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English Department to host reunion celebration – October 16
Sep. 30, 2026—The English Department will join the university’s undergraduate reunion celebration with a reception at Benson Hall on October 16. Reconnect with classmates, tour your old stomping grounds, visit with your faculty mentors, and hear about the exciting developments in the English and Creative Writing programs. Friday, October 16 2:30 – 4:00 PM Benson Hall North...
Second-year PhD students to host academic symposium – October 2
Sep. 25, 2026—The department’s seven second-year doctoral students will host a symposium on October 2 to share their recent and ongoing research. Friday, October 2 9:00 AM – 2:00 PM Divinity 124 Schedule 9:30 AM – 11:00 AM Noa Shevchuk, “Ethics and Engineering: Species Boundaries in Wells’s The Island of Dr. Moreau and Atwood’s Oryx and Crake“...
Major Jackson edits new volume of poetry and recipes
Sep. 25, 2026—Professor and Director of Creative Writing Major Jackson will release an anthology of contemporary poems and soup recipes to nourish us, comfort us, and bind us together. “A Bowl of Goodness recognizes the care inherent in cooking and in writing. Poems feed us in ways nothing else can, and they continue to sustain us long...
Poet Elise Paschen joins Vanderbilt Reading Series – October 8
Sep. 24, 2026—Poet Elise Paschen will join the 2026-2027 Gertrude C. & Harold S. Vanderbilt Reading Series on October 8. The evening will begin with a literary salon at 6:30 PM, followed by a public reading 7:00 and a book-signing at 8:00. Thursday, October 8 Vanderbilt Special Collections Library, 1101 19th Avenue South, Nashville Elise Paschen is...
Creative Writing Advising Pizza Party – October 13
Sep. 23, 2026—Tuesday, October 13 5:00 – 6:30 PM Benson Hall, 4th Floor Grab a slice, hear about opportunities in the Creative Writing Program, and get a look a next semester’s courses. Recent news
Creative Writing hosts Popsicle Social – September 23
Sep. 17, 2026—The Vanderbilt Creative Writing Program will host a Popsicle Social on Wednesday, September 23, at 5:00 – 6:00 PM, at the Benson Hall West Lawn and Porch (facing Sarratt). Come cool off with a tasty treat and learn about opportunities in the Creative Writing Program. Open to Undergraduate Creative Writing Majors/Minors and any students interested...
Novelist Peter Orner joins Vanderbilt Reading Series – September 24
Sep. 14, 2026—Acclaimed novelist Peter Orner will join the 2026-2027 Gertrude C. & Harold S. Vanderbilt Reading Series on September 24. The evening will begin with a literary salon at 6:30 PM, followed by a public reading 7:00 and a book-signing at 8:00. Thursday, September 24 Vanderbilt Special Collections Library, 1101 19th Avenue South, Nashville Peter Orner...
Professor Jay Clayton receives Chancellor’s Award for Research
Sep. 10, 2026—Jay Clayton, William R. Kenan, Jr., Professor of English, was recently celebrated with a Chancellor’s Award for Research for his book Literature, Science, and Public Policy: From Darwin to Genomics, published by Cambridge University Press. Dr. Clayton’s book explores how we don’t make sense of science through facts alone. Stories shape how we understand its possibilities—and...
Professor Emily Lordi set to release Whitney Houston biography
Sep. 1, 2026—Professor Emily Lordi will release her critical biography of Whitney Houston on September 29. In Holding Lightning: The Life, Loves, and Art of Whitney Houston, leading cultural critic and professor Emily Lordi has gained unique access to Houston’s innermost circle to show us the Whitney we’ve been unwilling to see—her fluid sexuality, her unapologetic love...
Gertrude C. & Harold S. Vanderbilt Reading Series kicks off September 10 with U.S. Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey
Aug. 27, 2026—Former U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winner Natasha Trethewey will kick off the 2026-2027 Gertrude C. & Harold S. Vanderbilt Reading Series on September 10. The evening will begin with a literary salon at 6:30 PM, followed by a public reading 7:00 and a book-signing at 8:00. Thursday, September 10 Vanderbilt Special Collections Library, 1101 19th...