Department of English Celebrates Faculty Authors
The event recognized faculty works published over the past two years.
On Friday, October 14, more than 65 faculty members, graduate and undergraduate students, and staff from the Department of English came together in the Hall of Languages for a joyous celebration of all the books published by its faculty members in 2021 and 2022. These books demonstrate the range of talent possessed by department faculty—not only creative writers, like George Saunders G’88, Jonathan Dee and Dana Spiotta, but also its film and screen studies, literature, and critical race and ethnic studies faculty, whose books discuss the actress Gene Tierney, Filipinx American studies and modernism’s media.
Students were able to chat and ask questions of the faculty authors while enjoying food, lively conversation and a raffle drawing for two sets each of the new and recently published books. The first drawing was done by Director of Graduate Studies, Chris Forster, and Director of Undergraduate Studies, Will Scheibel—both of whom were also featured authors. The second drawing was done by Ph.D. students Morgan Shaw and Dylan Caskie. Organizers say a similar celebration is planned for next year.
Books by authors in the Department of English were given away in a raffle during the event.
The works featured at the celebration included:
Mona Awad, All’s Well (Feb. 2022)
Jonathan Dee, Sugar Street (Sept. 2022)
Chris Forster, Modernism and Its Media (Dec. 2021)
Jules Gibbs, Snakes and Babies (March 2022)
Brooks Haxton , Mr. Toebones (March 2021)
George Saunders, Liberation Day (forthcoming fall 2022)
Will Scheibel, Gene Tierney: The Star of Hollywood’s Homefront (Sept 2022)
Will Scheibel and Julie Grossman, co-editors, Penny Dreadful and Adaptation: Reanimating and Transforming the Monster (forthcoming Dec. 2022)
Dana Spiotta, Wayward (July 2021)
Scott Manning Stevens (with Toby Jurovics) Faces from the Interior: The North American Portraits of Karl Bodmer (April 2021)
Tony Tiongson (Rick Bonus and Antonio T. Tongson, Jr., co-editors), Filipinx American Studies: Reckoning, Reclamation, Transformation (Sept. 2022)
Images from the Event
Students view the selection of works on display at the faculty book celebration.
Author and Professor Brooks Haxton (left) signs a copy of his book, Mr. Toebones, for colleague Dympna Callaghan (right), the William Safire Professor of Modern Letters and University Professor in the Department of English.
Students and faculty from the creative writing M.F.A. program, including Booker Prize recipient Professor George Saunders (right), at the celebration of department authors.
A group of Ph.D. students from the Department of English enjoy some refreshments during the event.
Professor Will Scheibel (right), author of Gene Tierney: The Star of Hollywood’s Homefront, hands out a book to a raffle winner.
Riley Pratt (left), an English and textual studies (ETS) minor, and Olivia Harkin (right), an ETS major, hold up books won in the raffle.