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  • What’s Been Happening in the Department?

    Over the last month, there has been a lot happening in and around the English Department! At the beginning of the month, some of the staff from our very own Rock & Sling literary magazine went down to Kansas City, Missouri for the AWP (Association of Writers & Writing Programs) conference for their book fair to get some new subscribers and spread the word of the work that the magazine has been doing. There will be a more in-depth recap of the event at rockandsling.com, so stay tuned for some more personal recounts of all the neat things that happened at the conference.

    On the 14th, the local chapter of the English honor society Sigma Tau Delta held a bake sale to raise money for the upcoming convention in April. Professors and students alike donated sweet treats to be sold, including some great Rice Krispy treats made by the Emersons and huge monster cookies made by Dr. Bouchard. There are going to be more fundraising events for the conference, so keep an eye out on social media for updates on how to help out students!

    Closing off the month, our very own Westminster Round held a PowerPoint event where students presented presentations on a wide range of topics. Highlights from the presentations included “Ranking Things I Shouldn’t Eat (But Already Have)”, “Book Recommendations based on Our Favorite Artists”, and “Ranking My Favorite Shades of Orange”. The most common theme was “Professors as ___”, which tastefully captured the aura of what each professor would be like in an alternate universe.

    Though this month is over, a lot is happening in the upcoming month! One of the biggest highlights is that Dr. Jake Andrews is visiting for a novel writing workshop, so you might be able to catch him wandering the halls of Westminster. Look out for updates on the happenings in the department on social media and reminders of great events happening on campus!

  • 2023 English Department Christmas Party

    On the night of December 7th, Bert and Jerusha Emerson held the annual English Department Christmas party which had a record number of people attending! It was a night of community, great food, and ugly sweaters. Things got competitive with a gingerbread house decorating contest, and there was even a fire pit on the back porch. Westminster Round announced the winner of Spirit Week, Caleb Mcgever, who was given the Spirit Crown. The night was a great reminder of the community that we have in the department and at Whitworth as a whole. Thanks again to the Emersons for graciously providing a place for the department to gather for an amazing event like this.

  • Poetry and Pie 2023

    On Monday the 6th, our very own Westminster Round organized a poetry reading event in the Mind and Hearth. People from all majors joined together to share poetry and spend an evening in community. The event was a sort of open mic, with people walking up whenever they felt like it to share a poem. There were so many poems read that the event had to be cut off because the event felt like it could have lasted all night. The poems ranged from a twisting poem about gnomes, to late-night Google searches, and a very dramatic reading of Prufrock. There were so many people that almost all of the chairs had to be moved over and some people had to stand in the back!

    Some of the poems that were read included: “This Compost” by Walt Whitman, “Oread” by H.D., “The Orange” by Wendy Cope, “The Road Not Taken”  by Robert Frost, “And Still We Sleep” from the movie Dead Poet’s Society, and “No, Thank You, John” by Christina Rossetti.

  • Dr. Bert Emerson’s New Book!

    Our very own Dr. Bert Emerson recently co-edited a book called “Democracies in America: Keywords for the 19th Century and Today” with Gregory Laski. The book is a collection of essays about various topics surrounding democracy in America. If you are interested in getting this book, it’s currently 30% off when purchased from global.oup.com. What makes this book unique is that each essay focuses on a keyword that is used when people talk about democracy. A previous Whitworth English professor and current dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, John Pell has one of his works featured in the book! “Doubt” by William Duffy and John Pell is featured in the fourth section of the book titled ‘Ambitions and Distortions’. Congratulations to Dr. Emerson for this huge accomplishment! For more information check out the flyer below!

  • Welcoming the Incoming Group of Sigma Tau Delta Members!

    Sigma Tau Delta is an international honor society for English scholars with over 800 chapters around the world. Joining this honor society is no easy feat. Members must have at least a 3.0 GPA as well as being within the top 35% of their class.

    Whitworth recently welcomed seven new members into their chapter of STD!

    Congratulations to Sarah Immel, Casey Prociw, Melinda Mullet, John Dotson, Catherine Smith, Michael St. Marie, and Cassidy Franklin!

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  • Tierney Sutton Performance Rescheduled for December 3rd!

    After the rescheduling of Tierney Sutton’s performance on November 5th, we have a new date! Sutton will perform in Cowles Auditorium at 8:00 pm on December 3rd with the Whitworth Jazz Ensemble. Sutton is a nine time Grammy nominated jazz vocalist!  

    For this special concert, she will be performing a set based on the book Song of the Lark by Willa Cather. The book was written in 1915 and follows the tale of Thea Kronborg, a girl who wants to leave her small town in Colorado to become an Opera singer. If you would like to read Song of the Lark before the concert, you can access it for free on Project Gutenberg.org or you can click the link here: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44/44-h/44-h.htm 

    As well as her performance on Saturday, she will be hosting a clinic on Friday at 2:15 pm in the Cowles Music Center’s Myhre Recital Hall. Before the concert on the 3rd, there will be a lecture by Melissa J Homestead, a Willa Cather scholar. It starts at 6:30 pm and is also in the Myhre Recital Hall.  

    Whitworth students can see the concert for free with their student ID! The ticket prices for the concert are $5 for non-Whitworth students with a student ID, $12 for general admission, and $10 for seniors. Homestead’s lecture and Sutton’s clinic are both free!

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  • New Book Written by Jessica Clements and Kari Nixon is Published!

    Some amazing news, “Optimal Motherhood and Other Lies Facebook Told Us: Assembling the Networked Ethos of Contemporary Maternity Advice” by our very own English professors Dr. Jessica Clements and Dr. Kari Nixon was just released today! I want so give a big congratulations to them both on their huge feat! The book talks about the struggles of mothers and the idea that there is only one right way to parent children. They look at topics such as the peer pressure in motherhood groups online, the idea of motherhood in history and more. You can purchase the book from Barnes and Nobel, Amazon, and Penguin Random House as well as stores like Walmart and Target! If you see Dr. Clements or Dr. Nixon around campus, be sure to congratulate them on their new book!

    If you would like to learn more about the book or where to buy it, check out their book page on MIT Press! (linked below)

    Book Details
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  • Westminster Round’s Spooky Stories 2022

    On Thursday the 20th Westminster Round hosted ‘Spooky Stories’ for all of campus to enjoy. Students came to Westminster to hear and or read some scary stories while enjoying some snacks. We had such a large turn out that there were people sitting in the hallway. With a fireplace video in the background, pizza, Halloween candy and minimal lighting, the mood was set. Students who came to the event got to listen to a plethora of different stories, from classics like Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ to stories written by students! There were even a couple of horror stories about the Whitworth English department. One of our own English professors Jake Andrews even showed up for a little while, just in time to hear a story centered around his infamous St. Augustine Doll.

    If you are interested in reading some spooky stories here is a list of the spooky stories that were read

    • ‘The Cask of Amontillado’ by Edgar Allen Poe
    • ‘The Veldt’ by Ray Bradbury
    • ‘Click Clack the Rattlebag’ by Neil Gaiman

    And here are a few of my personal favorite spooky stories

    • ‘The Yellow Wallpaper’ by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
    • ‘My Final Call As A Police Dispatcher Has Scarred Me’ by YungSeti on Reddit
    • ‘Coraline’ by Neil Gaiman
    • ‘The Werewolf of Fever Swamp’ by R.L. Stine

    Happy spooky season to those that celebrate! I hope some of these scary stories can help get you in that spooky mood! And thank you to Westminster Round for hosting an amazing event!!

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  • Maddox Byfield: Congratulations 2022 English Seniors

    Before I introduce the last senior I have information on, I want to recognize those I do not have posts for. I offer a supportive congratulations to English majors Ricardo Worl, Rachel Wilson, Taylor Meredith, Simon Benko, Andi Kwiatkowski, Ethan Paxton, Amanda Gerard, and Rachel Rennaker.

    The last senior I can personally provide information on is none other than myself. I am Maddox Byfield, an English Writing major with minors in Medieval and Early Modern Studies and Editing and Publishing. I am from Longview, Washington, where I will be returning after graduation to pursue a remote job in the editing field. I will also be pursuing testosterone hormone therapy for my transition, with the support of my family and animals back home. I enjoy reading, writing, drawing, and as most of my peers and professors know, gaming, which I do frequently with my close friends and boyfriend.

    These past four years at Whitworth have yielded many great memories. I am honored to have been apart of the English department, and am glad I decided to take the step to reach out to professors and get to know them more. If not for the comfort and support they offered, I would not have been able to overcome my mental health and social transition from female to male as easily. There are also a lot of things I would not have learned, such as how to design books from start to finish thanks to Thom Caraway. That said, a favorite, cumulative, memory would have to be the relationship I had with Fred Johnson. After sitting in on a film class of his my senior year of high school, when he was still department Chair, I met Fred personally and he was the reason I came in to Whitworth declared confidently as an English major. I did not think he would remember me, but he did, and spent two years pestering me to take classes from him, which I finally obliged my junior year.

    My advice is truly to take part in the community, even if that means talking to professors more than your peers sometimes. I am absolutely amazed by the community here, how supportive they have been of my struggles and changes in life, and the amount of incredible opportunities they have provided me. I do not think I would be anywhere near the person I have grown into at Whitworth if it were not for the loving community I found in this department.

    This is likely my last post, so I just want to say that I am honored for the opportunity to give this community something to look at about our department. I truly hope this gets passed on to someone who cares about it, and it will not get abandoned again like it was this past year when I was not technically working on it. Thank you all for your support, I leave this with nothing but happiness as I reflect on the years.

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  • Rachel Coy: Congratulations 2022 English Seniors

    While I may not have information on all of our seniors, I am so honored I’ve gotten the choice to introduce those who have been kind enough to tell me more about them. One of the last seniors I get to introduce is Rachel Coy, an English Writing major with a minor in Editing in Publishing. She is from Renton, Washington, where she plans to return after graduation to “vegetate for a bit” while looking for a job in copy-editing and spending time with her pets.

    She hates talking about herself and offered that she was a bit of a class clown because early on she learned it defused the tension of a new class and helped people feel more comfortable speaking their minds. She’s attended Whitworth for five years due to a rough semester and subsequent hiatus, but has worked hard to finish her degree and better understand the strange and unique ways her mind turns.

    When recalling her best memory, she told a story about “Laurie Lamon frantically throwing the door open and crying in anguish, ‘I HAVE TO STOP YOU’ when I suggested writing Dickensonian poetry about the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

    Rachel’s advice to incoming students is to reach out to your professors when you need support and assistance. “No matter what they said in high school, the department staff really support you and want to help you succeed. I really should have done this more myself, but the best I can do at this point is help other students get the support they need.”

    “With the retirement of Leonard Oakland and Laurie Lamond, Kari Nixon and Courtney Barajas moving, and John Pell transitioning out of the department, we’re all leaving it to the rest of the English nerds to carry the passionate spirit! Carry the banner!”

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