Creative Spark

On Sunday, April 28th, writers from across the province’s literary landscape will illuminate the stage of the LSPU Hall as part of SPARKS 2024. Read more in the Gazette.

2023 Dean's Awards Winners Named for Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences

A Fine Crowd 2022 celebrated faculty accolades in previous academic year, including our faculty members earning more than a dozen awards, publishing more than two dozen books, and being awarded more than $6 million in grants and agreements. In addition, we named this year's Dean's Award winners. Read more in the Gazette!

Caighlan Smith has won the prestigious Vanier Canada Scholarship

English PhD student Caighlan Smith has won the prestigious Vanier Canada Graduate Scholarship, valued at $150,000. This marks the third time in four years the English department successfully nominated a Vanier scholar. Read more about Ms. Smith's research in the Gazette.

Congrats to All Students Named to the 2021-2022 Dean's List!

Congratulations to all students named to the 2021-2022 Dean's List, as well as the Program Book Prize winners, and receipients of the Dean's Award for Academic Excellence, and the HSS International Student Excellence Award. 

Finding an elective has never been easier

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) has hundreds of courses that have zero or one prerequisite. To make it easy for our students to find electives of interest, we have launched a searchable listing of electives that you can browse by semester and subject. 

Fall Welcome Session for New Students

On Sept. 6, the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences is hosting a welcome event to help new students get started on the right track. At this interactive event, you'll hear from the Dean and Associate Dean of Curriculum and Programs, learn more about areas of study in HSS, and meet other HSS students! Register now: https://loom.ly/TTXWfYo

Creative Writing Courses Fall 2022

Memorial's Department of English is offering three creative writing courses this fall (fiction, poetry, non-fiction), taught by some of the finest writers in our community (Lisa Moore, Andreae Callanan, Michelle Porter). To be accepted into these courses, you must submit a portfolio of writing by August 1. Read more about this fall's course offerings in creative writing. 

English PhD student and comics scholar wins Congress Graduate Merit Award

Elisabeth Pfeiffer, a PhD candidate in the Department of English, recently received the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences' Congress Graduate Merit Award, for her work on anti-racism and blackface in comic studies. Read more in the Gazette. 

HSS Commons Student Space Cozier Than Ever

When we think of university campuses, we picture lecture halls and labs. But what about a space for that time between classes? It is equally essential to have a comfortable space to study or kick back and relax between lectures. The newly refurbished Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS) Commons, in SN-1107, offers HSS students such a space. Check out this Gazette article on why interim Dean, Dr. Craig, wanted to rejuvenate this space for students. 

Gradcolades 2022

In the last academic year, graduate students in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences at Memorial University won more than 40 awards, 40 grants, and 140 fellowships & scholarships. Additionally, they produced more than 40 publications and creative endeavours. Watch the video celebration of all this success.

Sparkles Event Series Videos 2022

Sparkles is an imprint event series happening in lieu of the traditional Sparks Literary Festival this year. In addition to three in-person events in St. John's in April, May, and July, we partnered with Rogers TV St. John's to create a video series titled "First Pages." The First Pages series features Memorial University Alumni being interviewed by current English students at Memorial. The interviews are followed by a reading. Additionally, we have our inaugural Writer in Residence reading, featuring Megan Gail Coles in conversation with faculty member and author Lisa Moore. Watch the videos on YouTube or watch them here on our website.

Writer in Residence Megan Gail Coles featured in BA Professional series

Tune in to hear how Megan Gail Coles came to be an author and vital arts sector worker, how you can too, how her BA has shaped her life, and more.

Fall Creative Writing Courses

Here is our lineup of Creative Writing Courses for Fall 2021. Information about the Diploma in Creative Writing can be had from the program coordinator Robert Finley at rfinley@mun.ca. All fall courses will be in person, one evening per week from 7-930 p.m.

MindLeap Poetry Competition 2021

Sponsored by St. John’s Poet Laureate Mary Dalton to mark National Poetry Month 2021, in co-operation with the Department of English at Memorial University of Newfoundland, The MindLeap Poetry Competition is accepting your poems until May 11, 2021 at 3:00 pm.

Sharon Bala 2020-2021 Writer in Residence

The Department of English and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences are delighted to announce the appointment of Sharon Bala as Memorial University’s Writer in Residence for 2020-2021.  

Winter 2021 Creative Writing Courses

Here are our Creative Writing courses for the Winter 2021 semester. The deadline for portfolio submission is December 1, 2020!

#STRIKE4BLACKLIVES

The Department of English denounces anti-Black racism and racism of all forms, and commits to doing the necessary work to create a more diverse and just community for our faculty, staff, and students.

Serving You Remotely

The Department of English Remains Open, but We Are Working Remotely!

2020 Pratt Lecture

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of English are thrilled to announce that Professor Emerita Mary Dalton, Poet Laureate of the City of St. John's, will be giving the 2020 Pratt Lecture.

Titled "The Vernacular Strain in Newfoundland Poetry," the Lecture will take place on the Main Stage of the LSPU Hall on Wednesday, March 4, at 8 pm. A reception will follow. Admission is free and all are most welcome to attend.

Dalton's Pratt Lecture will explore the emergence of the vernacular voice in the writing of various Newfoundland poets, describing a gradual shift from ambivalence and hesitation to an embracing of the riches the language resources of Newfoundland afford them.

Dedicated to fostering the public appreciation of the literary arts, the Pratt Lecture is the oldest public lecture at Memorial University. Past lecturers include George Elliott Clarke, Dionne Brand, Northrop Frye, Terry Eagleton, Ursula LeGuin, Alberto Manguel, and Anne Carson.

Merrybegot Voices: A Dramatic Reading

A companion event to the 2020 Pratt Lecture, Merrybegot Voices: A Dramatic Reading brings Mary Dalton together with Mary-Lynn Bernard, Randy Drover, Elizabeth Hicks, and Andy Jones to read her celebrated collection Merrybegot.

A joyous celebration of the riches of Newfoundland English, Merrybegot is perfectly made for dramatic reading, a collection of soliloquies ranging in tone from the haunting to the profound to the hilarious.  

The reading will take place on Tuesday, March 3, at 8 pm in the Cox & Palmer Second Space. Admission is free and all are welcome to attend.

Writer in Residence Farewell Event

Join us for the glorious culmination of Berni Stapleton's residency at Memorial University. Berni will be reading from her stage play Dolly and will be joined by two prodigiously talented St. John's playwrights, Marie Jones and Sharon King-Campbell. Marie will read from her screenplay Sweet Spot and Sharon will read from her stage play Original.

The event will begin at 8 pm on Thursday, February 13, in the Suncor Energy Hall at the Music Building on the St. John's campus of Memorial University. Parking is available in Lot 15B. The reading is free and open to the public and all are most welcome.

Scenes from Metamorphoses

English 4401: Producing the Play will be presenting their yearly English play from Thursday, Nov. 28th through Friday, Nov. 30th at 8 pm at the Barbara Barrett Theatre at the Arts and Culture Centre. Mary Zimmerman's Scenes from Metamorphoses is a retelling of Ovid's poem, featuring shadow play, masks, puppets, and a large glistening pool of water. Tickets are $15 for students/seniors and $20 for adults.

Winter 2020 Creative Writing

Here is our Winter 2020 lineup of Creative Writing Courses, with information on how to register or apply.

Jason Haslam Public Lecture

In celebration of Herman Melville's 200th birthday, the Department of English is delighted to welcome Dr. Jason Haslam (Dalhousie University), who'll give a public lecture on Moby-Dick and its dissection of what Dr. Haslam calls the "rhetoric of energy resources." In an era when the use of fossil fuels seems both necessary to our way of life and devastating to the planet, Moby-Dick has extraordinary urgency, offering as it does the anatomy of an energy culture that seemed likewise inevitable - until it was superseded.

Dr. Haslam will give the lecture at the Suncor Energy Hall on Friday, October 25, at 8 pm, launching a weekend of Melville celebrations. Admission is free; all are welcome.

Giovanna Riccio Public Reading

The Department of English at Memorial University invites you to join us on Thursday, October 10, 2019 at 8 pm for a reading by Giovanna Riccio, author most recently of Plastic's Republic (featuring the Barbie Suite) (2019). The reading will be in the Suncor Energy Hall in the Music Building. All are welcome; admission is free and parking is available in Lot 15B.  

Lunch Time Pop-Up with Berni Stapleton

Join Memorial University Writer-in-Residence Berni Stapleton for a Lunch Box pop-up show! At 1.15 p.m. on Wednesday, October 2, in the Flex Room of the Queen Elizabeth II Library. With guests Nicole Smith and Katie Vautour. It's fun plus nutritional!

Berni Stapleton, Writer in Residence

Berni Stapleton, Memorial University's Writer-in-Residence for 2019-2020, has begun her activities! An occasional reading series in the Flexable Room of the Queen Elizabeth II Library begins on Thursday, September 26, at 1:15 p.m., when she will be reading from works with guest artist Prajwala Dixit. On Thursday evenings through the semester she'll be moderating a creative writing group that will share work. And she is available for consultation on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in her office (A-3038 in the Arts and Administration Building). For more information or to participate in the Thursday evening sessions contact Berni at writerinresidence@mun.ca.     

For more about Berni's activities, see the Department's dedicated Writer-in-Residence page.

For more about Berni's work, see this story in the Gazette.

Storied summer

As the recipient of Memorial’s latest Gzowski internship,  English student Noah Laybolt has had the time of his life reporting for CBC Radio in St. John’s this summer.  Read more in the Gazette.

Writer in Residence Berni Stapleton

The Department of English and the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences are delighted to announce the appointment of Berni Stapleton as Memorial University’s Writer-in-Residence for 2019-2020. There will be an inaugural reading on Thursday, September 12 in the Suncor Energy Hall, beginning at 7:30 p.m.; all are welcome to attend.

"Fierce and funny"

A lifelong lover of reading and writing, Heidi Wicks completed her graduate degree in three years, balancing part-time studies with parenting and a full-time job. 

Her thesis turned novel, Melt, will be published by Breakwater Books in 2020.

Read more about Heidi in this Gazette special feature on successful students.

Woman with a Movie Camera: An Evening with Anne Troake

Memorial University Filmmaker-in-Residence Anne Troake, the celebrated director of My Ancestors Were Rogues and Murderers, Pretty Big Dig, OutsideIn, and other films, is hosting a personally curated screening of her works on Thursday, March 14, at 8 pm in the Suncor Energy Hall. Join us as she discusses the craft of filmmaking and reveals the spirit that unifies her remarkably eclectic body of work. Everyone's welcome; parking is available in Lot 15B.

Public Lecture on Poe and Abortion

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of English are delighted to welcome Dr. Dana Medoro (Department of English, University of Manitoba), who will be giving a public lecture on "Poe, Punctuation, and Abortion" on Friday evening at 8 pm in the Suncor Energy Hall in the Music Building at Memorial University. Dr. Medoro will be discussing the first Dupin story, "The Murders in the Rue Morgue," reading this crucial early work of detective fiction in relation to the nineteenth-century abortion debate. All are welcome to attend. Free parking is available in Lot 15B.

Meet Zaren Healey White, alumnus

Zaren Healey White is a writer, activist and communications professional. She holds a BA (honours) in English, an MA in gender studies from Memorial University of Newfoundland and an additional MA in English from McGill University.

She has worked as a broadcast journalist, a web/social media editor and is currently director of communications for the Newfoundland and Labrador NDP Caucus.

"I think the humanities and social sciences teach you how to think, how to learn, how to grapple with and care about different viewpoints and lived experiences."

Read more about Zaren here.

A league of her own

Memorial University professor of creative writing Mary Dalton has been named poet laureate of the City of St. John’s.

Read more in the Gazette.

International lens

Congratulations to communications studies major David Gonzalez for receiving the 2018 Gzowski internship. He is now working full-time at CBC Newfoundland and Labrador. Memorial University Department of English. Read more about him in the Gazette.

War in Comics

War in Comics, an exhibition of comics art, opened on June 8th at 7 pm and continues until July 1. Organized by the English Department at Memorial University in partnership with the Royal Newfoundland Regiment, the exhibition  features the works of Scott Chantler (Two Generals), Miriam Katin (We Are On Our Own), Jason Lutes (Berlin), Wallace Ryan (The Narrow Way), Joe Sacco (The Great War), and Paul Tucker (Tet).

The exhibition is accessible to the public during the Royal Newfoundland Regiment Museum's regular opening hours. Access again requires picture ID. 

War in Comics gratefully recognizes the support of Scholarship in the Arts, the Memorial Public Engagement Accelerator Fund, and WW100.

Any and all inquiries can be directed to Dr. Andrew Loman (aloman@mun.ca) and/or Irene Velentzas (ivelentzas@mun.ca).

John Geck - HSS Researcher of the Month

Medievalist John Geck's current major project in digital humanities is a website called Morrois (the Mapping of Romance Realms and Other Imagined Spaces). His research has taught him that the medieval world was as complex as our world today. Read more about him and his research here.

State of the Arts

Have you ever wondered what form research takes in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences? Acclaimed novelist and assistant professor Lisa Moore wonders about that, too.

So much so that she is now hosting State of the Arts, a monthly Facebook Live broadcast on the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Facebook page. In each episode Ms. Moore is digging deep into all of this research and giving faculty members an opportunity to “share this stuff.”

Read more about State of the Arts here.

Entrepreneurial alumnus

In the continuing series of HSS entrepreneurs, meet Stacey Tuttle. She holds a BA in English and is a holistic nutritionist and plant-based chef based in St. John's. She says that the critical thinking and research skills she learned in her arts degree help her find the most insightful and legitimate resources for her clients. Read more about Stacey and her business Your Glowing Health here.

Writing Workshops with George Murray

Writer-in-Residence George Murray will be offering a workshop on the poetic line coming up March 5th. Thanks to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Canada Council for the Arts, this workshop is free and open to members of the public and to MUN students. If you are interested in taking part, you must register for the workshop in advance by writing to George at munwriter2@gmail.com .

Fine Lines - How to Make the Most of Lining and Enjambment (Monday March 5th, 7-9 p.m. in The Seminar Room, Department of English, A3033, Arts and Administration Bldg., Elizabeth Ave.) Max. 12 participants.

We'll examine the art of using diction, enjambment, and caesura to create and enhance meaning, as well as the concept of the line as its own poetic unit of meaning within a poem. Students should bring a nascent poem or two to work on in the latter part of the workshop, in which we'll be radically relining existing work.

Staged Reading of Lennox Brown's The Captive

The Department of English is delighted to announce that George Elliott Clarke will be introducing and hosting a staged reading of Lennox Brown's The Captive. Winner of the 1965 National One-Act Playwriting Award, The Captive is the first play by an African-Canadian writer to appear in print. To date this groundbreaking play has never been staged. Brown's current whereabouts are unknown. Please join us on Friday, March 9th, at 8 pm in the Suncor Energy Hall when this forgotten work is restored to the Canadian stage.

Four young men from different parts of the African diaspora abduct a man whom they suspect of having murdered Civil Rights workers in 1960s Mississippi. Their plan to administer rough justice takes a disastrous turn.

The E. J. Pratt Lecture 2018

The Department of English and the Office of the Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences are delighted to announce that George Elliott Clarke will be giving the 2018 Pratt Lecture on Thursday, March 8th, at 8 p.m. in the LSPU Hall.

George Elliott Clarke is an author of unparalleled versatility, writing highly regarded fiction, drama, poetry, and criticism. His poetry collections include Whylah Falls, Canticles I and II, and Execution Poems, for which he won the Governor General's Award for Poetry in 2002. He is the author of two novels, George and Rue and The Motorcyclist. His plays include Beatrice Chancy and Trudeau: Long March, Shining Path. He has broken new ground in Canadian literary studies with his analyses of African-Canadian literature. An Officer of the Order of Canada, in 2017 he served as the Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate.

In recognition of the fiftieth anniversary of the Pratt Lecture, Clarke will be reconsidering E. J. Pratt's Towards the Last Spike (1953) and Brébeuf and His Brethren (1940), two presumptive epics that are "weakened by [Pratt's] essential promulgation of implicit and explicit racialism, which is also reflective of the impossibility of an ethically 'ethnic,' Canadian identity."

All are welcome. There will be a reception following the event, with a cash bar. Admission is free.

The Pratt Lecture is the oldest public lecture at Memorial University. Past lecturers include Dionne Brand, Northrop Frye, Terry Eagleton, Ursula LeGuin, Alberto Manguel, and Anne Carson.

Writing Workshops with Elisabeth de Mariaffi

MUN Writer in Residence Elisabeth de Mariaffi is offering two free workshops this semester on Screenwriting Craft (Feb 26) and on Women in Genre (March 26)! 

2018 Gregory J. Power Poetry Competition

Submit your poetry to the 2018 Gregory J. Power Poetry Awards, deadline Friday, March 16th, 2018!

Writers in Residence Meet and Greet!

What can you do with an English degree?

Become an entrepreneur!

Since completing her BA and MA in English and her BEd (between 2003 and 2010), Kayla Walters has spent time teaching and has recently pursued her love of entrepreneurship, tourism and craft beer by founding St. John’s Beer Tours. She says completing an arts degree has made her versatile and ready to accept the challenges of any job. Read more about Kayla here.

Writers in Residence 2018

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and the Department of English are very pleased to announce our 2018 Writers in Residence, celebrated novelist Elisabeth de Mariaffi and acclaimed poet George Murray. During their tenure, from January to April, they will engage with the public, the city’s literary community, students and faculty, and participants in Memorial’s Creative Writing programs through an array of readings, workshops, and other activities, while also working on their own projects. George will be completing a new collection of poetry, Things Cut in Half, that reveals “the innards and viscera of the power structures, privileges, and scripts at play in human interaction.” Elisabeth will be at work on a new novel, Safe Harbour, which “seeks to place the way we view domestic abuse and violence in an uncomfortably close context — one that brings our power and our responsibility as witnesses into our most intimate friendships, into our own marriages, and into the way we view ourselves.” Please refer to the Writers in Residence page on the Department of English website for further details on readings and workshops throughout the winter semester.

English student wins major scholarship

Congratulations to Lacy Custance and Rebecca Ford, the Heaslip scholars for 2017 - the largest award for undergraduate students available at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Lacy is a second year student and is completing an ambitious degree program consisting of an English honours, a French major and a Spanish minor. Read more about Lacy & Rebecca in the Gazette.

SPARKS Literary Festival scheduled for Sunday January 28

The 2018 SPARKS Literary Festival will be held on Sunday January 28 from 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Suncor Energy Hall in Memorial University's School of Music.  The confirmed authors are:  Colin Barrett, Sharon Bala, Stan Dragland, Alison Dyer, Robert Finley, Jamie Fitzpatrick, Sue Goyette, Pam Hall, Andrew Loman, Lisa Moore, Michael Redhill, Anna Swanson, Tanya Talaga, Mary Walsh and Heidi Wicks.

For more information see www.arts.mun.ca/sparks/

Moby Dick - Rehearsed

Steampunk meets Punk Rock in Moby Dick - Rehearsed by Orson Welles. A ragtag group of actors meet to rehearse an adaptation of Moby-Dick written by a young actor in the troupe. Cynical and serious actors take on the iconic roles of Ahab, Starbuck, and Ishmael, as they journey forth on the Pequod in search of the great whale.

Starring the students of English 4401: Producing the Play, Moby Dick - Rehearsed features Bruce Brenton in the role of Ahab. Tickets are $20 for adults and $15 for students and seniors, not including taxes or service charges, and are available in person through the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre Box Office; on the telephone at (709) 729-3900; or online at https://artsandculturecentre.com/stjohns/Online/.

The show runs Friday, December 1st at 8 pm; and Saturday, December 2nd at 2 pm and 8 pm. Contact Jamie Skidmore at skidmore@mun.ca for additional information.

Jillian Tamaki Reading

The Department of English is delighted to welcome acclaimed graphic novelist Jillian Tamaki, who will be reading from her work on Monday, November 13^th, at 8 p.m. in Innovation Hall (IIC-2001) in the Bruneau Centre. Tamaki is the author of Boundless and Supermutant Magic Academy and the co-creator, with her cousin Mariko Tamaki, of Skim and This One Summer, for which she won the Governor General’s Award for Children’s Illustration. Her illustrations have appeared in Walrus, The New York Times, The New Yorker, and The Washington Post. All are welcome; admission is free.

A Tribute to Patrick O'Flaherty

The Department of English will present a tribute to Dr. Patrick O'Flaherty, former Head of the Department, on Wednesday, November 1, 2017, at 1 pm in the Junior Common Room of Gushue Hall. 

A Johnson scholar, a novelist, a trailblazing critic of Newfoundland literature, a historian of Newfoundland and Labrador, and a founder of the journal Newfoundland Studies, Patrick O'Flaherty passed away this summer, bequeathing a priceless literary and scholarly legacy to the Department and the university.

The tribute will include readings by Dr. Caitlin Charman, Professor Mary Dalton, Mr. Philip Hiscock, Ms. Elizabeth Hicks, and Dr. Don Nichol. All are welcome; there will be a reception following the event.

George Elliott Clarke

Memorial University’s Department of English is delighted to welcome celebrated poet, novelist, essayist, and dramatist George Elliott Clarke to Memorial University. Dr. Clarke will read from Canticles, the lyric-styled epic-in-progress he describes as his magnum opus. The reading will take place on Thursday, October 26, at 8 p.m. in Arts 1046, on the first floor of the Arts and Administration Building. Admission is free.

Brave New Worlds: Shakespeare in Newfoundland

Brave New Worlds is an exhibition curated by Department of English professor Dr. Rob Ormsby in partnership with Memorial University’s Queen Elizabeth II Library, Perchance Theatre, the St. John's Arts and Culture Centre, and Newfoundland Quarterly exploring the history of Shakespeare in Newfoundland and Labrador.

The exhibition will run from mid-September to mid-October, 2017 in the Queen Elizabeth II Library and from early October in the St. John’s Arts and Culture Centre. It will feature costumes, posters, photographs, props, and books – all of which are connected to performances that have taken place right here in the province.

In addition, a symposium of artists, scholars, and archivists will take place on September 30 and October 1, 2017 from 9am to 6pm at Memorial University (A-1043). Join us to hear stories and presentations from the artists responsible for the productions and academics who study the field. Presenters include Andy Jones, Greg Malone, Danielle Irvine, Aiden Flynn, Jenn Deon, Steve O’Connell, Pamela Morgan, and Marie Sharpe. The symposium will also feature performances by actors from Perchance Theatre, Shakespeare By The Sea, and elsewhere.  For more info read the Gazette story here.

48 Months of Finasteride Returns

Dr. Andrew Loman and 48 Months of Finasteride present a public reading of Camus' Caligula on Saturday, September 9, at 7 p.m. in the LSPU Hall. All are welcome to attend.

Our Graduate Students are Editors!

Congratulations to two of Dr. Nancy Pedri's graduate students, Aidan Diamond and Lauranne Poharec, who have published an edited volume of The Journal of Graphic Novels and Comics! Check out their brilliant introduction, "Freaked and Othered Bodies in Comics," along with the rest of the volume, here: http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rcom20/8/5?nav=tocList

Seeking PhD Students Working on Comics

Funding opportunity: Dr. Nancy Pedri is seeking PhD students working on comics! (deadline: October 1, 2017)

Southern spectacle

Our own Dr. Jamie Skidmore is helming a theatre festival in Isle aux Morts that is aiming to attract tourists down a road less travelled.  Read more about how creatively is shaping the provincial economy here.

A degree in storytelling

Newly graduated with a BA in communications studies, Donovan Taplin considers his degree to be a natural extension of his belief in storytelling as a proponent for change. Read more about the "boy wonder of Bell Island" here.

Fall 2017 Per Course Teaching!

Fall 2017 Per Course teaching opportunities!

Power Poets

The Gregory J. Power Poetry Awards ceremony took place April 5 2017. Read more about the winners and honourable mentions in the Gazette.

Gregory J. Power Poetry Awards Ceremony

The awards ceremony for the Gregory J. Power Poetry Competition takes place on Wednesday, April 5th, and 4 pm in Arts 3018.

Gregory J Power Competition

The Department of English invites full-time and part-time students to submit their original, unpublished poetry to the annual Gregory J. Power Poetry Competition. Graduate and undergraduate students at Memorial University are eligible. The deadline for submissions is 4 pm on March 17, 2017.  

Spring 2017 Per-course Teaching

Applications are invited for Spring 2017 per-course teaching in English, Communication Studies, and ESL.

Information Session for Courses at Harlow, Winter 2018

If you're interested in attending Memorial's Harlow Campus in Winter 2018, Communication Studies and the Department of English will be offering 5 courses. Please attend our initial information session on Wednesday, January 18, at 1 p.m. in AA-3018.

Graduate Student of the Month - Mandy Rowsell

The Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences has published an excellent profile of Mandy Rowsell, a doctoral candidate in the Department of English working under the supervision of Dr. Fiona Polack.

MUN Artists in Residence

MUN's Writer in Residence, Sara Tilley, and Dancer in Residence, Julia Taffe, will be performing together on Tuesday, October 18, at 1:00 pm in the QE! They will be accompanied by buitar and percussioin students from the School of Music.

Mixing Visual Media in Comics

From October 13-15, the Department of English will host Mixing Visual Media in Comics, a conference exploring how comics artists mix diverse visual media - photographs, drawings, graphs, maps, et cetera - in the name of generating meaning. The distinguished theorist of comics narrative Thierry Groensteen and the eminent comics artist Ho Che Anderson will each give a keynote address. 

A Night of Poetry and Music at the Ship

Montreal-based poet and translator Jessica Moore and Sherry Ryan read and sing at the Ship Pub at 8 p.m. on Sunday, September 18th.

Inaugural Reading of Writer-in-Residence Sara Tilley

Writer-in-Residence Sara Tilley will give her inaugural reading at the Suncor Energy Hall (Music Building) on September 29th at 8 pm.

Petrocultures International Conference

Danine Farquharson and Fiona Polack will be hosting over 150 scholars, policy-makers, industry employees, artists, and public advocacy groups from across North America and beyond for Petrocultures 2016: The Offshore.

Aboriginal Lit wins an Innovation in Education Award

English 2160: North American Aboriginal Literature has received an Award for Merit in the category of Excellence and Innovation in the Integration of Technology in Instructional Design/Teaching and Learning from the CNIE!

Grad School is Not Out for Summer!

Graduate students in the Department of English are busy this summer: winning awards, reading at festivals, and presenting papers at conferences. Read more about some of our fantastic students and the things they get up to in the summer months.

The George M. Story Lecture 2016

The 2016 George M. Story Lecture, "The Foundation of Lambeth Palace Library and Its Subsequent Adventrues" is Friday, April 29 at 6 PM in A 1046.

Global citizen

Humanities and Social Sciences storyteller brings voice to world stage

Donovan Taplin, a fourth-year student in the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences studying communications studies and folklore, is proving himself once again to be a truly outstanding global citizen.

Mr. Taplin, who is from Bell Island, is the only Atlantic Canadian chosen to participate in the Young Diplomats of Canada’s delegation travelling to Tokyo, Japan, to represent youth and influence world leaders at the upcoming G7 Summit to be held May 26-27.

Registration Opens for Spring Graduate Courses

Registration for spring semester graduate courses is now open. Check out the offerings and sign up!

Upcoming Departmental Events!

Mark your calendars for these exciting Department of English events!

Gregory J. Power Poetry Awards Ceremony

The announcement of this year's winners of the Gregory J. Power Poetry competiion will take place in a ceremony on Wednesday, April 6th, from 4-6 pm in SN2101. Everyone is welcome to join this celebration of our student poets!

Gregory J. Power Poetry Awards

We are now accepting submissions for this year's Gregory J. Power Poetry Awards! Deadline in March 23, 2016.

ADVICE for first year students

The ADVICE February newsletter is now available with information about application deadlines, upcoming information sessions, important dates, events and help centres for first year and transfer students. It's good advice for the middle of the winter term.

Post SPARKS Events!

No rest for our SPARKS authors! Visiting Irish poet Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill is giving a public lecture on the evening of Monday, February 1st, at 8 pm in AA1046. Earlier that day, Mary Dalton discusses her new book, Edge, with Shelagh Rogers on CBC Radio 1, at 1:30 pm.

Public servant in residence helps grad students see range of career options

What sort of academic background does it take to work in the senior ranks of the government of Canada?  

An MBA?  An engineering degree?  

Try an undergraduate degree in English followed by a PhD thesis on Canadian feminist poetry.

Seventh SPARKS to light up January

Recently named St. John’s favourite literary festival/reading series by local media outlet The Overcast, the annual SPARKS Literary Festival will be held at the Suncor Energy Hall in Memorial’s School of Music on Sunday, Jan. 31.

Creative Writing Class Results In Racket

Eleven writers from a Memorial University creative writing class got more than they bargained for when they signed up for a 2012 class taught by acclaimed novelist and short story writer Lisa Moore.

The group, who call themselves The Port Authority, have since co-authored an anthology of stories published by local publisher Breakwater Books that was released earlier this fall.

Megan Gail Coles alumnus of the month for December

When she was an 19-year-old undergraduate in English at Memorial Megan Gail Coles was a "wild as a March hare" ...

Queer Prospects

Tuesday, December 1 at 7 pm, Department of English Writer-in-Residence John Barton will be hosting "Queer Prospects," an evening of readings from local authors' queer-themed work at the Rocket Room in downtown St. John's. All are welcome to attend.

English Department Makes a Racket

New anthology of short fiction showcases many students from the English Department.

English Postdoc to Deliver Public Philosophy Lecture

English Postdoc to Deliver Pubic Philosophy Lecture

Eminent Novelist Fred Stenson Reads at Memorial

The Department of English is delighted to welcome Fred Stenson to the Memorial campus. He'll read from his latest novel, Who By Fire, on Friday evening at 7 pm in the Suncor Energy Hall.

Launch of Mary Dalton's Latest Book, Edge

Join Mary Dalton as she launches her new book, Edge. Showcasing a use of language as vivid, precise and supple as that in her award-winning poetry, Edge reflects the range of a major Canadian poet's interests and influences, and celebrates connections between people and place in her native Newfoundland. Edge collects thirty years of essays, reviews, and interviews that explore margins in literature and culture.

Nadia Bozak Reading

The Department of English welcomes Nadia Bozak, acclaimed author of El Nino and Orphan Love, for a reading on November 5, 2015 at 8 pm in the Suncor Energy Hall, School of Music.

Winter 2016 teaching opportunities

Our Winter 2016 Teaching Term and Per Course positions are posted! 

Faculty of Arts Graduate Student of the Month

English Department PhD Candidate Jon Parsons is the Faculy of Arts Graduate Student of the Month. Read about  Jon's research and his activism in this interview. Congratulations Jon!

John Barton reading

Writer in Residence John Barton is giving a reading on Thursday, September 24th, 8:00 pm, Suncor Energy Hall. All are welcome!

Harlow Fall 2016 information session!

Harlow 2016: Theatre, Film, and Society - Information Session

New Section of English 1080

New section of English 1080 for Fall 2015!

Poet and editor John Barton named 2015 writer in residence

Poet and editor of literary magazine The Malahat Review, John Barton, will be Memorial’s fall 2015 writer in residence.

Upcoming Conference

Translating for the Stage in Early Modern France and England: An International Bilingual Conference, August 20-21, 2015

Students contribute to cultural shift

It’s not a secret that getting a PhD is no guarantee of a tenured, academic position. And in the case of humanities PhDs, the statistics are even more troubling with only a small percentage of newly-minted Canadian doctorates achieving permanent academic employment.

2016-17 Writer in Residence

The Department of English invites applications for a Writer in Residence for Fall Semester 2016 or Winter Semester 2017. The deadline is September 15, 2015.

PhD Students Take Congress

Two PhD students presented papers and participated in panels at this year's Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences in Ottawa: Collin Campbell and Mandy Rowsell.

Celebrating Our Stars: Alexander Wilkie

A new feature celebrating our star students. Student profiles will be updated frequently so check back often. Part IV: Alexander Wilkie.

Celebrating Our Stars: Stephanie Tucker

A new feature celebrating our star students. Student profiles will be updated frequently so check back often. Part III: Stephanie Tucker.

Celebrating Our Stars: Joaquin Gai

A new feature celebrating our star students. Student profiles will be updated frequently so check back often. Part II: Joaquin Gai.

Celebrating Our Stars: Seamus Dwyer

A new feature celebrating our star students. Student profiles will be updated frequently so check back often. Part I: Seamus Dwyer!

Poetry Reading at Harvard

Mary Dalton Gives Poetry Reading at Harvard

English Instructors talk to CBC about Student Evaluations

Department of English instructors Dr. Brad Clissold and Chris LeDrew talk to CBC about student evaluations.

Sky Goodden Visit Rescheduled

Sky Gooden Lecture and Workshop Rescheduled

Registration for Spring Semester

Registration for undergraduate courses in Spring semester (14-week courses, Intersession and Summer Session) 2015 begins 23 March. 

Art Critic Sky Goodden to lecture and offer workshop

Art critic Sky Goodden is in town for two amazing events. 

English Students Go Conferencing

English students at the graduate and undergraduate levels present their research at conferences. 

English Undergrads Off to AAUEC Conference

Two English students from Memorial will travel to Cape Breton University in March to present papers at the Annual Atlantic Undergraduate English Conference. 

Surprises surface at sixth SPARKS Literary Festival

Again this year, the annual SPARKS Literary Festival, now in its sixth year, saw packed sessions and dazzling performances Sunday, Jan. 25. Once again the Memorial University Bookstore sold out of many titles, with an eager audience snapping up books after each of the four reading sessions. And once more, there was a lively public reception following the festival.

But this year the festival was bookended by two surprise announcements.

The fluid field of petroculture

Oil is everywhere. 

It's in the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the roads we drive on and the buildings we live in. 

Imagining the ocean

For centuries, the world’s oceans have been described by writers and artists in words and pictures. Now, a faculty member in the Department of English is embarking on a new project that will trace the various ways the ocean has been imagined in Atlantic-Canadian fiction.