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MFA student Kinsale Drake receives American Book Award for poetry anthology
Aug. 18, 2026—On July 29, The Before Columbus Foundation announced the winners of the Forty-Seventh Annual American Book Awards. Third-Year MFA student Kinsale Drake co-edited a winning anthology with Stacie Shannon Denetsosie and Darcie Little Badger, Beyond the Glittering World: An Anthology of Indigenous Feminisms and Futurisms (Torrey House Press). Read the full press release. [pdf] Kinsale...
Adam Ross joins Vanderbilt English as writer in residence
Aug. 4, 2026—Vanderbilt University’s Department of English and Creative Writing Program is delighted to welcome novelist and short story writer Adam Ross as a writer in residence for the Fall 2026 semester. He is the author of Playworld, a coming-of-age novel which follows 14-year-old Griffin Hurt in 1980s Manhattan. It was named one of the best books...
Poet Jane Huffman awarded 2026 VU Literary Prize
Aug. 4, 2026—Dilemma, by Jane Huffman, has been selected as the 2026 winner of the Vanderbilt University Literary Prize. The prize, which is awarded to the sole author of a full-length poetry collection, reflects the university’s ongoing commitment to discovering new voices and supporting the arts as transformative and essential to society. The recognition includes the publication...
Professor Akshya Saxena on the power of English
Jun. 22, 2026—Associate Professor Akshya Saxena was recently featured on Vanderbilt’s Quantum Potential podcast. In its bonus episode, “Language and Its Political and Social Power,” Professor Saxena discusses how English operates in multilingual societies like India—not just as a language, but as a force shaping democracy, identity and access. Listen to the episode here. MORE NEWS
English Department celebrates graduating majors
May. 8, 2026—The Department of English celebrated our 53 graduating majors on May 7 with a celebration at Benson Hall. Thank you for your contributions and best wishes on the next part of your journey! Congratulations! Elnathan Abraham Darin Jacks Soham Saraf Brinda Ambal James Jackson Timothy Sims Benjamin Arthur Chesney Jacobs Patrick Smith Natalie Blum Chloe...
Didi Jackson’s Tennessee Book Award to be celebrated
May. 1, 2026—Humanities Tennessee will celebrate Didi Jackson, the recipient of the 2025 Tennessee Book Award for Poetry. The reading and reception will take place Saturday, May 2, 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM at Parnassus Books in Nashville. Didi Jackson is an assistant professor of English and the author of the poetry collections My Infinity and Moon...
Katerina Krizner and Audrey Welch receive Outstanding Undergraduate English Major awards
Apr. 28, 2026—The Department of English has named Katerina Grace Krizner (Tallahassee, FL, also a recipient of a Moore Prize for Creative Writing) and Audrey Welch (Santa Clarita, California) as the 2026 recipients of the Outstanding Undergraduate English Major Award. Established in 1998 and presented in honor of the distinguished teaching careers of professors Emerson Brown, Jr.,...
Creative and critical honors thesis awards announced
Apr. 28, 2026—Graduating seniors Nicole Reynaga and Connor Wolfe have received the 2026 Best Honors Thesis Award. Nicole receives the prize for creative thesis for her poetry collection, Anatomy of an Earthquake. Connor receives the prize for critical thesis for his exploration, Wrangling Western Exceptionalism: Subversive Mythmaking in the Anti-Western. The award is supported by the Merrill Moore...
Merrill Moore creative writing awards announced
Apr. 23, 2026—The Department of English and Creative Writing Program congratulate the recipients of the 2026 Merrill Moore Prizes for outstanding work in their respective genres. The awards go to graduating seniors based on “literary promise and the psychological or practical usefulness of the award.” Merrill Moore Prize for Fiction: Katerina Grace Krizner (Tallahassee, Florida) Merrill Moore...
Amanda Little’s student-led journalism project highlighted by Nashville Banner
Apr. 21, 2026—The Nashville SUNN is a high school student-led journalism project founded by Writer in Residence Amanda Little. It was recently highlighted by the Nashville Banner, which wrote, “Nashville’s teenagers are bringing back print news.” The Nashville SUNN is a training ground for students to learn about journalistic practices and ethics. These students pitch, report, fact-check...