Recent News
MFA Alum Katy Resch George Featured in VCU News
October 2, 2017
An interview with MFA alum Katy Resch George appears in the October 2 issue of VCU News. Resch George has published her first book, a collection of short stories titled Exposure (Kore Press).
Ghanaian Poet & Scholar -- Kofi Anyidoho
September 19, 2017
You are invited to hear Ghanaian poet and scholar Kofi Anyidoho speak on African literature in memory of English Professor Emeritus Richard Priebe, who passed away on June 9.
Jade Chang wins VCU Cabell First Novelist Award
September 13, 2017
Jade Chang has won the 2017 VCU Cabell First Novelist Award, which honors an outstanding debut novel published during a calendar year.
2017-18 VCU Visiting Writers Series Begins!
September 11, 2017
The Department of English MFA Program in Creative Writing at Virginia Commonwealth University annually invites writers to campus for public readings. The department also sponsors the Levis Reading Prize and the VCU Cabell First Novelist Award. In addition, we are delighted to be co-sponsoring the Humanities Research Center event featuring acclaimed author, Junot Díaz.
MATXer Andrew Spencer Articles Accepted for Publication
August 29, 2017
MATX PhD candidate Andrew Spencer has had two articles accepted for publication.
Livingston Wins VanderMey Nonfiction Prize
August 23, 2017
Creative nonfiction writer and essayist Sonja Livingston's essay "Like This, We Begin: An Essay in Two Photographs" has won the VanderMey Nonfiction Prize from Ruminate Magazine.
New Book by Lina M. Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas
August 21, 2017
Incoming faculty member Lina Maria Ferreira Cabeza-Vanegas’ new book, Don’t Come Back (Mad River Books), is a collection of lyrical and narrative essays exploring identity, family history, and belonging, continually examining what it means to feel familiarity but never really feel at home.
Welcome Our Incoming Fall 2017 MATX Class…
August 19, 2017
New Faculty Books In 2017
August 18, 2017
New Book by Postdoctoral Fellow Jason Price
July 24, 2017
Jason Price's new book, Animals and Desire in South African Fiction: Biopolitics and the Resistance to Colonization (Palgrave 2017) discusses the political potential of affective experiences of desire as reflected in contemporary South African literature.
New Book by Shimomura and Brinegar
July 21, 2017
Sachi Shimomura and John Brinegar, along with Sachi's father, Osamu Shimomura, have collaborated to write a narrative of Osamu Shimomura's unexpected path to the Nobel Prize in an aptly titled book, Luminous Pursuit: Jellyfish, GFP, and the Unforeseen Path to the Nobel Prize (World Scientific 2017).
New Book by Matteo Pangallo
July 19, 2017
New faculty member Matteo Pangallo (Assistant Professor of Shakespeare and Early Modern English Literature) has just published his first monograph, Playwriting Playgoers in Shakespeare's Theater (U of Pennsylvania Press).
2017 Undergraduate Scholarships and Awards
June 30, 2017
Congratulations to the recipients of the 2017 Undergraduate Scholarships and Awards!
VCU Cabell First Novelist 2017 Semi-Finalists
June 28, 2017
The VCU Cabell First Novelist Award Committee announced mid-June the semi-finalists for the 2017 award:
In Memoriam: Richard Karl Priebe (1943-2017)
June 16, 2017
The Virginia Commonwealth University Department of English is saddened to report that Professor Emeritus Richard Karl Priebe passed away on June 9, 2017.
English Grads to Serve in Peace Corps
June 12, 2017
English department graduates Erin Geraghty and Erica Ingram will share their knowledge of the English language by serving stints in the Peace Corps.
2017 Levis Reading Price Semi-Finalists
June 1, 2017
The following poetry collections have been listed as semi-finalists for the 2017 Levis Reading Prize:
Alum Anna Journey Featured in VCU News
May 19, 2017
An interview with alumna Anna Journey (MFA/Poetry '07) is featured in the May 17 issue of VCU News. Journey attracted international news when she discovered an unpublished poem, "Ennui," by Sylvia Plath.
May Graduates Publish with a Mission
May 12, 2017
May 2017 graduates Taneasha White and Brandon Clarkson recently created online publishing platforms to highlight their own writing and that of others.
VCU Peru
May 4, 2017
For 20 years, VCU students have benefited from the transformative experience of studying abroad.
VCU Grads PhD-bound!
April 11, 2017
Four graduates of the MA Program have been accepted into PhD programs.
Kathleen Graber Recipient of Arts and Letters Award in Literature
April 10, 2017
Associate Professor and poet Kathleen Graber has been chosen to receive an Arts and Letters Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Only eight awards are given annually to honor writers of exceptional accomplishments.
David Coogan to Speak at Faculty Scholarship Recognition Event
April 10, 2017
English Associate Professor David Coogan, co-Director of the Open Minds project between VCU and the Richmond City Jail, has been invited to speak about his recent book, Writing Our Way Out: Memoirs from Jail, at the Faculty Scholarship Recognition event on Thursday, April 13th at 9:15 a.m. in the Student Commons, Commonwealth Ballrooms.
What Do You Do With An English Major?
April 7, 2017
What do you do with two degrees in English, you ask? VCU English BA and MA graduate Aíne Norris has the answer!
“A Few Words with David Wojahn” on For the Scribe
April 6, 2017
David Wojahn shares insights into his latest collection of poetry, For the Scribe, in the current issue of the College of Humanities & Sciences’ online newsletter.
Dr. Cristina Stanciu Receives NEH Stipend Award
March 31, 2017
Congratulations go out to Assistant Professor Cristina Stanciu who received a $6,000 summer stipend from the National Endowment of the Humanities in support of her second book, “The Makings and Unmakings of Americans: Indians and Immigrants in American Literature and Culture, 1879-1924,” which is under contract with Yale University Press.
Interview with Alum Patty Smith in VCU News
March 30, 2017
English alum Patty Smith (MFA/Fiction ’01), author of The Year of Needy Girls, is interviewed in the March 30th edition of VCU News. Patty’s debut novel examines homophobia, false accusations and community unrest.
Golumbia Speaks at boundary 2 Symposium
March 21, 2017
Dave Coogan Featured in DCE’s 10th Anniversary, H&S News
March 8, 2017
The Division of Community Engagement celebrates its 10th anniversary by highlighting VCU faculty who advance community-engaged teaching and scholarship. English Associate Professor David Coogan is featured on the DCE’s website for his work with Open Minds, a program that pairs VCU students with Richmond City Justice Center jail residents to share their stories in writing workshops. Of Dave’s contribution to our students and the community, Dr. Montse Fuentes writes, “David Coogan is an inspiration to all of us…. He is making a difference by with great passion promoting our community engagement mission. We are incredibly proud to have him in the College…”
Two British Virginia Editions Published
February 24, 2017
Associate Professor Joshua Eckhardt announces that British Virginia has published two matching editions: type and photo facsimiles of the official Virginia Company response to the 1622 assault on the James: Edward Waterhouse’s Declaration of the State of the Colony and Affaires in Virginia. Colonial historians have long assigned modern editions of part of Waterhouse’s narrative. The British Virginia editions provide the entirety of this book, and they provide it for free.
Cokal Named One of Style Weekly’s 2017 “Women in the Arts”
February 24, 2017
Associate Professor Susann Cokal has been named one of Style Weekly’s 2017 Women in the Arts for her “dynamic and forward-thinking” commitment to the arts in the community.
English Alum Cory MacLauchlin’s Biography to Become Feature Film
February 9, 2017
A Butterfly in the Typewriter, Cory MacLauchin’s biography of John Kennedy Toole, Pulitzer prize-winning author of A Confederacy of Dunces, will be made into a feature film starring Susan Sarandon and Nick Offerman. The movie, shot entirely in the New Orleans area, is targeted for a 2018 release.
New Book of Poems by Clint McCown
December 7, 2016
Clint McCown’s latest volume of poems, Total Balance Farm, has been published by Press 53. Of the book, poet Kevin Stein writes that “Clint McCown’s meditative locale is a menagerie of hawks and hummingbirds, eagles and turtles, a wife’s idle boot and the brown recluse who’ll find uneasy home in it.
Kirkus Reviews Lists Ladies Night at the Dreamland in Best of 2016
December 7, 2016
Sonja Livingston’s book, Ladies Night at the Dreamland, has been selected as a Best Book of 2016 (Nonfiction) by Kirkus Reviews.
Comba’s Collection of Short Stories
October 31, 2016
Gretchen Comba’s new collection of short stories, The Stillness of the Picture, has been published by Kore Press. Comba’s fiction has appeared in a number of journals including Hayden’s Ferry Review and The North American Review.
After the Fire…The Fire Still Burns
October 11, 2016
Former VCU Professor and renown poet Larry Levis is the feature of a new documentary, “A Late Style of Fire.” VCU MFA alum Michele Poulos is director and producer of “A Late Style of Fire,” which was also co-produced by Professor Greg Donovan.
Golumbia’s “Bitcoin” Book Published
September 20, 2016
Associate Professor David Golumbia’s book, The Politics of Bitcoin: Software as Right-Wing Extremism, has been published by the University of Minnesota Press.
Neoliberal Tools (and Archives): A Political History of Digital Humanities
May 4, 2016
Professor David Golumbia has joined forces with several other colleagues to compose a scathing internationally collaborative anti-Digital Humanities essay.
VCU Department of English 50th Anniversary
May 1, 2016
VCU Department of English’s Bachelor of Arts Program celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2016. On Tuesday, April 26, 2016 faculty, fellow alumni, and friends of the department joined in the celebration hosted at the VCU Scott House.
Blackbird Editor Mary Flinn Among 2016 Women in the Arts Honorees
March 10, 2016
Mary Flinn, a senior and founding editor of Blackbird, was honored as one of the 2016 Women in the Arts recipients at a luncheon held at the University of Richmond’s Modlin Center for the Arts on March 10, 2016.
Blackbird Among “Amazing Literary Magazines You Need To Be Reading!”
February 18, 2016
BuzzFeed, the “social news and entertainment company,” recently included Blackbird in its “Books” section as number six on its list in an article titled “29 Amazing Literary Magazines You Need To Be Reading.”
The Church of Poet Larry Levis is Still Alive and Well
January 19, 2016
Recently, folks gathered at Chop Suey Books to celebrate a new collection of poetry, “Darkening Trapeze: Last Poems” which marks a posthumous return by acclaimed poet and former VCU teacher Larry Levis.
Blackbird Announces Fall 2015 Issue
November 20, 2015
Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts announces its new Fall 2015 issue, v14n2.
Sandra Lim Wins 18th Annual Levis Reading Prize for The Wilderness
July 10, 2015
Sandra Lim is the winner of the 2015 Levis Reading Prize awarded by the Department of English and its MFA in Creative Writing program at Virginia Commonwealth University for her poetry collection The Wilderness (W.W. Norton, 2014).
Blackbird Poet Selected for Best American Poetry
February 25, 2015
Sherman Alexie, this year’s guest editor of The Best American Poetry, selected Sidney Wade’s poem “The Chickasaw Trees” (Blackbird v13n1) for inclusion in the 2015 edition to be published by Scribner this September.
New H&S Scholarship Website
December 19, 2014
the college of humanities and sciences has introduced a new website, vcu.academicworks.com, with information and an online application process for the over 100 scholarship opportunities we offer to currently enrolled students. the system features a searchable database of opportunities and details the requirements for each. this system will offer a more student-centric experience, streamlines our administrative and fiscal managements of scholarships, and allows us to improve stewardship of our donors who invest in our students.
Department of English Mourns Loss of Colleague Claudia Emerson
December 9, 2014
It is with great sadness that we report the loss of colleague Claudia Emerson, who passed away December 4th after a courageous battle with cancer. The tremendous impact she had on the literary arts is highlighted in VCU News as well as in the department’s online literary journal Blackbird. For all of her English department friends, colleagues and students, her death is a heartbreaking loss.
Open Minds’ Sanctuary Highlighted in Commonwealth Times
November 14, 2014
English MFA alum and VCU’s Gender, Sexuality & Women’s Studies Assistant Professor Liz Canfield fulfills her passion for activism by participating in Sanctuary, an offshoot of the Open Minds program. Open Minds, a joint venture between VCU and the Richmond City Jail, was founded in 2010 by English Associate Professor David Coogan. Canfield began teaching in Open Minds in the fall of 2011.
Wojahn Poem Featured in “We the Poets” Celebration of American Archives Month
October 22, 2014
English Professor David Wojahn was one of eight poets commissioned by the National Archives, in partnership with the Academy of American Poets, to write a poem inspired by any record in possession of the National Archives.
MA Alum John Cyrus Secures Tenure Track Position
June 1, 2009
MA Alum John Cyrus finished a Master’s degree in Library and Information Science at Louisiana State University (LSU) in May and will be starting as a tenure track Liaison Librarian on the faculty at LSU Health Science Center.
Blackbird volume 8, number 1
May 21, 2009
Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts has published its spring issue with more than forty contributors. Blackbird vol 8, no 1 features work by Taylor Thu Hien Ngo, Anna Journey, Thomas Cooper, Kara Candito, Nicky Beer, Claudia Emerson, and Jean Valentine. Find these writers (and a redesigned splash page) at blackbird.vcu.edu.
Andrea Cleary Awarded Levis Fellowship
May 18, 2009
Katie Ford Awarded Larry Levis Reading Prize
May 18, 2009
Dale Smith Awarded Cabell Fellowship
May 15, 2009
Kathy Bassard Awarded CTE Grant
May 4, 2009
Department of English faculty member Kathy Bassard has won a VCU Center for Teaching Excellence grant to create a Faculty Learning Community for next academic year.
Kate Bradley (MFA/Fiction) Recognized by AWP Intro Journals Project
May 1, 2009
Kate Bradley (MFA/Fiction) was selected as one of the fiction winners of this year’s AWP Intro Journals Project (a competition for the discovery and publication of the best new works by students currently enrolled in the programs of AWP).
Lee Bloxom Awarded PNC Foundation Grant
April 29, 2009
MATX student Lee Bloxom has been awarded an $8,000 grant to conduct an oral history of 20th century farm life on Virginia’s Eastern Shore. The announcement comes from The Virginia Foundation for the Humanities and the PNC Foundation who made the award jointly.
Clint McCown’s Dead Languages Nominated for Several Honors
April 27, 2009
Clint McCown’s latest collection, Dead Languages, was nominated for several significant honors, including the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, the Lenore Marshall Prize, the Yale Bollingen Prize, the Poet’s Prize, the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award, the William Carlos Williams Award, the Bobbitt Prize, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
David Coogan’s “Strip Poker: A Writing Workshop at the City Jail”
April 15, 2009
David Coogan’s Prison Writing Workshop proposal was accepted as one of VCU’s 10 Exemplary Projects, and submitted for national competition for inclusion on the President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll.
Professor Tara Bray’s First Poetry Collection Published
March 13, 2009
Professor Tara Bray’s first poetry collection, Mistaken For Song, was the winner of the Lexi Rudnitsky Prize and was just published.
