The English Department works with joy and vigor to create a vibrant and creative intellectual environment on campus through exciting programming, orientations to guide our students into graduate schools and careers, and rip-roaring social events.
Please check this page regularly to keep up with department happenings, which are almost always open to the broader community and public.
past Events
English Department welcomes Natasha Trethewey as Brommel-Hahs Lecturer
On February 29th, 2024, in the Pedroso Center, the College of Arts & Sciences and the English Department presented the Brommel-Hahs Lecture with Natasha Trethewey, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, Pulitzer Prize winner, New York Times best-selling memoirist, and the Board of Trustees Professor of English at Northwestern University.
After being introduced by Creative Writing students Matilde Ortiz Martinez and Diana Medrano, Trethewey read from her heartbreaking, beautiful memoir, Memorial Drive, and a selection of her poems from Native Guard, a deeply moving experience. Following her reading, a number of students asked insightful questions and a very personal book signing followed.
The 82: Student Edition - Spring 2024
Faculty and fellow students (including the Writing & Literary Collective) congregated in fellowship to hear and see current Creative Writing students read LIVE from their own works! All The 82 events are organized and hosted by Creative Writing Minor Coordinator Olivia Cronk.
Gothics as Aesthetic and Political Practice
In conjunction with her ENGL 325: Gothics course, Professor E. Mar Garcia hosted an exciting cultural and literary event at El Centro about the Gothic aesthetic, with several guests/vendors in attendance. There were live craft demonstrations, plus refreshments!
Poetry ... and Pancakes!
As part of Alumni Weekend
September 2023
They came, they saw, they read poetry and enjoyed fresh cooked pancakes!
Creative Writing Coordinator Olivia Cronk hosted the event, and English Department Associate Chair and chef Tim Scherman served warm pancakes with fresh toppings. For this year, the event moved to an alternate venue (the South Porch area of Lech Walesa Hall), where students, staff and faculty heard powerful and moving works read by Scott Andrews,Timothy Garrison, Kathryn Hudson, Nick Pecucci, Gabe Redd, Jarilyn (Lyn) Rivera, Jasmine Rodriguez, Katrina Underwood, and Michael Vogel.
Timothy Scherman and Ryan Poll at the 2023 American Literature Association conference
In May 2023, Associate Chair Tim Scherman and Dr. Ryan Poll traveled to Boston to present papers at the distinguished American Literature Association conference. Tim Scherman, founder of the Elizabeth Oakes Smith Society, presented "A Marriage Never Recognized: Oakes Smith v. Fuller, Oakes Smith and Fuller," about Oakes Smith's defense of the transcendentalist Margaret Fuller. Ryan Poll, as part of The Spiritual and the Everyday panel, presented “Attention is Prayer: William Carlos Williams, Simone Weil, and the Poetics of the Everyday,” to an appreciative audience. And in their spare time, they "met" the esteemed Phyllis Wheatley!
Alumnus Timothy Garrison presents at Early Americanists conference
Our recent alumnus Timothy Garrison (B.A. '23 English) and incoming M.A. student presented for the first time in June 2023 at the Society of Early Americanists' biennial conference at the University of Maryland. Timothy represented NEIU with his paper, "Snakes and the Shedding of Clothing as Colonialist Strategy in the Americas of Cabeza de Vaca and Crevecoeur," which was warmly and enthusiastically received by fellow scholars. Timothy's paper was originally conceived and researched for his American Literature: Beginnings to 1865 course, and he was encouraged to apply to the conference by faculty member Dr. Emily Garcia, who also attended.
Recurring Events
ALUMNI TALKBACK ZOOM SERIES
Continuing in Fall 2023, we will host a monthly Zoom series featuring successful NEIU alumni who majored in English, to show undergrads how to market their skills and attributes as an English major in a wide variety of fields. Each session features four alumni who present their unique paths to their current positions, and then answer questions from students and colleagues who want to know more!
Featured alumni will be announced here, as well as the monthly dates of each session in September, October and November.
The 82: Student reading and writers reading - Fall 2023
The 82: Student Edition features a whole new crop of Creative Writing student artists invited to read from their works. The roster of participating students will follow soon, so watch this space; The 82 always arrives!
