CLA: Department of English

Professor Michael Dennis Browne's oratorio with composer Stephen Paulus To Be Certain of the Dawn is now out on BIS Records. . . . Professors Ellen Messer-Davidow and David Treuer are featured in the winter 2009 issue of the CLA magazine Reach. . . . English is one of seven University departments system-wide to win a $10,000 Engaged Department Grant from the Office of Public Engagement. The grants are meant to advance the integration of public engagement into department research and teaching. . . . Screenwriting instructor John Olive opened a new play Pharaoh Serket and the Lost Stone of Fire at Seattle Children's Theatre. . . . Professor Charles Baxter's novel The Soul Thief is out in paperback.

Posted by Department of English at 10:35 AM | Permalink

Professor Julie Schumacher's novel Black Box has been named an ALA Best Book for Young Adults and an ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers. . . . Nominations for Minnesota Book Awards include three Creative Writing professors (Schumacher, Charles Baxter, and Ray Gonzalez), three MFA alumni (Laura Flynn, Joe Hart, and Brian Malloy), two MA alumna (Margaret Hasse and Alison McGhee), and one BA alumnus (Tim Nolan). . . . MFA alumna Flynn, author of the memoir Swallow the Ocean, also took home a "Keeper" award in late January from Metro magazine. . . . 2009 SASE/Jerome finalists include MFA alums Michael J. Opperman, Scott Muskin, Margie Newman and Michelle Matthees, as well as current MFAs Libby Edelson and Ethan Rutherford. Congratulations to all!

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PhD candidate Steve Healey published part of his dissertation project in the February issue of Writer's Chronicle. His article is entitled "The Rise of Creative Writing and the New Value of Creativity." Healey will be presenting "The Creative Writing Boom and the Poetics of Post-Industrial America" as part of our eNow! "Poetics, Politics, and Place" series February 23 at 2:30 pm in Lind Hall 207A. . . . Professor Omise’eke Natasha Tinsley was chosen a Spring 2010 Institute for Advanced Study Faculty Fellow for her project “Water, Shoulders, Into the Black Pacific."

Posted by Department of English at 9:16 AM | Permalink

The staff of the Museum of Russian Art in Minneapolis now counts three English alums on its nine-person staff, including President and Director Judi Dutcher (BA 1984). Curator of Russian Art and Artifacts Maria Zavialova received her PhD in English and Comparative Studies in Discourse and Society in 2008, and Misha Dashevsky (BA 1999) serves as assistant to the President. The stunning exhibit Transcendent Art: Icons from Yaroslavl, Russia winds up on Saturday January 24: 54 icons painted in the 17th and 18th centuries are on display, on loan from the Yaroslavl Art Museum. Upcoming exhibits include Russkiy Salon: Select Favorites and Newly Revealed Works, opening February 2, and Postage Stamps: Messengers of the Soviet Future, opening March 7.

Posted by Department of English at 11:47 AM | Permalink

Happy Holidays and Happy 2009 to all Undergraduate Students. At the Undergraduate Studies office we would like to wish everyone a happy new year and hope that all students will continue to bring excellence to the U of M English Department. This time of year is full of new things: a new year, a new president (!!!), and a new semester. This is your chance to improve on or change your involvement here at the U of M.

Just one of many ways to get involved this semester is to stop into the Undergraduate Studies office located in Lind Hall 227. You can meet with your academic adviser to discuss different ways to get involved and personally shape your education.

Also, you may want to check out the recently formed Fellowship of Undergraduate Students of English (FUSE). FUSE is a way to meet other English majors and have fun. This semester FUSE is looking for students that are interested in creating student interest groups. FUSE is open to all students and any interest. Please contact Stephen C. (cour0096@umn.edu) if you are interested.

This is just one of many ways to get involved. Feel free to stop by Lind Hall 227 and ask for the Peer advisers if you ever have any questions. Thank you to all students for their commitment to excellence this past semester!

Posted by capod001 at 11:17 AM | Permalink

The English Graduate Student Organization and the Nineteenth-Century British Subfield present a lecture by Professor Susan Wolfson of Princeton University: "Byron's Ghosts" April 16, 2009, 4pm, 207A Lind Hall. Support for this event has been provided by the Department of English, the Graduate and Professional Student Assembly, the Coca-Cola Activity Initiative, English Graduate Studies, and the College of Liberal Arts, Research and Graduate Programs.

Posted by Department of English at 12:59 PM | Permalink