SASE/Jerome Finalists Include MFAs

Of the twelve 2010 SASE/Jerome finalists just announced, five are MFA alumni/ae or current candidates. Poetry finalists include alumnus Mike Rollin and current candidates Brian Laidlaw and Kevin O'Rourke. MFA alumnae Kate Hopper and Margie Newman are among the creative nonfiction candidates. The SASE/Jerome grants award up to $5,000 for emerging MN writers. Congratulations and good luck!

Community Involvement Fair

When? Wednesday, February 3rd
10:00 am to 2:30 pm

Where? Coffman Memorial Union, Great Hall

Click here for more details!


You can make a difference in the Twin Cities community! This event
provides students a chance to learn about local volunteer and
internship opportunities. Talk to representatives from more than 90
organizations to find a position that matches your major and/or
interests. This fair is coordinated by the Community Service-Learning Center (formerly part of the Career and Community Learning Center) and
sponsored by the Minnesota Student Association.

David Treuer Top "Under 40" Scholar

Associate Professor of English David Treuer has been named a "Top 'Under 40' Scholar" by Diverse: Issues In Higher Education Magazine in its annual edition recognizing rising stars in the academy. The January 7 Diverse profiles 12 under 40 American scholars "who are making their mark in the academy through teaching, research and service." Professor Treuer noted that the honor also goes to "my family, community, teachers, colleagues, and most of all, my students (who have asked and pushed and questioned all these years). I thank each and every one of them and am grateful for the chance to teach and learn." Professor Treuer won a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2007, among other awards.

Gordon Hirsch on Sherlock Holmes

Professor Gordon Hirsch contributes to a UMNews video about the University Libraries' Sherlock Holmes Special Collections, the largest archive of Holmes material in the world. Having, say, original copies of Holmes' stories in the Strand Magazine here on campus "gives a student a real connection to history," notes Hirsch, and an opportunity to make unexpected discoveries: "You can really see Victorian values and Victorian attitudes in the advertisements in this sort of popular journal." The archive also features a replica of Holmes' 221B Baker Street room on the fourth floor of Wilson Library, which students might compare against scenes from the new Sherlock Holmes movie starring Robert Downey, Jr.

Ellen Messer-Davidow Awarded Stark

Professor of English Ellen Messer-Davidow was awarded the Dr. Matthew Stark Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Faculty Award Sunday December 13 at the College of Liberal Arts Commencement. The award recognizes Professor Messer-Davidow's distinguished writing, teaching, and service in the areas of civil rights, public education, and social justice. The Stark awards were created this year, based on a generous donation from Dr. Matthew "Matt" Stark, a former professor at the University of Minnesota and former executive director of the Minnesota Civil Liberties Union. Messer-Davidow represents the award's first faculty recipient; English major Joshua Capodarco, honored at the same ceremony, is the second student recipient.

New Faculty Books

English faculty continue to publish at a brisk pace: Creative Writing Program Director Ray Gonzalez celebrated the release of Faith Run: Poems (University of Arizona Press) in September and Cool Auditor: Prose Poems (B.O.A. Editions) in November. . . . Professor John Watkins also published his second book of the year, Shakespeare's Foreign Worlds: National and Transnational Identities in the Elizabethan Age, co-authored with Carole Levin (Cornell University Press), following up on the co-edited volume Shakespeare and the Middle Ages (Oxford University Press). . . . Professor Dan Philippon edited a collection of articles from the popular DNR magazine Minnesota Conservation Volunteer entitled Our Neck of the Woods: Exploring Minnesota's Wild Places (University of Minnesota Press). . . . Finally Professor Maria Damon co-edited with Ira Livingston Poetry and Cultural Studies: A Reader (University of Illinois Press). Congratulations to all!

MFA Awards

The MFA Program announces the recipients of new research fellowships for MFA students: Colleen Coyne (poetry), Claire Stanford (fiction), and David Malley (nonfiction). These fellowships of $1,000 go toward supporting the completion of the MFA thesis. . . . Brian Laidlaw was awarded the MFA Progam's first annual Book Arts Fellowship for his project, "Americana Mantra--Boxed Set." His proposal was selected from among several outstanding projects. There will be a public presentation of the project in the spring. . . . Colleen McCarthy (poetry), Sara Culver (fiction), and Priscilla Kinter (nonfiction) were nominated by the MFA program for the Associated Writing Programs' 2010 Intro Journals Project. Winners selected by AWP's panel of judges will have their writing published in participating journals such as Hayden's Ferry Review, Mid-American Review, and Quarterly West.