graduate
Dan Sinykin and Johanna Winant deliver 2026 Drake Lecture – November 19
Oct. 29, 2026—Thursday, November 19 4:30 – 6:00 PM (reception to follow) Central Library Community Room Close reading is having a moment and it is easy to see why. AI is intensifying Big Tech’s war of attrition on our classrooms and even our own attention. Before college, national education policy has moved K-12 students from reading whole...
Destiny Birdsong (MFA ’09) to publish two new works in 2027
Oct. 20, 2026—Destiny Birdsong (MFA ’09) has announced two forthcoming books. If I Told You I’d Have To Kill You follows a woman who runs an organization that promises revenge for survivors of violence, and she must face her past as her personal life and professional life threaten to collide. Publication is set with Roxane Gay Books...
Lana Reeves (MFA ’27) receives National Book Critics Circle Emerging Critics Fellowship
Oct. 20, 2026—Lana Reeves, who will complete her MFA this spring, has received the 2026-27 National Book Critics Circle Emerging Critics Fellowship. The fellowship seeks to identify, nurture, and support the development of the next generation of book critics. Lana is the author of How to Love a Sinking Island, forthcoming from Penguin in June 2027. Her...
MFA poets to celebrate artist Sam Maitin with new works – November 9
Oct. 15, 2026—Vanderbilt’s Central Library exhibition, Brighter and Brighter: The Poetry Prints of Sam Maitin, is relocating to Vanderbilt Special Collections and University Archives and taking with it some new poems. In conjunction with the artist’s showing, Vanderbilt’s MFA poets were commissioned to compose new works based on Maitin’s bold poetry prints. They will present their work...
MFA poets to read works inspired by Land Shapes exhibition – November 2
Oct. 15, 2026—Students in the MFA Creative Writing program will read poems inspired by the art in Land Shapes, an exhibition at Vanderbilt’s Curb Center for Art, Enterprise & Public Policy. The reading will take place on November 2, 6:00 PM, at the Curb Center, 1801 Edgehill Avenue. The reading will feature Ayesha Asad, Nain Christopherson, Alex Green,...
Stirling Lecture to feature Elaine Cannell – October 30
Oct. 15, 2026—The Department of English will host its annual Harold Stirling Vanderbilt Lecture on Friday, October 30, at 1:00 PM, in Divinity 124. The lecture will be delivered by Elaine Cannell, Assistant Professor of English at St. Mary’s College. “Almost Like a Play:” Enacting Feminist Coalition Politics This talk will argue that in the late twentieth...
MFA student Lana Reeves joins Ansley Moon for reading – October 16
Oct. 13, 2026—Third-year MFA student Lana Reeves will join acclaimed poet Ansley Moon for a reading at Novelette Bookshop on Friday, October 16, at 8:00 PM. Also joining are Laurel Sorenson, Tianeé Harris, and Cortney Warner. The event is free, but RSVPs are appreciated as space is limited. Ansley Moon (they/them) is the author of the poetry...
Novelist Ayana Mathis Vanderbilt Reading Series – October 29
Oct. 7, 2026—Novelist Ayana Mathis will join the 2026-2027 Gertrude C. & Harold S. Vanderbilt Reading Series on October 29. The evening will begin with a literary salon at 6:30 PM, followed by a public reading at 7:00 and a book-signing at 8:00. Thursday, October 29 Vanderbilt Special Collections Library, 1101 19th Avenue South, Nashville Ayana...
English Department joins Southern Festival of Books – October 17-18
Oct. 5, 2026—The 2026 Southern Festival of Books, presented by Vanderbilt University in partnership with Humanities Tennessee, will connect celebrated authors from wide-ranging genres with a vast community that shares their passion for creative expression. Many writers and performers with Vanderbilt ties will be featured at the annual literary festival, which returns to the Bicentennial Capitol Mall...
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“...