English

Folger Theatre announced on its “Production Diary” blog last week that Richard III has been extended and will now run at the theatre through March 16. English Associate Professor Michele Osherow worked closely on the production of Richard III as dramaturg and sat down for an interview to discuss her role. In a Q&A published on the Folger Theatre blog, Osherow notes the role of dramaturg can vary depending on the production. “In a general sense, the dramaturg is thought of as ‘the scholar in the rehearsal room,’” Osherow said. “The scholarship I’ll bring to a Folger project can range from literary criticism… Continue Reading Michele Osherow, English, in Folger Theatre Production Diary

Christopher Corbett, professor of the practice of English, recently reviewed a new book for The Wall Street Journal about Red Cloud, a Sioux war chief who defeated the U.S. Army and negotiated unprecedented concessions from the government. In “The Heart of Everything That Is: The Untold Story of Red Cloud, An American Legend,” authors Bob Drury and Tom Clavin tell the story of the powerful and successful Indian warrior. “The great Sioux war chief, a military genius of the Indian wars, is a largely forgotten figure in the shape-shifting history of the American West,” Corbett wrote. “In his day, he presided over… Continue Reading Christopher Corbett, English, in The Wall Street Journal

English Department Writer in Residence Lia Purpura is featured in the latest edition of The New Yorker. The magazine published her poem “Future Perfect” in its November 18th edition. You can read the poem in The New Yorker here (subscription required). The full text of the poem is below: Future Perfect Where you were before you were born, and where you are when you’re not anymore might be very close. Might be the same place, though neither is as slippery as being here but imagining where you will have been – that point where things land, are finished, over, and gone but not yet. –Lia… Continue Reading Lia Purpura, English, in The New Yorker

English Associate Professor Helen Burgess has been selected for a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) review panel for the Digital Humanities Start-Up Grant Program. The grant program is designed to encourage innovation in all aspects of the digital humanities.  The panel reviews proposals that involve approaches to new media, e-literature, innovative uses of technology, and new digital modes of publication. The NEH Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants have averaged 151 applications per competition over the last five years, and the program has issued an average of 26 awards each year. You can find more information about the grant program here.

English department Writer in Residence Lia Purpura is featured on Poets.org, From the Academy of American Poets with her poem “Gone” listed as the poem-a-day for Wednesday. In describing the poem, Purpura writes: “The traditional fearsomeness of death (at least when thinking about my own) comes bearing a paradox that’s been palpable to me (and slippery) since childhood. Visually, I guess the paradox would look like a moebius strip, the inside twisting around to become outside…I was finally able to slow it down enough to catch the sensation and pace it out and tack some words to it. The writing of the… Continue Reading Lia Purpura, English, Featured on The Academy of American Poets Website

Lindsay DiCuirci, assistant professor of English, has been selected as the Stephen Botein Fellow in the History of the Book in American Culture at the American Antiquarian Society. She will be conducting research for a book based on her dissertation research, titled “History’s Imprint: The Colonial Book and the Writing of American History, 1790-1855,” this summer. Botein Fellows are selected for the one-month fellowship on the basis of the applicant’s scholarly qualifications, the scholarly significance or importance of the project and the appropriateness of the proposed study to the Society’s collections.

An excerpt from Piotr Gwiazda’s translation of Grzegorz Wroblewski’s book of prose poems, Kopenhaga, scheduled for publication by Zephyr Press, is scheduled to appear in the April 1, 2013 issue of The Nation. Read a translated selection from Kopenhaga at the PEN America Center’s website: http://www.pen.org/poetry/kopenhaga. http://www.thenation.com/authors/grzegorz-wroblewski