Spring Preview

Spring flowers in Manhattan, KS (2024) 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 … Continue reading Spring Preview

November 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover for Philip Nel's new book How to Draw the World: Harold and the Purple Crayon and the Making of a Children's Classic (Oxford UP, 2024). 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, … Continue reading November 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

From the Archive: Signs, Signs, Everywhere…The Hidden Depth of Japanese Signs in Spirited Away

From Spirited Away (2002) Since our blog debuted in 2017, we have published 500+ posts.  While some of you may have been with us from the start (thank you, loyal readers!), others may have joined us more recently. So, we're highlighting periodically some of the posts that have garnered a lot of views or that … Continue reading From the Archive: Signs, Signs, Everywhere…The Hidden Depth of Japanese Signs in Spirited Away

October 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Mark Crosby's archival discovery of poet and artist William Blake's earliest engravings was featured in a number of international news venues, including The Times of London. 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, … Continue reading October 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Children’s Lit Field Trip

Faculty and students from K-State English at The Rabbit hOle (8 Nov 2024) Last Friday November 8, faculty and graduate students took a field trip to explore children's literature in action. While the catalyst for the excursion was the launch of Phil Nel's next book, How to Draw the World: Harold and the Purple Crayon … Continue reading Children’s Lit Field Trip

2024 Mock Caldecott

Some of the 2024 picture books under consideration for this year's Mock Caldecott Now in its 17th year, the Mock Caldecott is a joint endeavor between the English Department and the Children's and Adolescent Literature Community (ChALC), one of our department-sponsored student organizations, with support from the Manhattan Public Library (MPL). In the pre-COVID times, … Continue reading 2024 Mock Caldecott

September 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Traci Brimhall poses with her contribution to the collection of poems "Poetry Harvest: Poems for the Kansas State Fair" (2024) 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 … Continue reading September 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Recognizing Banned Books Week 2024 at K-State

Banned Books Week 2024 (Artwork courtesy of the American Library Association) As I feel the nostalgic and contemplative air of Fall take affect on me, I reach for my well-loved copy of On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong. Vuong’s introspective and evocative prose transcends me into a world of understanding oneself through the … Continue reading Recognizing Banned Books Week 2024 at K-State

Summer 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover for Anne Longmuir's John Ruskin and the Victorian Woman Writer (Routledge, 2025) Each month during the academic year, we assemble a newsletter of the department's recent publications, presentations, announcements, and awards. The issue for September showcases a greater range of research, scholarship, and creative activity that our faculty and students have shared beyond Kansas … Continue reading Summer 2024 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Fall Preview

Autumn trees by the English Counseling Services Building (November 2023) The Fall 2024 semester is underway -- and we're looking forward to some cool temperatures and cool events ahead! This semester, many of our events will be Hyflex (in-person with a concurrent streaming option), so we can accommodate colleagues and students who may not be … Continue reading Fall Preview