News

VCU professor Devon Walker-Figueroa’s new poetry collection, “Lazarus Species,” features an assortment of forms, including ghazals, sonnet crowns, sestinas, villanelles and a pantoum, among others. (Contributed photo)

Devon Walker-Figueroa embraces the ‘odd bird’ that is ‘Lazarus Species,’ her new poetry collection

Nov. 18, 2025

Exploring modern themes, classic forms and wide-ranging inspirations, the VCU English professor creates a ‘network of conversations … all across time.’

IBé Crawley, who spent 30 years teaching K-12 in Virginia schools, is part of the African American doll and puppet makers community and the African American Craft Alliance, as well as various book arts collectives. She also founded the IBé Arts Institute. (Contributed image)

Meet-a-Ram: IBé Crawley still adding creative chapters to her life story

Nov. 14, 2025

A half-century since she started at VCU, she continues to blend education, art and community.

Split header: In her new book, VCU author Olivia Landry explores 21st-century films that put into focus the challenging reality of mothering. (Contributed images)

Olivia Landry’s new book explores motherhood through the lens of modern film

Nov. 12, 2025

In ‘Cinema of Crushing Motherhood,’ the VCU professor sees a new feminist sensibility.

From the onset of mass incarceration in the early 1970s to the 21st century, a new book, compiled and edited by David Coogan, brings together accounts from figures including political activist Assata Shakur, journalist Wilbert Rideau, and author and death row inmate Jarvis Jay Masters. (Contributed images)

Prison writing tells an American story of mass incarceration

Nov. 3, 2025

VCU author David Coogan’s new collection highlights perspective from behind bars.

An Interview with Barbara Epler, Editor and Publisher of New Directions Publishing

Oct. 30, 2025

Prior to the Cabell First Novelist event, we sat down with the editor and publisher of "It Lasts Forever And Then It’s Over" to discuss her iconic career, how she chose to publish de Marcken’s work, and where to look for inspiration in a world that has come to devalue artists.

Students in a class focused on the poet John Milton visited historically significant sights related to the literature they were studying. Here, the group is in the Wren Library at Trinity College. (Contributed image)

VCU students follow in John Milton’s footsteps — literally

Oct. 24, 2025

Summer study abroad program from the Department of English embraces the life and times of the ‘Paradise Lost’ poet

SJ Sindu’s new graphic novel, “Tall Water,” is about an American teenager named Nimmi who is visiting Sri Lanka in 2004 when a tsunami strikes. (File photo)

Family, war and a tsunami propel ‘Tall Water,’ SJ Sindu’s new graphic novel

Oct. 20, 2025

The VCU creative writing professor from Sri Lanka says her latest work stems in part from the responsibility she feels to bear witness to ‘the horrors and the joys of the world.’

Marcel Cornis-Pop, Ph.D., a longtime English professor at VCU, died in September. Of Cornis-Pop, a former colleague said, “No one relished new ideas with more enthusiasm. And no one communicated that enthusiasm to students more genuinely.” (File photo)

Marcel Cornis-Pop, a leader in VCU humanities education, dies at 79

Oct. 16, 2025

The Romanian-born scholar served as chair of the Department of English and established the interdisciplinary doctoral program in media, art and text.

Clint McCown, an author of poetry, fiction and nonfiction, taught creative writing at VCU until his retirement in 2024. (Contributed photo)

Clint McCown looks back on a rich and storied career

Oct. 7, 2025

From working as an actor to investigating organized crime, the VCU professor emeritus, who retired last year after 45 years of teaching, has followed his curiosity to compelling places, helping to fuel his ‘vivid and cinematic’ writing.

VCU’s second annual Humanities Week will highlight their transformative power for real-world challenges

Sept. 29, 2025

Hosted by the Humanities Research Center, the Oct. 20-24 program includes public sessions on careers, artificial intelligence and more.