UMN English

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Free visiting author events for Minneapolis-St. Paul! Studying and creating literature in English since 1897.

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UMN English@umnenglish· 4d

MFA alum Emily Bright reads from her latest poetry collection This Ground Beneath Our Feet for the Loft Connect Live! Showcase next Tues the 19th, along with Anika Fajardo and Ty Chapman: loft.org/events/loft-...

Black and white photos of three authors with images from their book covers behind them. Text: Aug 19 the Loft connect live!

UMN English@umnenglish· 11d

Congrats to MFA alum and current associate faculty member chaun webster, who won a 2026 McKnight Fellowship for Writers, Loft Awards in Poetry/Spoken Word! webster this summer published his third book, Without Terminus. loft.org/awards/mckni...

UMN English@umnenglish· 18d

"I'm essentially studying what three strange writers of Victorian Britain have to say about what ‘consciousness’ is" PhD candidate Kayla Carden's dissertation is on the theories of mind of poet-philosopher Constance Naden, philologist Alexander John Ellis, and physicist John Tyndall z.umn.edu/Carden

Victorian poet-philosopher Constance Naden

UMN English@umnenglish· 19d

It's been wonderful hosting College of Liberal Arts First Year Orientation in Pillsbury Hall this summer! Welcome #classof2030 (Sculpture by Seitu Jones and Soyini Guyton in the background)

Table with maroon and gold tablecloth with trademark M and text: Department of English University of Minnesota. English promotional items on tabletop. Wood wall sculpture behind (artists: Seitu Jones and Soyini Guyton) and stone wall, in Pillsbury Hall

UMN English@umnenglish· 26d

What are some signature moments of 25 years of our Freier visiting author series? Rita Dove dancing on stage? Denis Johnson joking that Train Dreams was so short, even his friends read it? Read how MedTech Prof Esther Freier's gift continues to inspire: www.minnesotaalumni.org/stories/up-front-22

R.F. Kuang onstage as part of the Esther Freier visiting writer series

David Mitchell at podium as part of the Esther Freier visiting writer series

Ocean Vuong onstage as part of the Esther Freier visiting writer series

UMN English@umnenglish· Jul 16

Congrats to @megiddings.bsky.social who has been officially promoted to the rank of associate professor! She was also awarded a UMN McKnight Presidential Fellowship this year. The author of three novels, Giddings will publish her first collection of short stories, Black Arts, on Sept 8.

Book cover of Black Arts: Stories with person with purple skin and black hair reclining in shiny blue fabric

UMN English@umnenglish· Jul 7

Gosh, what a beautiful building. (Celebrating five years in Pillsbury Hall.)

Red and yellow stone building with tower to left, rows of windows across front, and archways on bottom floor. Carved flowers and checkered stone near roofline. UMN Regents seal and "Pillsbury Hall" carved into stone between rows of windows.

UMN English@umnenglish· Jun 26

Tomorrow Sat, Twin Cities author Naomi Kritzer signs her new novel, Obstetrix at Uncle Hugo's 2/3 www.unclehugo.com/prod/index.s...

Pink book cover with centered syringe and text: Obstetrix Naomi Kritzer

UMN English@umnenglish· Jun 23

Register today to hear Prof Aamina Ahmad discuss her new story collection July Sun with Prof V. V. Ganeshananthan, next Tues June 30 at Magers & Quinn! www.magersandquinn.com/event/Aamina...

UMN English@umnenglish· Jun 15

Join in celebrating Black literature, historical archives, and Black Freedom Tradition across generations with UROC and the Givens Collection of African American Literature and Life in this new Northside exhibit, opening with live performance Sat June 20 10:30am-12pm:

Event poster with historical photos of Black Americans and book covers behind capitalized text: 100 Years of Black Freedom, Join us 06.20.26 Community Exhibit on view June 20- August 20, 2026, UROC, 2001 Plymouth Ave. N. Minneapolis, MN 55411 Funded by the Minnesota Humanities Center www.thegivensfoundationmn.org
As part of the 100th anniversary of Carter G. Woodson's Founding of Black History Week in 1926, The Givens Foundation for African American Literature brings the Givens Collection of African American Literature and Life into the community through literature, archival imagery, and live performance celebrating Black Freedom Tradition across generations.

UMN English@umnenglish· Jun 10

Cool reading next week at Magers & Quinn in Uptown: Meg Gorzycki presents Remember the Main, the story of how Bob Jansen opened the Main Club in 1983, which soon became a hub for LGBTQ social life in the Twin Ports and the Iron Range: www.magersandquinn.com/event/Meg-Go...

UMN English@umnenglish· Jun 2

Congrats to MFA alum Chaun Webster, whose first work of nonfiction is out today with @graywolfpress.bsky.social! Without Terminus: Untraining an Archive is “potent and prophetic, a singular achievement" -- starred review @publisherswkly.bsky.social www.graywolfpress.org/books/withou...

Book cover of Chaun Webster's Without Terminus with black and white photo of train cars centered within blue rectangle, which is centered within color photo of a fire, perhaps on train tracks

UMN English@umnenglish· May 27

MFA alum Emily Bright will read from her latest poetry collection This Ground Beneath Our Feet along with Joanne Esser (Everything is Stationary) this Sunday May 31 at 2 pm at Open Book in Minneapolis! Introduction by BA alum and novelist Sheila O'Connor: www.emilykbright.com/news-events

Book covers for Emily Bright's This Ground Beneath Our Feet: Poems and Joanne Esser's Nothing Is Stationary: Poems

UMN English@umnenglish· May 22

Cheers for our 2026 MFA in Creative Writing grads, writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction--soon to be in your TBR pile! Edwin Banks, Sandra Del Rio Madrigal, Okwudili Nebeolisa, Andrew Nicholson, Cassandra Rodenbaugh, Anna Simonton, Julia Oschwald Tilton, Olivia Wood, Isabel Zacharias

Book shelves with black centered box overlaid by white text: Congrats MFA Graduates! List of names included in post

UMN English@umnenglish· May 20

Warm congrats to the English PhDs who successfully defended dissertations this academic year! Best wishes to all. Bridget Bergin Adam Burchard Nyla Numan Shavera Seneviratne

Back of Doctoral robe in black, gold, maroon, and blue. White centered rectangle overlay with text: Congrats, PhD Graduates! and names Bridget Bergin, Adam Burchard, Nyla Numan, & Shavera Seneviratne

UMN English@umnenglish· May 13

"I was working inside the classroom, but also being 'on' when I was outside in the community. During the only big snow, my 8th graders and I walked to the city park and had a snowball fight" What's it like teaching English in Bulgaria as a Fulbright recipient? BA alum Beatrice Handlin describes:

Nine high school students in Bulgaria in traditional capes and hats with BA alum Beatrice Handlin (center, no hat), all standing or kneeling in front of lights in shape of tree with star on top

UMN English@umnenglish· May 5

Join us in Pillsbury Hall 10am-5pm Sunday as part of Doors Open Minneapolis! Come check out the magic outside (chimera, gargoyle, Medusa) and in (spiral staircase, Seitu Jones sculptures). Plus chance to win Prof Julie Schumacher's new book (out today)! www.doorsopenminneapolis.org/venues-2026

Stone building with tower and arches in sunshine. Text: Open Sunday
Pillsbury Hall, University of Minnesota Twin Cities Sunday, May 10, 2026
10:00 AM 5:00 PM Pillsbury Hall, University of Minnesota Twin Cities
Explore a stunningly renovated 1889 Minnesota sandstone building. Take a guided tour or scavenger hunt to find gargoyles and chimeras. Learn the building’s role in the history of Minnesota’s flagship university. Hear about today’s occupants, the Department of English and Liberal Arts Engagement Hub, and fun public events to attend!

UMN English@umnenglish· May 5

Congratulations to Prof Douglas Kearney! His visual poetry collection I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always is a 2026 Pulitzer Prize Finalist in Poetry: www.pulitzer.org/news/2026-pu...

Book cover: cream square with large capital letters Douglas at top and Kearney at bottom and small typewriter text in middle I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always

Douglas Kearney: Black man with short dark hair and beard, wearing glasses and red t-shirt in front of red wall

UMN English@umnenglish· Apr 16

Thank you to authors @atticalocke.bsky.social and @pronounced-ing.bsky.social for the warm, insightful, and occasionally unprintable (!) conversation with Prof @sugi.bsky.social Tues night. It was a marvelous way to celebrate 25 years of the Freier Literary Series. And thanks to all who attended!

Prof V V Ganeshananthan, novelist Celeste Ng, and novelist/screenwriter Attica Locke, seated at booksigning table, all smiling

Prof V V Ganeshananthan and authors Attica Locke and Celeste Ng seated on stage at Northrop, Locke speaking and gesturing, the others looking at her. Screen behind with photo of building and live captioning

UMN English@umnenglish· Apr 13

Wonderful to have novelist and screenwriter Attica Locke speak with our grad students today! Magic can happen for writers, she told them, "when you let your unconscious take you for a ride." Register for tomorrow's free reading with Locke and Celeste Ng here: z.umn.edu/NgLocke

Author Attica Locke handing signed book to student

UMN English@umnenglish· Apr 10

Celebrating a new issue of the longest-running literary magazine in Minnesota, Great River Review, with a reading by prize winners Beaudelaine Pierre and Ìfẹ́olúwa Àyàndélé! Online April 22: cla.umn.edu/english/news...

Authors Beaudelaine Pierre and Ìfẹ́olúwa Àyàndélé

UMN English@umnenglish· Apr 1

Prof Aamina Ahmad has won a McKnight Land-Grant Professorship in recognition of her excellent writing and research. The author of The Return of Faraz Ali is writing a historical novel about a British Indian soldier in the Great War who finds his way to the Indian revolutionary movement. Cheers!

Prof Aamina Ahmad, a woman with dark hair to shoulders, smiling

UMN English@umnenglish· Mar 26

Congrats to Associate Faculty Melissa Licht, who won the Morse-UMN Alumni Association Award, the top University honor for undergrad teaching! The citation reads: “Licht’s teaching builds thoughtful, active relationships between the University and the ‘real world'" Cheers!

Melissa Licht: white woman with long dark red hair, wearing glasses and olive sweater, and smiling.

UMN English@umnenglish· Mar 20

Congrats to Prof Andrew Scheil, who received a 2026 Motley Exemplary Teaching Award from CLA! "Survey of British Literature I with Dr. Scheil is fantastically informative and genuinely fun,” said a student. And: "Old English intertwines aspects of history and linguistics I found super interesting”

Andrew Scheil, white man with short grey hair, wearing glasses and suitcoat

UMN English@umnenglish· Mar 6

We're at #AWP! (The annual writing and writer conference, this year at Baltimore.) MFA alum/poet Chaun Webster, Profs (and poets) Kathryn Nuernberger and Douglas Kearney, and poet Mai Der Vang today discussed "Anti-Grammar & Other Upside-Down Experiments with Syntax & Usage" for a packed audience

From left Chaun Webster, Profs (and poets) Kathryn Nuernberger and Douglas Kearney, and poet Mai Der Vang standing and smiling

UMN English@umnenglish· Feb 4

Looking ahead to spring, we will celebrate 25 years of our Freier series presenting free readings by great poets, novelists, memoirists, playwrights, and one cartoonist by, yes, presenting more great writers: Celeste Ng and Attica Locke on April 14. Tickets just opened up: z.umn.edu/Freier25th

Light yellow banner with small grey names of past and 2026 Freier visiting authors with photos of Attica Locke and Celeste Ng and boxed text: Esther Freier Lectures in Literature 25 Years

UMN English@umnenglish· Jan 28

The Poetry finalists also include BA alum Jim Moore's Enter (Graywolf) and MFA student Okwudili Nebeolisa's Terminal Maladies (Autumn House). MA alum Alison McGhee's Weird Sad and Silent (Rocky Pond) is a finalist for Middle Grade Lit. Congrats to all. thefriends.org/minnesota-bo...

Three book covers in a row. From left: Jim Moore's Enter, Okwudili Nebeolisa's Terminal Maladies, and Alison McGhee's Weird Sad and Silent

UMN English@umnenglish· Jan 28

Prof Douglas Kearney's collection I Imagine I Been Science Fiction Always (Wave Books) has been named a finalist in the Poetry category for the 2026 Minnesota Book Awards. He won the award in 2022 for Sho. #MNBA thefriends.org/minnesota-bo...

Head and shoulders of Douglas Kearney, Black man with short black hair, black-rimmed glasses and beard, next to visual poem that includes graphics and text, with the largest words ELBOW and BOOM

UMN English@umnenglish· Jan 20

Welcome back, students! We’re so glad to see you. Best wishes getting settled into your classes this week. If you need assistance, stop by room 112, or email englmaj@umn.edu

Side of stone building (patterned gold and rust brick), Pillsbury Hall, with figure striding toward bottom right entrance.

UMN English@umnenglish· Dec 29

Pretty (cold) morning at the University of Minnesota! (Our home Pillsbury Hall on right, and Rapson beyond.)