Greetings from Professor Charlotte Sussman, Department Chair:
It was an exciting and vibrant year in the English department, including several “firsts.” Professor Timothy Bewes (Brown) delivered our first annual Tennenhouse Lecture and poet Toby Martinez de las Rivas served as our inaugural Blackburn Distinguished Artist in Residence. We also welcomed new faculty member Christopher Ouma, a specialist in African Literature. Our faculty were recognized for their scholarship and teaching: Professor Aarthi Vadde was awarded a Bass Professorship, and Professor Michael D’Alessandro was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure—congratulations, Aarthi and Mike! Professor Nancy Armstrong retired in January—we will miss you, Nancy!
2023-24 also saw the publication of monographs or edited volumes by Taylor Black, Corina Stan, and Aarthi Vadde. And Professor Akhil Sharma was recognized in the Atlantic’s list of the Best American Novels! We celebrated the many aspects of poetic expression with our “Spring into Poetry” series!
Next year, we look forward to welcoming our second Blackburn Distinguished Artist in Residence, poet Frances Leviston, to our Centennial Blackburn Festival, with writers Rachel Kushner, Claire Messud, and Paul Yoon, and to our “Fall into Fiction” series
Thanks, everyone, for a year filled with scholarship, creativity, and collegiality! Have a great summer, and we’ll see you in the Allen building at the end of August.