Elizabeth Dodd, Naomi Wood, and Michele Janette at their joint retirement celebration at the K-State Alumni Center (26 March 2026) On Thursday March 26, we gathered at the Alumni Center, with concurrent live-stream, to celebrate the contributions of Elizabeth Dodd, Michele Janette, and Naomi Wood, three of our faculty members who are retiring this May … Continue reading Our Thanks to Elizabeth Dodd, Naomi Wood, and Michele Janette
A scene from The Rubber Ducky is a Hand Grenade, one of the entries for the 2025 48-Hour Film Challenge Since our blog debuted in 2017, we have published 600+ posts. While some of you may have been with us from the start (thank you, loyal readers!), others may have joined us more recently. As … Continue reading From the Archive: Lights, Camera, Quack-tion!
Cameron Leader-Picone has published Transit Lit: Fictions of Migration in Twenty-First-Century African Immigrant Literature (Northwestern UP, 2025) 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 … Continue reading February 2026 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity
Laura Thacker (BA '12, MA '14) The most beautiful thing about studying English is the ability to step outside of yourself and experience a new perspective. In a 1964 interview, James Baldwin said, “You think your pain and heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. It was books that … Continue reading Alumni Spotlight: Laura Thacker
Dr. Sianne Ngai Celebrated literary theorist Sianne Ngai will discuss her most recent book, Theory of the Gimmick, at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, March 6 via livestream in the K-State Union’s Wildcat Chamber. The event will also be presented via Zoom; registration for the Zoom option is available at tinyurl.com/ngaikstate. This hour-long conversation is the … Continue reading 35th Annual Cultural Studies Symposium with Dr. Sianne Ngai
(Image: Asdal Stock Image 86 from the Frutiger Aero Archive) Today we share the fourth of six pieces of public writing selected for publication from an assignment in ENGL 801 “Graduate Studies in English” — and the first selection from Section A of ENGL 801, taught last fall by Cameron Leader-Picone: a piece of public … Continue reading Anxiety and Aesthetics: The Frutiger Aero Aesthetic
Traci Brimhall's poetry appears in issue 49 of the journal Southward: New International Writing (2025) 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 … Continue reading Winter 2025-2026 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity
Spring flowers on K-State's campus during Open House (April 2025) Welcome to the spring semester! We hope that you are keeping warm and safe as 2026 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 … Continue reading Spring Preview
(Image: "What is Emotional Labor and Why is it Important?") Today we share the third of six pieces of public writing selected for publication from an assignment in ENGL 801 “Graduate Studies in English”: a piece of public scholarship (700-1,000 words) which tailors an academic paper and its scholarly intervention of 10-12 pages for a … Continue reading Why You Should Read the Comments of Paris Paloma’s “Labour”: Everyday Work, Capitalism, and Unrecognized Emotional Labor
Phillip Marzluf's essay appears in Studies in Travel Writing (10 Oct. 2025) 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 … Continue reading November 2025 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity
K-State English 