Welcome to the spring semester! We hope that you are keeping warm and safe as 2025 gets underway.
Here are some of the events that we’re looking forward to in the months ahead. Please join us for community, creativity, and conversation! All are free but online access requires advance registration:
~ Our spring events begin on Wednesday February 12 at 3:30pm CT with the first presentation in our Spring Colloquia Series. Up first that afternoon: presentations by our M.A. students for our annual Graduate Literature Symposium. Then, on Wednesday April 9 at 3:30pm CT, join us for “What’s Next?: Faculty Lightning Talks on Work in Progress,” a series of lightning talks by faculty about their work-in-progress, followed by discussion. If you can’t join us on campus in Union 227, you can register for the first event at https://tinyurl.com/englgradlit2025 and for the second at https://tinyurl.com/englcolloq2025.
~ Our annual Cultural Studies Symposium is in its 34th year, maintaining its track record as the longest running Cultural Studies event in the U.S. This year, on Friday February 21 at 3:30pm CT, we’ll host Dr. Chadwick Allen, Associate Vice Provost for Faculty Advancement and Professor of English, at the University of Washington, in honor of the year’s theme “Indigeneity and Narrating the Land.” Dr. Allen’s work explores contemporary Native American and global Indigenous literatures and other expressive arts. Join us for Dr. Allen’s presentation on campus (location TBA) or register to watch online at https://tinyurl.com/allenkstate.
~ This spring offers two opportunities to expand knowledge of literature for young readers. First, on Friday February 28 at 4:00pm CT, we’ll host a joint lecture by Dr. Marilisa Jimenez and Dr. Sonia Rodriguez about their new co-authored book Ethnic Studies and Youth Literature: A Critical Reader (SUNY Press, 2024). You can register for the Zoom link at https://tinyurl.com/youthlitkstate. Then, on Friday April 4 at 3:30pm CT, join us for lecture by Dr. Karen Sands-O’Connor on “Whose Country is This Anyway? Representation of Black People/British Spaces in Children’s and YA Books.” Register for the Zoom link at https://tinyurl.com/sandsoconnor. Both lectures are sponsored by the department’s Graduate Track in Children’s Literature.
~ Looking for creative writers? On Friday March 7 at 3:30pm CT, our Spring Visiting Writers Series gets underway with a reading by writer Jennifer Case, whose work explores issues related to place, environment, home, family, and motherhood. Join us on campus in Union Wildcat Chamber or online at https://tinyurl.com/casekstate. Then, on Friday April 14 at 3:30pm, we’ll host on Zoom fiction writer Gene Kwak. You can register for the link at https://tinyurl.com/kwakkstate. We’re grateful for the support of K-State students and their Fine Arts Fees to feature this series.
Keep up to date on all events at our online calendar, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter/X, and Instagram for photos and recaps — and check back here each week for highlights of research and creative activity from our faculty and students, perspectives from our alumni, images of the department’s past, and plans for its future.
Wishing good health for all —
— Karin Westman, Department Head
K-State English 