These people go on to a variety of surprising and exciting careers. In this new series, we ask alumni to talk to us about where English has taken them.
READ MORE Alumni Stories: Sylvia Gonzales Discusses her Passion for Teaching
In response to his recent op-ed in the NY Times, Professor Scott Saul received a number of missives from alums of the department and from far-flung acquaintances. In this post, he opens his mailbag for our perusal.
A reflection on the surprisingly close relationship between bicycles and books during the first half of the 20th century.
On average, the English Department graduates between 300 and 400 majors every year–in 2012-13, the number was 375. These people go on to a variety of surprising and exciting careers. In this new series, we ask alumni to talk to us about where English has taken them.
READ MORE Alumni Stories: Whitney Magruder Talks about the Ups and Downs of Editing
Sixth in the series is Christian Durán (’13), whose senior honors thesis — “Reconciling Daniel Venegas: Las Aventuras de Don Chipote in the Balance of History” — was recently recognized with an honorable mention from the Undergraduate Library Prize, one of Berkeley’s most distinguished awards for undergraduate research.
Fifth in the series is a reflection from Nashilu Mouen-Makoua (’13), who explored three different archives in France, each housing different manuscripts related to the poet and statesman Aimé Césaire.
READ MORE The Lure of the Archive (V): Nashilu Mouen-Makoua’s Detour par Paris
Lili Loofbourow is a seventh-year graduate student, who works on early modern constructions of reading as a form of eating—theologically, physiologically, etc.
READ MORE The Virtues of Excrement: Lili Loofbourow on Blogging and the Academic Life
Fourth in the series is a reflection from Spencer Janssen (’12), who visited the Cormac McCarthy papers, which are located in the Wittliff Collections at Texas State University.
Third in the series is an interview with Lauren Ballard (’12), who worked with dozens of surviving original editions of Susanna Rowson’s novel Charlotte Temple housed at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts.
Second in the series is a reflection from Kathleen Miller (’13), who visited the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies at Indiana University.
READ MORE The Lure of the Archive (II): Kathleen Miller visits the Center for Ray Bradbury Studies
Kicking off a new series of archival reflections by our undergraduates is a short piece from Amanda Licato (’13), who visited the Alfred Stieglitz/Georgia O’Keeffe and the Jean Toomer archives at Yale’s Beinecke Library.
On the weekend of October 15, 2011 former students of Cathy Gallagher from around the country convened to pay tribute to her mentorship and scholarship. Speakers — all of whom gave short, provocative, or poignant talks — included Mark Allison, Miriam Bailin, Trisha Urmi Banerjee, Ayelet Ben-Yishai, David Brewer, Ian Burney, Julie Carr, Arianne Chernock, Tina Choi, William Cohen, Alison Conway, Oz Frankel, Laura Green, Nicoletta Gullace, Daniel Hack, Cheri Larsen Hoeckley, Peter Logan, Annie McClanahan, Catherine Mitchell, Leslie Monstavicius, Maura O’Connor, Catherine Robson, Simon Stern, Rachel Teukolsky, Irene Tucker, Vlasta Vranjes, Toni Wein, Benj Widiss, Elizabeth Young, and Susan Zieger.
Click here for the full text of those speeches and photographs from the conference.
READ MORE “Somebody’s Story”: Twenty-Eight Ways of Being Taught by Cathy Gallagher
Joanna Picciotto, Associate Professor of English, received the Distinguished Teaching Award at a ceremony on April 26, 2012. This is the 26th Distinguished Teaching Award won by members of the English Department. We have won more DTAs than any other department, a record of which we can be justly proud. Read her acceptance speech here.
READ MORE Professor Joanna Picciotto’s Speech at the 2012 Distinguished Teaching Award Ceremony
On November 1, a month before the announced release date, and because they were too excited to wait, Foxhead Books released The Drowned Library, Paul Kerschen’s first collection of short stories. I had the distinct pleasure recently of talking with Paul about The Drowned Library, and about writing in general, which he calls, “the least oppressive labor I have ever performed.”
