English and Creative Writing

In celebration of Native American Heritage Month, Debra Earling, author of Perma Red and the forthcoming novel The Lost Journals of Sacajewea, will give a reading in Convocation Hall on Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 4:30 p.m. In addition, she will be making classroom, workshop, and other program visits. She has received both a National Endowment for the Arts grant and a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Dennis Kezar, who has taught Renaissance Literature at both Vanderbilt University and the University of Utah, will give a lecture entitled, Seeing Feelingly - The Alchemy of Shakespeare's Skeptical Empathy, at 4:30 PM, November 9, in Gailor Auditorium. 

Isabel Duarte-Gray, Visiting Assistant Professor of English, will read from her poetry, November 3 at 4:30 PM in Gailor Auditorium. Her reading will include new poetry from her forthcoming collection. 

This year, our Haines Lecturer will be the poet Natasha Trethewey. She will deliver the 29th Haines Lecture on October 25, 2022 at 4:30 PM PM, in Convocation Hall. It will also be livestreamed on the Sewanee English and Creative Writing Department's YouTube Channel. 

The Sewanee Review presents the 2022 Aiken Taylor Award, October 12-13. Critic Christopher Spaide will lecture on the work of Garrett Hongo, the recipient of the 2022 Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry, on October 11th at 4:30 PM in Guerry Auditorium; Hongo will receive his award and read from his work on Wednesday, October 12th at 5 PM, in Convocation Hall.

Dr. Jiwei Xiao, who formerly taught Chinese at Sewanee, will deliver a talk entitled "What is a detail?: Reading Chinese Fiction as World Literature."  In addition to the lecture, Dr. Xiao will be at the Tower Room upstairs in McClurg at noon for a discussion over lunch.

Novelist Katie Kitamura, whose novel Intimacies was a favorite of best-book lists in 2021, will read at 4:30 PM on Tuesday, August 30th, in Gailor Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public. Start the semester off with a reading from one of the nation's best novelists! The event will also be livestreamed - click to find out more. 

Memoirist and novelist Justin Taylor will read from his work on September 29th, at 4:30 PM in Gailor Auditorium. Mr. Taylor is also the Director of the Sewanee School of Letters, and, as a Brown Foundation Fellow, is currently teaching The Beginning Narrative Nonfiction Workshop for Sewanee's Creative Writing Program. The event is free and open to the public. 

The English Department invites you, on Monday afternoon, at 4:30 p.m. in Gailor 224, to a "Talk Back" with Dakota Collins and the cast of his Much Ado About Nothing, whose final performance unfolds this (Thursday) evening at 6 p.m. in Angel Park.

On March 23, 2022, at 4:30 PM, the English Department presents a lecture-workshop with Ralph Cohen, the co-founder of the American Shakespeare Center, a Shakespeare-centered performance group based in Staunton, VA, in the world's only recreation of the Blackfriars Theatre, Shakespeare's indoor performance space. He and actors from ASC will lead students in discussion and performance workshops. No prior acting experience required!

Ciona Rouse, a Nashville poet teaching African-American Literary Societies this semester at Sewanee, will read from her poetry at 4:30 PM on Wednesday, April 6, at 4:30 PM in Gailor Auditorium. An award-winning poet, Rouse is also well-known for her electrifying readings. 

As part of the Sewanee Medieval Colloquium, poet Jos Charles will read from her poetry, including from feeld, which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. The reading will take place April 9, at 1 PM in Gailor Auditorium. Her poems, whose language blend together the ambiguity of Middle English and the punch of text-speak, reckon with youth, desire, and trans experience. In addition to the reading, she will be in conversation with medievalist and trans scholar Dr. Gabriel M.W. Bychowski. This event is co-sponsored by the English Department, the Sewanee Review, and the University Lectures Committee. 

The English Comprehensive Examination will be held Saturday, March 26 (Super Saturday), starting at 8 AM. There will be a review session scheduled for next semester before Spring Break. You can find a sample comprehensive exam on our website, and the best way to prepare is to review the texts you have read which appear on our reading list (but we will have lots of guidance and tips for you in our review session). 

On February 17 at 4:30 in Gailor Auditorium, Dr. Gwen Kirby will be reading from her debut story collection Shit Cassandra Saw. It's been getting rave reviews, everywhere from Publishers Weekly to National Public Radio. 

On February 8 at 4:30 in Gailor Auditorium, PEN/Faulkner Award-winning novelist Azareen Van der Vliet Oloomi will read from her work. The reading will be followed by a reception and book-signing. 

The English Department and the University Bookstore are joining forces to feature our favorite titles, with reviews from Sewanee students! Come find new titles to read, February 11! 

The Mountain Goat Journal, Sewanee’s oldest student-run literary journal, is excited to move from its traditional yearly print issue to a monthly online publication in the 2021-22 year. Our monthly issue will launch the first Thursday of every month beginning in September, and coincide with a public reading every first Tuesday. Our goal is that, by keeping with a regular publication schedule and a rolling submission period, the Journal will serve as a supportive outlet for Sewanee students to showcase and share their creative work, and that our regular public readings and events will help to foster more opportunities for Sewanee’s undergraduate creatives to form a community with and among one another.

Submit to the Mountain Goat here: https://www.themountaingoatjournal.com/, and come to our next reading, 6 PM February 1, at the Social Lodge. 

Mr. Radney Foster, C’82, Nashville singer, songwriter, author, and actor (and Sewanee English major) will be the Babson Center’s 2022 Humphreys Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Navigating the fluid nature of the music industry, Mr. Foster will share insights of his journey from West Texas to Sewanee to the Music City and will offer wisdom to his success.  He will speak in Convocation Hall at 4:30 on January 20. 

Celebrated poet and honorary degree recipient Nikki Giovanni will give a reading from her writings at 4 PM in Convocation Hall, January 13; she will receive her honorary degree the next day during Winter Convocation. 

The Mountain Goat Literary Journal welcomes everyone back from break with new writing, published January 13, on the website. 

If you've ever wondered (or been asked) what you can do with an English degree (besides being a teacher or a writer), we have answers for you from alumna and English major Caroline Morton Huffman (C'86), who has had a long career in business and is looking forward to helping answer your questions. Come chat at 7 PM, Wednesday, Nov 3 at the Social Lodge. This event is sponsored by the English Department and the Babson Center. 

Come watch David Lowery's stunning new film from A24 (starring Dev Patel) and hear about how it adapts the late 14th century poem, Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Wondering how publishing works in different ways for fiction, poetry, translations, or academic texts? Come to a roundtable on October 22 at 4 PM in Gailor Auditorium, featuring William Engel of the English Department, Stephanie McCarter of the Classics Department, Matthew Mitchell of the History Department, Gwen Kirby of the Sewanee Writers Conference, and Eric Smith of The Sewanee Review. They will discuss their publishing journeys, share tips and tricks they've learned along the way, and answer any questions you have in the Q&A session following the panel. This event is organized by the Writing House!

On October 26th at 4:30 PM in Convocation Hall, Alice McDermott will give the 28th Haines Lecture, including reading from new fiction. McDermott is the author of eight novels, and won the National Book Award for Charming Billy. Sewanee's masking and social distancing policies will be in effect. (Photo credit: Beowulf Sheehan)

Poet and critic Phillip B. Williams will lecture on the work of Vievee Francis, the recipient of the 2021 Aiken Taylor Award for Modern American Poetry, on October 12th; Francis will receive her award and read from her work on Wednesday, October 13th.

The annual Southern Festival of Books will be all online October 9 and 10, and will feature a conversation with Dr. Destiny Birdsong, who teaches poetry at Sewanee. Many other authors are involved in conversations that can be seen on YouTube Live!

Jonathan Meiburg, C’97, will have a conversation on Zoom with Prof. David Haskell about Meiburg's new book, A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World’s Smartest Birds of Prey. This book, in progress for several years, draws together the humanities, the arts, and the sciences in a way that will appeal to people with interests in a wide range of academic disciplines. Through a focus on a particular species, the caracara, it raises questions about what evolution means and about our role as human beings in a changing climate.