Each month during the academic year, we assemble a newsletter of the department’s recent publications, presentations, announcements, and awards.
We’re happy to recognize the recent successes in research, scholarship, and creative activity outlined below.
Want to catch up on past successes or to find future announcements? Visit our archive of monthly newsletters Reading Matters as well as related blog posts.
Have news to report? Email us at english@ksu.edu.
— Karin Westman, Department Head
Publications
Traci Brimhall, “Someday I’ll Love Traci Brimhall” (poem). One, issue 29, Dec. 2023.
Mark Crosby, “A Copy of Richard Bentley’s Edition of Paradise Lost in William Hayley’s Library c. 1802.” Blake: An Illustrated Quarterly, vol. 57, no. 3, Winter 2023/24, 14 paras.
Thomas X. Sarmiento, “Course Design as Critical Creativity: Intersectional, Regional, and Demographic Approaches to Teaching Asian American Literatures.” Asian American Literature: Discourse & Pedagogies, vol. 12, 2023, pp. 47–68.
Presentations
Traci Brimhall, reading at Victims of Violence Remembrance Day, Kansas Organization of Victim Assistance. KS Attorney General’s Office, Topeka, KS. 20 Dec. 2023
Philip Nel, “Drag Queens, Stories About Black People, and Other Dangers” (moderator), Modern Language Association. Philadelphia, PA. 6 Jan. 2024.
“Nostalgia in and for Children’s Literature” (panel chair and organizer). Modern Language Association. Philadelphia, PA. 6 Jan. 2024.
Shirley Tung, “The Making of John Milton and the Freedom of the Press.” Oxford Centre for Life-Writing, Wolfson College, University of Oxford. 28 Nov. 2023.
Karin Westman, “Grief and Loss in Children’s and Young Adult Literature” (panel chair and organizer). Modern Language Association. Philadelphia, PA. 7 Jan. 2024.
“Just in Time: The State in and of State Universities: The View from WVU and Beyond” (panel chair and organizer). Modern Language Association. Philadelphia, PA. 4 Jan. 2024.
Awards
Cydney Alexis and Theresa Merrick received a GRIPex award from the Office of Research
to support “AI in the Disciplines.”
Cassidy Hartig (BA ’24) received a travel grant from the Office of Scholar Development and Undergraduate Research.
Mary Kohn and Lisa Tatonetti, in collaboration with JCCC colleague Tai Edwards, received an NEH grant (Humanities Initiatives at Colleges and Universities) for “Kansas Land Treaties Project.”
Philip Nel received a Faculty Development Award from the Office of Research for travel to serve as an invited speaker at the University of Antwerp Children’s Literature Summer School.
Announcements
Riley Brokeshoulder (BA ’25) and Lillianna Lamagna (BA ’25) have been selected by the TRIO Ronald E. McNair Post-baccalaureate Achievement Program to participate in the 29th cohort of McNair Scholars.
Featured in Media
Beth Jones (MA ’25) and her zombie novels (written as L.C. Mortimer) were recently featured in Char Strong’s “Zombies are still cool” in The Morning Sun (Pittsburg, Kansas) 18 Jan. 2024.
Anne Phillips and Greg Eiselein were interviewed by the Associated Press for a story about the discovery of several previously unattributed works by Louisa May Alcott. The story appeared in multiple newspapers and news websites, including the AP site.
Research and Creative Activity from Alumni
Lisa Hase Jackson (MA ‘07) has published the poetry collection Insomnia in Another Town (Clemson UP, 2024), which was selected by Claire Bateman for the 2023 Converse Alumni Book Prize.
Catherine Strayhall (BA ‘17) has published the first poetry collection Dress Me Like a Prizefighter (Spartan P, 2024)
K-State English 