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the

Highlights Fall 2014

English & Africana Studies Search Committee @ MLA

Co-chairs Amy Martin (English) and Preston Smith (Africana Studies & Politics) with committee members Dorothy Mosby (Africana Studies & Latin American Studies), Lucas Wilson (Africana Studies & Economics), Elizabeth Young (English), and Iyko Day (English) will interview candidates for the jointly appointed tenure-track Assistant Professor in African-American literature and culture at the MLA in January 2015.

4th Annual Student Showcase February 17,

7pm, 102 Shattuck

Five College PoetryFest

Judges: Mei-Mei

Berssenbrugge, David Ferry, Jane Springer

Glascock Poetry Contest

M H C E N G L I S H N E W S L E T T E R

Chair’s Message The fall semester was an especially eventful one for the English department. We sponsored a number of wonderful readings, including Marlon James, Tony DiTerlizzi, Richard Blanco, and Lan Cao ’83. We were also delighted to host TIME magazine photojournalist Bob Nickelsberg and Pulitzer Prize winning investigative journalist Jim Steele for two Journalism Career Chats in October. Look out for a great lineup of spring events, including the Glascock Poetry Competition, the Lunchtime Thinkers Series, Majors & Prospectives Tea, the Grad School Information Session, and the Ice Cream Social. For now, stay warm and enjoy the break!

-Amy Martin, English Department Chair

March 27 & 28 March 4, Gamble Auditorium

THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT NEWSLETTER

FALL 2014

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Winter Social On December 8, faculty, staff, students,

and family members gathered in the

Cassani Lounge to enjoy refreshments

and to hear Professors Pemberton, Rodgers,

and Day read poetry and prose selections from

Robert Hayden, Claudia Rankine, William Blake,

and others.

MHC Five College PoetryFest Winners Poorna Swami ‘15

the word for mango is the word for ordinary

a practice in equivalence ordinarily mango, mangoly ordinary

we are mango people I can taste your vernacular dissolve into mine [...] (from "a love letter in Hindi")

Jocelyn Mosman ‘17 Family Tree Shake my branches, carve your name into my exterior, sit under my blanket of green shade. Dig deep down and find my roots. of my family tree.

This is the story of my family tree. Sing, gentle breeze, rustle my falling fruit, I will stand strong and true, through winter and spring. Watch me grow anew.

Kate Singer, Iyko Day, Amy Martin

Amy Rodgers

Karen Osborn, Gayle Pemberton