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
Cameron Leader-Picone, Transit Lit: Fictions of Migration in Twenty-First-Century African Immigrant Literature. Northwestern UP, 2025.
Presentations
Traci Brimhall, “The Notebooks Collective: A Conversation with Traci Brimhall and Marianne Kunkel on Food and Poetry.” 24 Feb. 2026. Online.
Sweet & Spicy: Love Poems. 2 Sylvias Press. 11 Feb. 2026. Online.
Poetry Reading. Seward Community College. Liberal, KS. 7 Feb. 2026.
Poetry Reading. Garden City Community Arts Center. Garden City, KS, 6 Feb. 2026.
Governor’s Arts Awards. Topeka, KS. 2 Feb. 2026.
Mary Kohn, “Creating Spearville Community History Volunteer Past Perfect Workshop.” Spearville Township Library. Spearville, KS. 18 Feb. 2026
“Digitization Workshop.” Jetmore Public Library. Jetmore, KS. 18 Feb. 2026
“One Hundred Years of Language Change in Kansas.” KU Endowment. Lawrence, KS. 29 Jan. 2026.
Deborah Murray, “I Hate Canvas: Resurrecting Vintage Pedagogy in Defiance of Technocentric Teaching.” Southwest/American Popular Culture Conference. Albuquerque, NM. 27 Feb. 2026.
Philip Nel, “DEI Is Not a Slur: Book Bans, Nostalgia, and Bigotry” (invited lecture). Authors Against Book Bans, 9 Feb. 2026. Online.
Awards
Wendy Matlock has received the 2026 Ron Gaches Lifetime Teaching Award from the College of Arts and Sciences.
Announcements
Traci Brimhall hosted the Poetry Out Loud State Finals, which will air on the Kansas PBS station KTWU on April 12 at 6pm.
K-State English 