Department of English Newsletter
English Department Newsletter
After anunacceptably long hiatus, we’ll start the new year with some of our top news to cheer us through the winter doldrums.
New Works by Aritha Van Herk
The ever-prolific Aritha published her most recent book, In this Place Calgary: 2004-2011, a collaboration of text by her and photographs by George Webber. In addition, she published “Bawdy Bodies: Bridging Robert Kroetsch and bpNichol” in a special issue of the Review of International American Studies (5.1-2, 2011) on “Bodies of Canada; and “I have a Question,” as part of “Robert Kroetsch: A Tribute” in Brick 88, Winter 2012. She also gave a gala reading at the University of Innsbruck, Austria for their series on Women’s World Literature.
Kaleidoscope Winners
Congratulations to this year's winners of the Literary Kaleidoscope Prize, which has been awarded for creative and critical writing to two graduate and two undergraduate students. We had a number of excellent submissions this year. The cash prize was awarded at the November 16 meeting of the Calgary Literary Kaleidoscope Society, a group of people who love to read books, engage in discussions of literature, and have played host to many speakers from our department and the university. Winners in the graduate category are Ian Kinney and Tanya Schaap; and in the undergraduate category are Melissa McGregor and Caitlyn Spencer. Remember to get your nominations in for next year's prize.Students can submit their own work or be nominated by their instructor(s).
Keynote Address by James Ellis
James Ellis gave the inaugural keynote address at the First International Conference on English Pedagogy, Language, and Literatures at the Universidad de Costa Rica.
2011 Best Canadian Poetry in English
This annual edition featured work from many departmental colleagues and alumni, including Jonathan Ball, Derek Beaulieu, Christian Bok, Susan Holbrook, Sandy Pool and Tom Wayman.
Aritha Van Herk inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence
On October 19, 2011 Aritha was formally inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence, the highest honour the Province of Alberta can offer a citizen. We are extremely proud of Aritha and this most deserved recognition of her contributions to Alberta culture.
Harry Vanderlist Writes the Mountains
On November 4 and 5, 15 students enrolled in "ENGL383: Writing the Mountains" attended readings and panel discussions involving authors from Sid Marty and our own Aritha van Herk, to mountaineering historian Bernadette McDonald, to U of C Creative Writing graduate Angie Abdou. Students also attended the panel "The Digital Dilemma: Accuracy at Altitude" (on the challenges of accelerated digital storytelling in high-altitude environments) moderated by course instructor Harry Vandervlist. Nine students in the class were able to meet in a specially-scheduled seminar with authors Angie Abdou and Maria Coffey to discuss Abdou's recent novel The CanterburyTrial and Coffey's writing on risk, loss and spirituality in stories by thesurvivors of mountain tragedies. All of these discussions will contribute to the students' own individual research projects which are being written now.This was the fifth time this course has been offered in collaboration with the Banff Mountain Book and Film Festival, at the Banff Centre for the Arts.
The Immaterial Eighteenth Century Conference
The department was well represented at the annual conference for the Canadian Society for Eighteenth Century Studies with David Oakleaf, Anne McWhir and Jenny McKenny all presenting work.
“Wine, cheese, and open-mouthed sobbing”
Five PhDstudents from the University of Calgary’s Creative Writing program presented “An awkward mind on an ordinary day,” readings from emerging voices in fiction. Rod Moody-Corbett, Carly Stewart, Brian Jansen, Hollie Adams and Jon Flieger all read from (or sobbed through) some of their recent works.
Theatre Book Reviews
PhD student Lourdes Arciniega had reviews in both the October 2011 issue of Theatre Journal and the November 2011 issue of Theatre Survey.
“The Miseries of Literary Men”
The English Department hosted Sandra Tomc from University of British Columbia. Dr. Tomcdiscussed her work on romantic authorship and 19th century American entertainment.
Department Research Seminar Series
Dr. Jacqueline Jenkins concluded the first half of our annual seminar series with her presentation, "Reconstructing Medieval Responses to the Intellectual Work of Julian of Norwich." With only one exception, no medieval records survive acknowledging Julian’s status as a visionary, or a writer, in texts external to the two manuscripts that contain her work. Dr. Jenkins discussed efforts to reconstruct medieval responses to Julian’s work through analysis of her revisions and the recovery of the voices of her readers we may perceive in the relation of the later long text to the short.
Medieval and Renaissance Cultural Studies Speaker Series
Dr. Clifford Werier (Mount Royal University) inaugurated the 2011-12 MARCS Speaker Series with his paper, “From iGlobe to IMAX: Consciousness and the Structures of Entertainment.”
Upcoming Talks
Looking for reasons to stay indoors? Jeramy Dodds (Calgary Writer-in-Residence, Calgary Distinguished Writers Program) presents “Seiðr and Sissies: Feminization of Male Gods in The Poetic Edda,” Thursday, January 26th, in SS1114 at 2PM. Susan Bennett presents “The New International: The Global Circulation of Performance Culture,” Friday, January 27th, in SS1153 at 2PM. Rebecca Sullivan presents “Natalie Wood’s Sexual Revolution,” Tuesday, January 31st, in BIO561 at 3:00. Finally, Victor Ramraj presents “A Talk on the Phenomenon of Postcolonial Laughter: Amnesiac, Corrective, Purposeless . . .” Wednesday, February 1st, in SS1015 at 4PM.
Got news? I’m eager to keep the newsletter thriving so please contact me. No news is too small to print! rsulliva [at] ucalgary [dot] ca