News & Announcements

"How can we tell the difference between daring innovation and genuinely bad writing?" Nathan Wainstein examines the paradox of Modernist writing in his new book, offering a fresh perspective on why questions of literary quality remain intensely debated today.

In twenty-six alphabetized essays, Dworkin spotlights over a hundred years of musical experimentation and the artists who reimagined composition. Discover more about music as conceptual art: https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo263811657.html

"The Future is Fiction" examines the evolution of intergenerational justice in Anglo-American culture and the ways fiction has shaped modern ideas about responsibility, the future, and political action. View the book here: https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-future-is-fiction-9780197839584?cc=us&lang=en&#

Dr. Scott Black was selected as an inaugural recipient of the University of Utah Excellence in Faculty Mentoring Award. This award recognizes faculty who have demonstrated an exceptional commitment to mentoring other faculty as they develop their careers — whether through guidance on research and creative activity, support in developing teaching skills, coaching through professional and work-life challenges, or creating meaningful opportunities for growth and success. He was recognized for his exceptional guidance, generosity, and lasting influence on the careers of those around him. Congratulations, Dr. Black!

Jamie Smith, Ph.D ’24, taught UAC’s first Creative Writing class as an Assistant Professor (Limited-Term Lecturer) in Spring 2025.

Professor Anne Jamison, fanfiction expert and scholar, appeared on WGBH’s segment 'How We Love: Exploring the spicy, imaginative world of romance fanfiction.' “As [fanfic] becomes more and more and more global, I just think more and more people will be writing and reading for the joy of it, and for the value of it and for the meaning that it brings to their life." Follow the title to access the rest of the episode!

Out today! Professor Rosen publishes "Genre Bending." "Genre Bending" explores how critically acclaimed writers of literary fiction are adopting popular genres such as detective, fantasy, romance, science fiction, and westerns. “My new book 'Genre Bending' explores one of the most prominent phenomena in contemporary literature: the boom in writers of literary fiction who have been adopting popular fiction genres since the turn of the millennium. For most of the twentieth century, so called “serious” writers avoided detective plots, fantasy, romance, science fiction, spy novels and westerns—to say nothing of werewolves and zombies! But today, the most critically acclaimed and bestselling writers of literary fiction—think of Margaret Atwood, Jennifer Egan, Kazuo Ishiguro, Ian McEwan, Viet Nguyen, Sally Rooney, and Colson Whitehead—have been playing with these genres with spectacular effects. My book explains how and why this happened and what it means for readers and writers today.”

Brooke Newson recently presented "Farcical Feminists: Unreasonable Reason in Nineteenth-Century Literature" at the Fall 2025 Undergraduate Research Symposium. Follow the link to view her virtual presentation and join us in congratulating her on this impressive work!

Smith was awarded this prestigious prize by the University of Michigan Press for her manuscript Affecting Disability on American Screens.

The New York Times recently spoke to Professor Nathan Wainstein about what the video game Bloodborne and artists Picasso and Duchamp have in common

Jamison, author of Fic: Why Fanfiction is Taking Over the World, spoke to Rolling Stone magazine recently about AI's growing impact on fan fiction. "People can see that there's been pluses to fan fiction's increased publicity like greater readership. But there's been a price to pay."

The Early Career Teaching Award is given to outstanding young faculty members who have made significant contributions to teaching at the University of Utah. Specifically, the committee looks for faculty members who have distinguished themselves through the development of new and innovative teaching methods, effectiveness in the curriculum and classroom, as well as commitment to enhancing student learning.

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.

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.

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!

Wainstein's book, titled Grant Us Eyes: The Art of Paradox in Bloodborne, 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/

Alex Kellgreen, a Communications major and English minor, recently had an article published in the online journal Ecological Citizen. His reflective piece, "A condemned cathedral: Thoughts on Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire," was based on texts he encountered in a course with Professor Alf Seegert.

Congratulations to Lindsey Webb! Her book /Plat/ was just named one of the best poetry books of 2024 by The New York Times. Reviewer Elisa Gabbert praises Plat's "fascinating spatial sensibility" and architectural thinking, musing, "I keep returning to these pages, with their little blocks of language like small rooms, to pass again through their estrangement."

Rekdal's new book, titled Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens, demonstrates how to observe the building blocks of a poem—including its diction, form, imagery, and rhythm—and construct an interpretation of its meaning. Using guided close readings and nearly 40 creative and critical “experiments,” this book shows how a poem takes shape through the intersection of all its lyric elements. Drawing on the work of poets from William Shakespeare to Jericho Brown, Real Toads, Imaginary Gardens reveals how to read and write critically, and how to appreciate—and achieve—the exhilarating craft of poetry.

Lindsey had her piece Plat reviewed in the LA Book Reviewer on Oct. 28, 2024. Click here to see the full review.

The London Seminar in Literature & Culture offers students an unparalleled opportunity to immerse themselves in the rich history and culture of one of the world's most iconic cities. Led by esteemed faculty members from the Department of English, the program combines rigorous academic study with hands-on cultural exploration.

Tanner Humanities Center Director and English professor, Scott Black, along with Associate Director, Robert Carson published an opinion piece in the Salt Lake Tribune commenting on diverse literature.

Congratulations to graduate student Kieron Walquist, winner of the 2024 National Poetry Series Competition for his poem, Our Hands Hold Violence!

Elizabeth Callaway, PhD, assistant professor in the Department of English and affiliated faculty in the Environmental Humanities Graduate Program, and Rebekah Cummings, MLIS, Director of Digital Matters at the Marriott Library, have received an award from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to hold a three-week Summer Institute for Higher Education at the University of Utah.

Read her poem in The New Yorker.

Congratulations to Erin O’Luanaigh, PhD candidate in Literature and Creative Writing (Poetry), who delivered a paper at the XXIX International James Joyce Symposium in Glasgow, Scotland, 14-19 June 2024 titled “ ‘Where there is a reconciliation, there must have been first a sundering’: Reading Ulysses as a Cavellian Comedy of Remarriage.” At the Symposium banquet, the selection committee announced that Erin’s paper had won the prize for “Best Graduate Student Paper” at this year’s symposium.

Ramona W. Cannon Award for Teaching Excellence in the Humanities recognizes one College of Humanities faculty member and/or graduate student teacher each year. Congratulations Lindsey!

The Calvin S. and JeNeal N. Hatch Prize in Teaching is provided by an endowment given to the University of Utah by Mr. and Mrs. Hatch. The purpose of the prize is to recognize an outstanding teacher at the University of Utah and to “make a contribution to teaching, the dissemination of knowledge, and to improve our ability to communicate with each other.” Congratulations Vincent!

Congratulations to Paisley Rekdal for being included in NPR’s list of “Books We Love 2023" in the “Seriously Great Writing” section.

Robert A. Goldberg Endowed Faculty Prize in Humanities recognizes faculty whose record in teaching and research reflects high merit and provides a stipend to support the faculty member’s ongoing projects. This award honors Goldberg’s forty-year career as an inspiring teacher, devoted mentor of countless graduate students, a prominent scholar of American political history and, for thirteen years, director of the Tanner Humanities Center.