Department of English
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Cadences and Lacunae: Fifteen Years of Procedural Novels
Thursday, April 17, 5PM LNCO 3870 |
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Panels for students considering graduate school
April 11, 12:30-3:30PM LNCO 2110 |
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Creative Writing Faculty Reading
Thursday, April 17, 7PM Finch Lane Gallery 54 Finch Lane, Salt Lake City |
View our faculty bookshelf, which features information on and links to purchase faculty publications.
Click here to get familiar with and find contact information for our leadership, faculty, and staff.
Learn about our journal and other journals and publishing opportunities we provide our students.
“The victim who is able to articulate the situation of the victim has ceased to be a victim: he or she has become a threat.”
James Baldwin
“Literature adds to reality, it does not simply describe it... it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become.”
C.S. Lewis
“...our capacity to generate excitement is deeply affected by our interest in one another, in hearing one another’s voices, in recognizing one another’s presence.”
bell hooks
“Act so that there is no use in a center.”
Gertrude Stein
“Silence creates its own violence.”
Jeff Vandermeer
“Reactionary movements can't sustain themselves unless they find something new to catch and burn on.”
N.K. Jemisin
“I learned to make my mind large, as the universe is large, so that there is room for paradoxes.”
Maxine Hong Kingston
“Diversity of opinion about a work of art shows that the work is new, complex, and vital.”
Oscar Wilde
“All novels are fantasies. Some are more honest about it.”
Gene Wolfe
“The only true measure of success is the ratio between what we might have done and what we might have been on the one hand, and the thing we have made and the things we have made of ourselves on the other.”
H.G. Wells
About the Department
The English Department is a community of readers and writers dedicated to critical and creative approaches to a complex world. We are students of story, lovers of language, scholars of the many worlds recorded and imagined in fiction. At the core of English is the work—and the play—of creativity: discovering new worlds, exploring new ways of thinking, and developing new ways of expressing yourself.
Learn More About the Department of EnglishWhy English?
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We believe that the interactions between literary texts and the broad multifaceted cultural contexts that surround them are paramount. Accordingly, we excel at instilling in our students an outstanding knowledge of literary and cultural analysis, and we are dedicated to cultivating a shared set of values that recognizes and celebrates the rich tapestry of human experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. Moreover, we are committed to ensuring that all members of our community have equal access to a sense of belonging and welcome; that they enjoy myriad opportunities to grow as scholars, teachers, and learners; and that, perhaps most importantly, they are allowed the dignity, space, and grace to participate in the free exchange of ideas.
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English News
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Katharine Coles publishes new book
Coles’s tenth collection of poems, Time and Chance, is described by John Kinsella as “majestic, playful, brainy, and heart-wrenching.” Join her at The King’s English Bookshop April 19 at 4pm, where she will share her work.
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English and Games double major writes articles about – and develops – video games
Hayes Geldmacher, who is graduating in May with majors in both English and Games, has had several articles published in Unwinnable, an online game magazine. One of his articles, “Idealogy Speaks Through Architecture: Exploring Inside and Gorogoa,” was adapted from a paper he wrote for Professor Alf Seegert’s Advanced Videogame Storytelling course. Geldmacher has also recently released a demo for his solo-developed horror game, Ritual Static.
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2024 Cheng Prize in English winners announced
The English Department and the College of Humanities at the University of Utah are very pleased to announce the winners of the 2024 Vincent Cheng Prize in English for the best papers by English majors and minors at the University of Utah during calendar year 2024. There were a large number of submissions, and we would like to commend all the entrants for the many excellent papers submitted. From among all these fine papers, we selected two winners for the Best Paper award and singled out four others for Honorable Mention designation. The winners for Best Paper and a $250 award are: Emily Gonzales for "Games as Language and Social Codes in Austen's Novels" and Marisela Perez Romero for "The Madonna-Whore Dichotomy: Patriarchal Oppression and Predatory Men in Zofloya." The following four students were awarded an Honorable Mention designation: Mia Bailey, Sam Debenham, Samantha Everton, and Kote Lien. The awards were selected by a judging committee consisting of Professors Justin Carpenter, Vincent Cheng, Matt Potolsky, Lisa Swanstrom, and Sam Tett. Congratulations to the award winners for their terrific essays!
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Nathan Wainstein publishes new book
Wainstein's book, titled Grant Us Eyes: The Art of Paradox in Bloodbourne, examines the challenging narrative of the game Bloodbourne. Michael W. Clune, Samuel B. and Virginia C. Knight Professor of Humanities at Case Western Reserve University, praises Wainstein's work: "Grant Us Eyes shows us new dimensions of art, and new modes of experience, in FromSoftware's masterpiece. The sophistication, clarity, and intensity of Wainstein's book sets a new standard for writing about games." Hear more in a discussion between Wainstein and Clure in this podcast: https://tannerhumanities.podbean.com/e/bloodbourne-and-the-aesthetics-of-video-games-with-nathan-wainstein-and-michael-w-clune/
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