graduate
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“...
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 at 7:00 and a book-signing at 8:00. Thursday, October 8 Vanderbilt Special Collections Library, 1101 19th Avenue South, Nashville Elise...
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...
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...
English welcomes new graduate cohorts
Aug. 24, 2026—The Department of English welcomed three poets, three fiction writers, and nine scholars to its MFA and PhD programs. The new students arrived at Vanderbilt from around the country and from Bolivia, China, Italy, Mexico, and Myanmar. Joining their respective programs: Josie Abugov (MFA Fiction) Nain Christopherson (MFA Poetry) Lucia De Carli (PhD) David Egan...
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...
PhD student Emilka Jansen receives Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery
Apr. 17, 2026—PhD student Emilka Jansen has been awarded the Vanderbilt Award for Doctoral Discovery. Granted by the Graduate School, Vanderbilt Awards for Doctoral Discovery (VADD) are designed to help graduate students with outstanding potential to accelerate progress on their research, proceed to candidacy, and/or complete their dissertation research in a timely manner. Awarded funding can be used...
MFA alum Edgar Kunz named Guggenheim Fellow
Apr. 17, 2026—MFA alum Edgar Kunz (’15) was named a 2026 Guggenheim Fellow. Edgar Kunz is the author of two books: Fixer (Ecco, 2023), a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection, and Tap Out (Ecco, 2019), which the Washington Post called “a gritty, insightful debut.” Kunz has received fellowships and awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, MacDowell, Hawthornden Foundation,...