faculty
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 off 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 10 Vanderbilt Special Collections Library, 1101 19th Avenue South, Nashville Peter...
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...
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...
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...
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...
Major Jackson’s poems we should know by heart
Apr. 20, 2026—In a recent feature for the New York Times Style Magazine, Director of Creative Writing Major Jackson and fellow poet Frederick Seidel name six poems we should all know by heart. The list includes works by 20th-century poets Lucille Clifton, Galway Kinnell, Philip Larkin, and Rainer Maria Rilke and classics by Milton and Shakespeare. The interactive...