ArtWords Winners

Congratulations to MFA candidates Emily Freeman and Shantha Susman, who are first and second place prize winners (graduate student category) in this year's ArtWords contest. They will read their work at the ArtWords and ArtSounds Program and Reception 7 pm April 16 at the Weisman Museum. Come hear them read their work at the Weisman on April 16. This is the 10th anniversary of the ArtWords program, in which students write short poems, prose, and (now) musical compositions in response to work in the Weisman's galleries. Reception follows.

Andrew Scheil Wins Medieval Academy Prize

Department of English professor Andrew P. Scheil's book The Footsteps of Israel: Understanding Jews in Anglo-Saxon England (University of Michigan Press, 2004) was awarded the Medieval Academy of America’s 2008 John Nicholas Brown Prize for a first book in the medieval field judged to be of outstanding quality. The award was presented at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America, Vancouver, B.C., April 3-5, 2008. The award citation read, in part: "Scheil adds considerable nuance to our understanding of the place (imaginary or otherwise) of Jews in Anglo-Saxon England. However, this study makes a contribution beyond the confines of the Anglo-Saxon period, addressing in detail the function and character of medieval exegesis, of the dialectics of religious thought, and of hermeneutics more generally." Professor Scheil has also received a Solmsen Fellowship for academic year 2008-2009 at the Institute for Research in the Humanities at the University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Graduate Student Symposiums

The GSO and the Nineteenth-Century British Subfield Symposium takes place Saturday, April 5, from 8 am to 4 pm in Lind Hall 207A. Graduate students from our department and from the University of Wisconsin-Madison will present papers, including: Kate Hannah, "Threats to Masculine Roles, Male Poets, and the Production and Performance of Poetry in the Works of Alfred, Lord Tennyson"; Brenda Helt, "The Victorian Violet Soul: Homospirituality before 'Homosexuality'"; Heather McNeff, "Invitation and Anxiety in the Early Poetry of William Jones"; Sunyoung Ahn, "Liberty and its Use in J.S. Mill's 'On Liberty'"; and Sharin' Schroeder on Lewis Carroll. The Medieval & Early Modern Research Group holds its annual colloquium with guest speaker Katherine Zieman from the University of Notre Dame on Friday, April 11, starting at 11 am in Nolte 235. Graduate students and topics are: John Sievers, "Dryden's Battle with Music in King Arthur: The Bracegirdle Hurdle"; Christopher Flack, "'Mearcstapa': The Acculturation of the Liminal"; and Lindsay Craig, "Damned by Saints Praised: The Old Woman's Invocations in Le Roman de la Rose."

Nancy Armstrong to Speak April 9

Brown University professor Nancy Armstrong presents "Gender Must Be Defended" as the 45th Joseph Warren Beach Lecture in Literature 7:30 pm Wednesday, April 9, at the Weisman Museum. Professor Armstrong is visiting as part of the spring 2008 Department of English series Impacts: Feminist Theory and British Literary Studies. Professor Armstrong is the author of How Novels Think: British Fiction and the Limits of Individualism (Columbia University Press, 2005); Fiction in the Age of Photography: The Legacy of British Realism (Harvard University Press, 1999); and Desire and Domestic Fiction: A Political History of the Novel (Oxford University Press, 1987). Her fields of interest include 18th-and 19th-century British and American fiction, empire and sexuality, narrative theory, critical theory, and visual culture. Reception to follow.

Creative Writing Awards

Congratulations to the recipients of 2008 Gesell Awards in Fiction, Creative Nonfiction and Poetry, given to MFA candidates within the Creative Writing Program. Luke Pingel won for poetry, with Jim Novak as honorable mention. The co-recipients for creative nonfiction are Wilson Peden and Katie Leo, with Holly Vanderhaar as honorable mention. Ethan Rutherford won the fiction award, with Laura Owen as honorable mention. The judges were poet Eleanor Lerman, creative nonfiction writer Fenton Johnson, and fiction writer Jim Shepard.

Prospectives Visit

The Department of English welcomes prospective graduate students March 26-30. Events scheduled include a faculty roundtable, library visit, tour of the Twin Cities, and meeting with graduate students. We look forward to meeting you!

Two Marcella DeBourg Awards for $1000 each!

This year, we will be able to offer two undergraduate Marcella DeBourg awards at $1000 each. These are not scholarships. If a student has financial aid, the funds will be applied directly to their financial aid account.

The deadline for the DeBourg is Monday, March 24. You must be currently enrolled English undergraduates. The application is a cover letter concerning their interest/project (plus name, address, phone, email, student ID number) and a writing sample of 15-20 pages of prose or 6-8 pages poetry. Applicants should be interested in giving "creative expression to women's lives." This award is open to students of any gender. The prose can be creative or academic. The criteria is the quality of writing. Submissions should be brought to the Creative Writing Program Office, 222 Lind Hall, by the deadline date.