Duke English is excited to announce the winners of our 2025 Critical Essay and Department awards!Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British & Anglophone LiteratureOctavia Chilkoti, ’25 - A Spectral Image Renewed: Recursive Dialogues Between Phantasmagoria and Gothic FictionThis award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in British Literature. Louis J. Budd Award for Outstanding Work in American… read more about 2025 Critical Prize Winners »
“The Garden is a healer… that’s just a fact.”“When people come into my garden they see me.”“The people in charge are not the ones that look like us.”These were just a few of the powerful truths shared during the African American Legacy in Gardening and Horticulture Symposium on Saturday, March 29. In a space filled with stories, resistance and regeneration, I witnessed how gardening is much more than cultivation– it’s reclamation, identity and legacy. Organized by the North Carolina Botanical Gardens, Durham County… read more about So Much More Than Growing Plants: Gardening as a Practice of Reclamation, Identity and Legacy »
For 17 years and counting, the John Hope Franklin Humanities Institute has been the go-to source for ongoing collaborative support for scholars in the interpretive social sciences and humanities working on not-yet-published books.The Provost's Office and Trinity College of Arts & Sciences currently support the Faculty Book Manuscript Workshops program, which was first funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and addresses the purposeful need for feedback at a crucial point in the book-writing process. - Read More read more about FHI’s Faculty Book Manuscript Workshops Keep Fostering Academic Excellence »
During the Spring '25 semester, Professor Frances Leviston, the 2024-25 Blackburn Artist-in-Residence, taught a course that combined two of her loves, "poetry" and "photography." In English 290S-4 "Poetry and Photography," Professor Leviston's students learned about the influence that these two forms can have on each other. They explored how words and photographs together can create powerful storytelling that elevates how messages are conveyed.When asked what inspired her to teach a course of this nature, Professor… read more about Poetry and Photography Taught by Professor Frances Leviston, ’24-25 Blackburn Artist-in-Residence »
Duke English is excited to announce our 2025 Creative Writing Scholarships honorees. Each year, Duke English faculty members nominate undergraduate students for one of the Creative Writing Scholarships based on the exceptional work they submitted in one or more of their creative writing courses. The Creative Writing Committee selects the winners of the prestigious William M. Blackburn, Francis Pemberton, and Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarships. Students nominated must be eligible for financial aid to receive… read more about 2025 Creative Writing Scholarships Honorees »
To Priscilla Wald, all literature is political. This doesn’t mean that all works are written with a goal in mind, but rather that “all art registers its moment in some way.” They bear an imprint of the beliefs of a certain point in time, serving as a window into the zeitgeist of any given point in history. That is the focus of her work: taking a look into literature, science, law, and analyzing what that says about humanity. “What I’m really interested in is two things,” Wald said. “How do people… read more about “The Power of Analyzing a Story:” Priscilla Wald on Literature, Science, and the Making of Collective Belief »
Duke English is honored to announce the winners of the 2024 Creative Writing Contests. Annually, the department administers creative writing contests to recognize fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry works by English majors and non-major undergraduates. Congratulations to this year's winners! Your creativity and passion for the art of creative writing are truly evident in your prize-winning submissions.FICTIONAnne Flexner Memorial Award for FictionCo-winners: Linda… read more about 2025 Creative Writing Contest Winners »
Congratulations to the 2025 Beneson Award Winners, which includes English Major Lily Egol and Creative Writing Minor Leila ZakEach year, Duke University awards Benenson Awards in the Arts, which provide funding for arts-centered projects proposed by undergraduates, including graduating seniors. This year, the Student Arts Award Committee awarded prizes to fifteen students for creative projects spanning film, theater, creative writing, music, dance, and visual art. read more about Announcing the 2025 Benenson Award Winners »
Professor Jarvis McInnis has been thinking about mentoring since he was a Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellow. Today, he says, “I think of my mentoring team as both vertical and horizontal, peer mentors and senior colleagues, here at Duke and beyond campus as well.” read more about How Faculty Can Build Mentoring Networks »
One might not expect monsters, fairy tales, and psychoanalysis to have anything to do with one another, but to Professor Mert Bahadir Reisoglu, they are intimately connected. Professor Reisoglu is currently an assistant professor in the Germanic studies department. Prior to teaching at Duke, he received his B.A. at Yale in literature and philosophy and his P.h.D at NYU, where he explored German and Turkish literature. At Duke, he teaches several cross-listed courses in the German and English departments—many of which… read more about Professor Mert Bahadir Reisoglu on Fantasy, Psychoanalysis, and Cross Listing Courses »
Czech playwright Karel Capek may have predicted the repercussions of Artificial Intelligence with his 1920 play, R.U.R., in which factory machines rebel against their human workers and take over the world. Over the next century, the theme of man succumbing to his own creation would become a regular convention of science fiction, as creator and consumer alike feared the worst: human obsoletion. Given the myriad of functions performed by modern Artificial Intelligence programs–the most prominent being… read more about AI: The Rise or Fall of Creative Writing? »
We recently caught up with Duke alum Charlie McSpadden T’10, producer of the 2024 romantic comedy A Nice Indian Boy. The film, produced with Levantine Films and starring Karan Soni (Deadpool) and Jonathan Groff (Frozen, Hamilton), is set for a nationwide theatrical release on April 4 and will be screening at Durham’s AMC Southpoint starting April 10.The film follows Naveen (Soni) as he brings his fiancé Jay (Groff) home to meet his traditional… read more about Q&A with Charlie McSpadden ‘10, Producer of the 2024 Film “A Nice Indian Boy” »
Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor speaks on reconnecting people to place“We Black folks are a land-based people who must rediscover our relationship to land,” asserts artist and scholar Ashon T. Crawley. “I do not think it can be said that we Black people are ‘of’ the urban north. Even in the urban north, we are a southern land people.”Crawley is the 2024-25 Nannerl Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor at Duke and UNC Chapel Hill. “One of the things I’m trying to work through is that we’re all southern people,”… read more about Arts and the American South: Keohane Distinguished Visiting Professor Speaks on Reconnecting People to Place »
“Don’t be afraid to be passionate about what you are passionate about!” - Elle Chavis, ‘27Elle Chavis, a native of Dallas, TX, is a second-year Duke English major and Robertson Scholar. Chavis has always loved reading and writing, which ties into her desire to pursue a career in sports journalism. Chavis is a sports reporter for the Duke Chronicle covering softball, women's basketball, and women's soccer.Chavis recently sat down with me to discuss her experience as a Robertson… read more about Meet English Major Elle Chavis »
On Saturday, February 22, 2025, Duke English will host the inaugural Triangle Undergraduate Literary Conference (TULC), a one-day conference for undergraduates attending Duke University, the University of North Carolina, North Carolina Central University, and North Carolina State University. It will allow undergrads from these universities to share their literature-related research. The conference will occur in the Holsti-Anderson Family Assembly Room of the Rubenstein Library from 10:00 am to 5:30 pm.The Triangle… read more about Triangle Undergraduate Literary Conference »
You’re reading an installment in The Alcove, an interview series with artists and scholars affiliated with Duke University, including students, faculty, and alums in the arts and humanities posted in the Duke Chronicle recently featured Duke English PhD alum Chandler Fry. The style and format of The Paris Review inspires this series. read more about Chandler Fry on the Job Market, Progress, Teaching, His Favorite Piece of Advice »
What’s it really like being a student in Trinity College of Arts & Sciences? As Duke welcomes its 100th class, we’re launching a four-year documentary series that chronicles the experiences of student life at Trinity — the good, the bad and the (hopefully read more about Trinity in Four Acts »
The Duke English Department is privileged to have Professor Victor Strandberg as part of its faculty. His dedication is evident in his 59-year tenure, during which he has educated and inspired thousands of individuals. His impact extends beyond the classroom, influencing students' implicit learning and shaping their contributions to the world.Through the decades, he has taught countless courses on poetry, American literature, and specific authors, including his favorite American author, William Faulkner. During sabbaticals… read more about 59 Years with the Duke English Department »
“Just as mindfulness, wonder, and awe can open the mind and heart to adopting better approaches to digitally infused wellbeing, technology can become a tool to enhance mindfulness, creativity, wonder, and wellbeing. "It’s reciprocal and cyclical.”The opening lines to Caitlin Krause’s most recent book, Digital Wellbeing: Empowering Connection with Wonder and Imagination in the Age of AI, best encapsulate her elevated understanding of what it means to be human in the ever-evolving face of digital innovation… read more about The Third Space of Digital Wellbeing — A Conversation with Duke Alumna Caitlin Krause »
Founded based on the research of former President Nannerl Keohane’s Women’s Initiative report, The Muse is a prominent force for female literary empowerment at Duke University. The report, which detailed the downward trends of female confidence in Duke women’s undergraduate circles, led two students to establish The Muse as a safe space for female-identifying students to express themselves through writing. In the years since its establishment, The Muse has become a prominent force… read more about The Muse Magazine: The Cross Section of Literature and Feminism at Duke University »
When Nitin Luthra received the 2023-24 Rhodes Doctoral Fellowship in the Computational Humanities, he decided to use the Rhodes at Duke University to design a unique interdisciplinary course. Merging the study of English literature with computational analysis, in what is commonly referred to as the Digital Humanities, this fall Luthra premiered “Enemy at the Gates: Reading Dystopian Literature” for Duke undergraduate students. The syllabus describes the course as a combination of humanistic close reading and coding analysis… read more about “Enemy at the Gates: Reading Dystopian Literature” — The Intersection between Computational and Humanistic Disciplines »
Are you still looking for a class for the Spring 2024 Semester? Why not consider English 208S: Novels in Translation, “Lost in Translation? Contemporary and Popular Novels in Translation,” taught by Eun-hae Kim? Kim shared what their students should expect from the course: Without translation, English speakers would be deprived of the pleasures of reading classics like The Odyssey and watching international shows like… read more about Spring '25 English Courses to Consider »
Toby Martinez, '23-24 Distinguished Blackburn Artist-in-Residence, thank you speech and reflection on his time with the Duke English Department and community over the last year and a half. read more about Farewell Speech: Toby Martinez, '23-24 Distinguished Blackburn Artist-in-Residence »
I spoke with Duke junior Lily Egol, an English major who is double-majoring in Music and minoring in French. Lily’s independent study, Galls, Grace, & Grief: Women in Shakespeare Revisited, delves into the feminist reconstruction of some of Shakespeare’s most prominent female figures. Composing a number of poetic monologues exploring individual Shakespearean women or groups of women, Lily’s collection retells these great plays from the perspective of their oft-forgotten female characters. She… read more about Framing Feminism through Shakespeare and Early Modern Art — An Interview with Duke English Major Lily Egol »
Struggling to find the last classes to add your schedule among the myriad of options listed on DukeHub? Your search ends here.Here is The Chronicle’s guide to five captivating courses being offered next semester. read more about 5 Interesting Classes to Consider During Drop/Add »
Julius Fleming delivered this year’s Tennenhouse-Armstrong Lecture. Fleming, an Associate Professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis, gave the audience a glimpse into his current project, “Empire After Civil Rights: Race, Outer Space, and the New Geographies of Colonialism.”Visiting Duke to deliver the Tennenhouse-Armstrong lecture was certainly the highlight of my semester. This was the first time I’ve shared work from my new book project. And what a treat to have done so with such an engaged and brilliant… read more about Julius Fleming - 2024 Tennenhouse-Armstrong Lecture »
I sat down for an interview with Dr. April Henry, Lecturer of German Studies and Director of the German Studies Language Program at the Duke University Trinity College of Arts and Sciences, and the most recent recipient of the Richard K. Lublin Award in the Humanities for outstanding achievement in undergraduate teaching. In addition to her scholarship in the field of German Studies, Dr. Henry has also created and taught a variety of courses in the study of literature, many of which have been cross listed as English… read more about An Interview with Dr. April Henry, Literary Scholar and Medievalist »
The 2024 Blackburn Literary Festival - “History and Its Alternatives” - featuring esteemed novelists Rachel Kushner, Claire Messud, and Paul Yoon - offered literature enthusiasts a unique and privileged experience. It allowed them to interact with writers they admire and gain insights into their craft that are often inaccessible to the public. This year’s festival began on Friday, October 18th, with a dozen or more Duke students joining Claire Messud and Paul Yoon for creative writing… read more about The 2024 Blackburn Literary Festival »
Duke English will host the second annual Tennenhouse-Armstrong Lecture on Tuesday, October 29th. This year’s featured guest will be Julius Fleming, Associate Professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis, who will present “Empire After Civil Rights: Race, Outer Space, and the New Geographies of Colonialism.” The lecture will be held at 3:30 PM in room 314 of the Allen Building. Empire After Civil Rights: Race, Outer Space, and the New Geographies of… read more about Tennenhouse-Armstrong Lecture Featuring Julius Fleming, Oct. 29th »
Acclaimed short-story writer Paul Yoon talked about his start as an author during a panel discussion on “History and Its Alternatives” at the Blackburn Literary Festival Oct. 19. Yoon shared the stage with authors Rachel Kushner, Claire Messud and Duke creative writing professor Ahkil Sharma for a discussion of “History and Its Alternatives.” read more about Said@Duke: Paul Yoon on the Love of Reading »