News & Events

• Literary Festival.  Following poet Natasha Trethewey (Feb. 17), novelist and short story writer Ethan Canin (Feb. 5), poet and novelist Nick Laird (April 2), and poet Adam Zagajewski (April 21), novelist and short story writer Yiyun Li concluded the 11th annual Villanova Literary Festival on April 30,
• Open Mic Poetry Reading!  The English department and Falvey Library hosted an open mic poetry reading, celebrating seniors who submitted work to the Class Poet contest, the publication of Arthology, and National Poetry Month, on April 15.
• Spearing on Chaucer.  A. C. Spearing, Kenan Professor of English at the University of Virginia, gave a talk entitled "Master Chaucer and His Pupils" on Thursday, April 2.
• Pre-Registration Reception.  The English Department hosted a pre-registration reception on Friday, March 13, in the Falvey first-floor lounge, where students and faculty will mingled to eat lunch, share information about Fall 2009 courses and the English department in general, and socialize.
• Talk by Prof. Akoma.  Prof. Chiji Akoma discussed his recent book, Folklore in New World Black Fiction: Writing and Oral Traditional Aesthetics, published just last year by The Ohio State University Press, in a talk entitled "New Readings of African Folklore Aesthetics in the Americas," on Feb. 11 in Falvey Library.
• Prof. Drew's novel out in paperback.  Gardens of Water, by Prof. Alan Drew, came out in paperback from Random House on Feb. 10.  The novel has received a number of positive reviews, including one in the New York Times Book Review, which referred to it as “sensitive and thought-provoking.”  Click here for the announcement.
• Poetry Slam Team tryouts.  Villanova's first annual poetry slam team tryouts took place on Monday, November 17, in the first floor lounge of Falvey Library. If you have questions, please contact Ivan Noisette.
• Search for new faculty member is suspended.  The English Department regrets to announce that we are suspending our search for a tenure-track faculty member in the field of 18th Century British Literature and Culture, especially the novel.  We do not expect to fill our position for fall 2009.
• Session on applying to grad school.  Prof. Cristina Maria Cervone, the English department's advisor for graduate applications, offered guidance on applying to M.A. or Ph.D. programs in English literature in an informational session on Friday, Oct 31.  Contact her to receive a copy of the session handout.
• Prof. Sewell wins prize for poetry.  Prof. Lisa Sewell has won the 2008 Keystone Chapbook Prize for her manuscript entitled "The Long Corridor," to be published by Seven Kitchens Press shortly.
• Prof. Dailey wins fellowship.  Prof. Alice Dailey, who is on sabbatical this academic year, was awarded a fellowship from the Folger Shakespeare Library. Her research topic is “From Acts to Monuments: Martyrology and the English Reformation.”
• Prof. O’Malley Madec wins poetry award.  Prof. Mary O'Malley Madec, who runs Villanova's study abroad program in Galway, Ireland, as Resident Program Director, has received the prestigious Hennessy Award for her poetry. Previous winners of the award include Marina Carr (who held Villanova's Heimbold Chair of Irish Studies).
• New English faculty.  Two new faculty joined the English department this fall:
  Prof. Alan Drew is a creative writer, specializing in fiction; his novel Gardens of Water was published by Random House in February 2008.  Prof. Drew has an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop and a B.A. from California State University – Long Beach.  He is currently teaching English 2009 (Writing the Novella) and Honors 1331 (The Literary Experience).
  Prof. Megan Quigley is a specialist in British and Irish modernism.  She received her Ph.D. from Yale University, and also has an M.A. from Oxford University and a B.A. from Stanford University.  Prof. Quigley has previously taught at Wesleyan University.  She is currently teaching English 2250 (Ways of Reading), English 3620 (The Modern British Novel) and English 3690 (Virginia Woolf).
• Reading by Tom Phelan.  The Irish novelist Tom Phelan read from his new novel The Canal Bridge on Monday, October 27, in St. Augustine Center 300.
• Iggy McGovern reading. The Irish poet Iggy McGovern, Associate Professor of Physics at Trinity College Dublin, read on Tuesday, Sept. 30, in St. Augustine Center 300.
• Shakespearience!  An all-female production of Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew, the result of a semester-long interdisciplinary study of the play, took place on May 1 and May 2.  This production, the culmination of the course Shakespeare in Performance, taught by Prof. Alice Dailey (English) and Prof. Shawn Kairschner (Theatre), engaged with the play’s contentious and often contradictory critical and performative traditions. See the poster here.
• Prof. Murphy in Top 100!  Prof. James Murphy was named one of the top 100 Irish Americans in the April/May 2008 issue of Irish America magazine.  See Prof. Murphy's profile under the category of Education.
• Debating Ralph Ellison.  "A Dialogue in Black and Blue: A Public Debate on the Life and Legacy of Ralph Ellison" took place on Wednesday, April 16, in the first floor lounge of Falvey Memorial Library.  This event featured John S. Wright of the University of Minnesota and noted writer and cultural critic Stanley Crouch.
• Passing of Prof. Irwin.  The English department is saddened to report that Prof. L. W. Irwin, an Assistant Professor in the department for 41 years, passed away on Sunday evening, March 23.  Dr. Irwin was 70.  A funeral Mass took place on Saturday, March 29, in the chapel of New Sharon Convent, Sisters of the Holy Child Jesus, in Rosemont.  The on-campus memorial service that was originally intended will not be taking place.  For further information, contact the English Department at 610-519-4630.
• English Department lecture.  Playwright Jenny Lyn Bader spoke on Monday, March 10, in the first-floor lounge of Falvey Library.  Her recent plays include None of the Above, which premiered at the Lion Theatre in New York in the fall of 2007, and Manhattan Casanova, which appeared at the Hudson Stage Company in 2006.  She has received the Edith Oliver Award from the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and is a frequent contributor to the New York Times.
• Villanova English graduate writes best-seller.  Karen Abbott, who graduated in 1995, hit the New York Times bestseller list with her acclaimed first book, Sin in the Second City: Madams, Ministers, Playboys and the Battle for America’s Soul, published by Random House.  (Among the elements unearthed by her portrait of the Everleigh Club, “the most famous brothel in American history”: a role for poetry recitals.)  Read more about the author and her book here.

What's New

• Fall 2009 courses!  Descriptions of courses for fall 2009 are posted online; to see the descriptions, go to the Master Schedule in Novasis and click on the Syllabus Available link.
  A chart showing which English courses count for which departmental areas, as well how they fulfill diversity requirements or minors and concentrations, is available here(but be aware that the most up-to-date information is on Novasis).
  A list of tentative spring courses is available here.
  For a pdf file containing all descriptions, click here.
• Emails to English majors.  Some English majors have not been receiving departmental emails intended for all students majoring in English (it's a problem with the computer systems).  To minimize this problem, we have created a page where we will post emails.  Click here to see recent emails to English majors.
• Guide to Advising for English Majors.  We have put together a guide to advising.  If you are an English major, you have probably already received a copy.  It is also available here.
• Charts for English majors.  This chart can help you see where you stand with relation to your department requirements.
• English department awards. The English department gives out a number of awards each year, including essay awards of $100 and $200 to the best essays written for English courses.  Details about the essay awards live here.
• English department class poet award. The English department awards $100 to the best poem written by a senior.
• The Concentration and Minor in Writing and Rhetoric. An interdisciplinary program for achieving excellence in thinking, writing and speaking.
• Tracks! A way to give more focus to your English major.
• Current Peer Advisors. Email addresses, phone numbers, and brief biographies of the 2008-2009 peer advisors, from Christina Cometa to Jayne Ziemba.
• Shared documents for faculty.  The English Department stores documents for faculty to consult at this password-protected site.

Prof. Jean Lutes discusses her book at Falvey Library on Nov. 8th