From the Archive: Some Advice on Applying to MFA Programs

Since our blog debuted in 2017, we have published 400+ 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 address topics of continuing … Continue reading From the Archive: Some Advice on Applying to MFA Programs

Found Object: Creative Writing Podcast, 2013-2016

Location: englishkstate on SoundCloud Object: Podcast episodes featuring visiting writers at Kansas State Observations: 1) From 2013 through 2016, graduate students, undergraduate students, and faculty members interviewed writers who visited K-State as part of our annual Visiting Writers Series with the intention of launching a podcast. The interviews captured authors who were already well-established as … Continue reading Found Object: Creative Writing Podcast, 2013-2016

From the Archive: Taylor Swift’s evermore (Emily Dickinson’s Version)

Hailee Steinfeld as Emily Dickinson (left) and Ella Hunt as Sue Gilbert (right) in Dickinson (image: Apple TV+) Since our blog debuted in 2017, we have published 400+ 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 … Continue reading From the Archive: Taylor Swift’s evermore (Emily Dickinson’s Version)

Summer 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Cover for the issue of Kansas History: A Journal of the Central Plains (2023), where the essay by Lisa Tatonetti, Mary Kohn, Haley Reiners (BA ’22), Kinsley Searles (BA ’22, MA ’24), and co-authors Tai S. Edwards and Chester Hubbard appears. Each month during the academic year, we assemble a newsletter of the department's recent … Continue reading Summer 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Wild Lit

Students from "Wild Lit" rise early to view prairie chickens on the Konza prairie (April 2023) Spring 2023 launched a new environmental literature course, "Wild Lit." How have American writers viewed the more-than-human world over the centuries? What role has public land played in the American traditions of nature writing and environmental literature? How do … Continue reading Wild Lit

Found Object: University Honors Program Projects, 2011-2012

Location: Main office archives, ECS 108. Object: Book of abstracts of undergraduate projects completed for the University Honors Program, 2011-2012 academic year. Observations: 1) In the spring of 2012, the University Honors Program produced a book of abstracts representing the work that undergraduate Honors students completed during that academic year. Led at that time by … Continue reading Found Object: University Honors Program Projects, 2011-2012

Seeing Like a Squirrel: Nature Writing with GROW

It was the last brisk morning of June, and Maryam ElZayat (MA '24), a graduate student of literature, and I gathered on the lawn of Engineering Hall with a group of about fifteen students in 6th, 7th, and 8th grades who were part of the 2023 GROW Program at K-State. After a short reading of … Continue reading Seeing Like a Squirrel: Nature Writing with GROW

Fall Preview

Kansas wheat photographed by David Mayes for Kansas State Research and Extension, 2016. The Fall 2023 semester is underway -- and it sure is toasty here in the Little Apple! Kudos to the students, faculty, and staff who are navigating record-setting heat as classes begin, and we'll look forward to temps below 100 degrees in … Continue reading Fall Preview

April 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Several English Department faculty, graduate students, and alumni presented at the Popular Culture/American Culture Association Conference in San Antonio, TX, 5-8 April 2023. 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 … Continue reading April 2023 Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity

Ask Yourself the Best Questions

On May 13, 2023, Traci Brimhall, Professor of English and Poet Laureate of Kansas, provided the commencement address for the College of Arts and Sciences at Kansas State University. Below is the text of her speech. Many thanks to Traci for allowing us to share it here. (You can view her presentation through the university’s … Continue reading Ask Yourself the Best Questions