By Tabitha Labrato

Throughout her experience with writing, editing, content creation, and public relations, Kamari Pless has made a name for herself in the publishing industry in both Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.

By Sofia Cabrera

A common way for humans to overcome life’s difficult circumstances is through creative expression, like poetry, art, or song. For women who are incarcerated at Gadsden Correctional Facility in Quincy, Florida, their daily lives are challenging and tedious, living in enclosed spaces and given mundane tasks to complete.

By Erinn Lyden

Antonio Valencia is a hard-working individual.

He graduated in 1992 with dual degrees in English and political science before adding his master's from FSU in international affairs four years later. He then earned his law degree, which opened the doors for him to begin his practice in Tallahassee.

English alumnus Jeremy Willis has discovered that his talent for telling stories fits well in the nonfiction world of sports journalism. His readiness to adapt has pushed him to a senior editor position with ESPN.

Michelle Presley reflects on her FSU English undergraduate experiences and speaks on the department’s current sustainability practices, including how COVID-19 and student actions influence FSU’s environmental footprint.

The Black Abolitionist Papers database and the Black Thought and Culture database became available at the beginning of 2021, and English professors look forward to accessing the archives for research and teaching.

She studied on the editing, writing, and media track, where she learned that her writing style had a storytelling side as well.

Pandey, a doctoral student in the Rhetoric and Composition Program, will present her research and accept the award in April at the CCCC Virtual Annual Convention.

Jeannine Ortega, a fourth-year Literature, Media, and Culture doctoral student, worked with multiple department representatives and campus organizations to arrange the event.

Martin bases her poetry on her personal life experiences and trauma, saying "If you’re able to transcribe it exactly as it happens, people see worth in it. It is very special.”

Marisa Anderson bypassed being a journalist so she could attend law school. Her next challenge is becoming a U.S. Army Judge Advocate General.

Maurette's May 2020 essay "Seeing the Tartars" was named Best of 2020 by an online publication. Since joining the English department faculty in the fall of 2019, Maurette's students and colleagues have inspired his teaching and continuing research.

Three FSU English graduate students talk about the process to move their research or creative works from the written phase to the published stage.

The Spring 2021 series ​highlights English graduate students’ and professors’ literary work and will be presented online via Zoom every Tuesday night throughout the semester.

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Carla Della Gatta and Aaron C. Thomas, assistant professors in English and Theatre, respectively, collaborated on applying for and receiving a Bradley Library Grant to to provide more materials in queer theatre and theory to the library.

Amber Hedquist, Rosalind Helsinger, and Samantha Politano present their IDEA Grant projects on Nov. 19, 2020, during the virtual event.

Doctoral student Dustin Pearson chose FSU for his graduate studies because of the English department's reputation and the opportunities to work a community of strong writers.

This year's celebration is a virtual get-together, but the readings and festivities remain just as powerful and entertaining.

Johnson's research in Belgium mainly will focus on Flemish poet Jacob van Maerlant and his pieces that involved the “Matter of Britain.” The resulting monograph will be aimed at answering a number of questions about Jacob van Maerlant’s Arthur, especially, who was King Arthur to Jacob van Maerlant?

Howard will use the year-long sabbatical to further research the role of African-American U.S. Army soldiers in the Battle of Blakeley, the last engagement of the Civil War, for his next novel.

He was named the inaugural Stand UP Award honoree and celebrated with a short video during the Association’s virtual 2020 Annual Meeting.

Recent graduate of English Carly Colonna finished her college career in May 2020 with the designation of being University Honors student.

An English doctoral candidate, Williams won a Black Book Interactive Project Scholar Program award, which gives her time and resources to improve digital tools and to increase diversity for future researchers.

Recent graduate of English Gabriela Rodriguez finished her college career in May 2020 with the designation of being University Honors student.

Working with colleagues from her time working at the Florida Flambeau, Kim MacQueen is guiding the effort to "capture the spirit" of working for the independent newspaper.

English majors are applying their writing and research skills to the Honors in the Program in increasing numbers, adding another academic achievement to their list of accomplishments.

No in-person ceremony for the Department of English's Awards Ceremony was no problem, as the event shifted to a virtual presentation.

Karen Laughlin came to FSU in 1982 and held a joint appointment in English and Humanities for several years. She held a position as associate professor of English, and she spent her entire professional career at FSU. For the past 17 years, she led the Division of Undergraduate Studies.

Winning the award was a shock, but she is encouraged to know that scholars outside of her discipline recognize the importance and value her own research.

FSU's Reading-Writing Center and Digital Studio earned national certification in December 2019 for the work tutors and consultants offer to the campus community.

The term “ethnofuturisms” refers to the ways in which marginalized groups are able to re-imagine their identities in society through various forms of literature.

Funded by a grant from the Council of Writing Program Administrators, the assistant professor in the Rhetoric and Composition Program has teamed up with two researchers to study how reflection is addressed in first-year writing classes.

Several English doctoral students talk about the process of introducing someone and being introduced before a Tuesday night reading at The Bark.

Tarez Samra Graban and Judith Pascoe have worked together since the fall of 2018 with researchers at FSU and outside institutions on FSU's Demos Project for Studies in the Data Humanities, and they will join FSU digital humanities librarian Sarah Stanley's NEH grant-funded team to coordinate and host a three-day workshop in the fall of 2020.

FSU Professor Stan Gontarski's "Beckett Short Films" give life to the playwright's interest in hauntings and love lost. He also offers a local theater company personal insights for its presentation of "Endgame."

Mathieu and Albaum joined 20 other FSU alumni who were recognized as ‘Notable Noles’ at the fall 2019 Young Alumni Awards Dinner.

The English department's Queer Studies Reading group is “an interdisciplinary, discussion-based group that investigates reading relevant to the field of queer studies and transgender studies."

The Pridmore Distinguished Fellows in Literary History will provide additional financial support for five years of doctoral study for up to five doctoral students.

The department's sustainability efforts earned the highest designation from Florida State University’s Green Office Certification Program.

English undergraduate students Hannah Justus, Alexa Kellenberger, Sabine Nemours, Ashley Rosado, and Zoe Zirlin all won 2019 IDEA Grants.

The second-year English major helped to track an archive called "Dante Today," which compiles outside contemporary references to Dante within the archive.

Zoe Zirlin, who is earning a minor in English, encourages all students to reach out to professors at FSU with their research ideas: "It really is a ‘you get out what you put in’ situation here."

The senior English major in the Literature, Media and Culture Program worked closely with English Professor Maxine Montgomery on her IDEA Grant project in addition to research on African-American literature.

The National Council of Teachers of English recognized the English professor for the "profession-wide influence, both in this country and around the world" Yancey has had on the discipline.

The FSU English professor read selections from his forthcoming publication "The Painted Bunting’s Last Molt," which will be released in March 2020.

English Associate Professor Michael Neal won a University Undergraduate Teaching Award for the academic year of 2018-19, an honor he calls "gratifying but also humbling."

New RWC coordinator Jude Marr brings a varied academic background and familiarity with many types of writing to help students become better writers in general, not just with academics.

Paul Shields, who earned his Ph.D. from FSU in 2005, reflects back on his years of studying with Professor Stan Gontarski and learning more about Samuel Beckett.

The Modern Language Association and the Modernist Studies Association both touted the significance of his book "Beginning at the End: Decadence, Modernism, and Postcolonial Poetry."

Two days after English major Maura Binkley was killed in a Tallahassee shooting, Professor Gary Taylor expressed his grief on paper. The essay gained a wide readership online, and the editors for Best American Essays chose it for inclusions in this year's collection.

With a new vision, editors for The Southeast Review looks ahead with the aim to make the journal's content more accessible to readers.

Melanie Flores and Ashley Falzoi relied on their English department courses and research work to find a place in one of FSU's academic organizations.

CJ Hauser appeared on Late Night with Seth Meyers, and she wowed the host and viewers with her stories about her writing as well as how she inspires her students to find time to write.

Laurel Lathrop succeeded in all of the challenges to become a show contestant. She competes along with two other trivia buffs, in front of TV game show host Alex Trebek.

FSU English alumna Kelly Hall has seen the world from multiple perspectives, and now she is encouraging undergraduate students to follow a similar path.

University of Brasilia, Brazil Professor Marcus Mota reflects on his teaching experiences at FSU and his work with English Professor Stan Gontarki that led to Mota's book "Dramatugias. Conceitos, Exercícios e Análises," which is based on his course notebooks.

Howell will teach courses in American literature, history, and culture through a media studies lens at Yokohama National University and Tokai University. His grant proposal was entitled “Public Speaking and the American Publics.”

Florida State University doctoral student recognizes the power of walking in the footsteps of great writers, and she writes poetry that 'echoes the past.'

Alumna Amy Cicchino taught her students the skills they need to succeed beyond the classroom, and they, in turn, helped sharpen her focus on collaboration and problem-solving.

Karen Tucker's honor comes with a monetary prize, but more importantly, winning the award gave her "a welcome dose of encouragement."

George Mills Harper Professor of English Judith Pascoe empowers students to take charge of their academic and career paths and to reimagine the opportunities beyond the classroom.

Article and Q & A by Olivia Cameron

Florida State University doctoral student Dyan Neary had an eventful spring 2019 semester.

Neary is earning an English Ph.D. in creative nonfiction, and she won the department’s inaugural Adam M. Johnson Fellowship in late February. She followed up that success in early April by winning a PEO International Scholar Award.

Sigma Tau Delta focuses on the success of its members by promoting community involvement and their love of literacy. FSU's chapter, Rho Epsilon, represents the English department.

Many FSU English professors and English alumni give readings and show their love of literature at the Word of South festival, which is marking its fifth year as an arts and culture event in Tallahassee.

Over the past decade, technological advances and updates in the Williams Building have moved the English department forward, with SMART Boards and an Egan Board providing more flexible classroom spaces.

As he works on his doctoral dissertation, Healy focuses on how other educators can use digital tools and technology to their best advantage in the classroom. He also shares advice for undergraduate students who are considering graduate school as a next step.

Cathy Barrios's support comes in many forms: advising students about potential internship, career, and campus involvement opportunities; hosting events on campus to ensure students have access to the Career Center’s services; sitting on panels to offer in-person advice for students; and even visiting classes to speak with students in a more informal way.

As the department’s academic support specialist and senior advisor, Inmaculada Silverio guides students with their scheduling and suggests classes to help them succeed. She also works with English department administrators to ensure that the department offers students the classes and materials they need to adequately progress within their major concentrations.

When advising students in the English department, Jarmal Desire not only guides students in the path they want to take for their future, but he also advises them to look outside their schooling. With Advising First information, he is often prepared to make students aware of the different resources available to them.

The writing group provides positive peer-pressure for students to push each other to get into a consistent writing mode

The Society for Critical Exchange is relocating this year’s annual Winter Theory Institute conference from the organization’s home base in Victoria, Texas, to Tallahassee, Florida, specifically the Department of English at Florida State University. As co-hosts, SCE and the Literature-Media-Culture program of the English department say that even though the conference site is different, the event’s atmosphere will be the same: intense.

Four undergraduate English majors—David Advent, Talise Burton, Colby Blackwill, and Erin Christopher—won 2018 IDEA Grants for their research projects, developed under the supervision of English department faculty members. FSU's Center for Undergraduate Research and Academic Engagement and the Office of the President sponsors the annual funding of the projects. Each student presented his or her project at the 2018 President's Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence. 

Award-winning director Barry Jenkins is creating a buzz about winning more Oscars. The positive energy surrounding Jenkins’ new film If Beale Street Could Talk, in turn, is generating renewed appreciation for the Florida State University alumnus, especially in the English department.

Students, faculty members, and Tallahassee locals can find different, creative ways to spend a Tuesday evening in the capital city.

If a night of literary readings, a pleasant crowd, and delicious food sounds appealing, then The Bark at 8 p.m. is a good place and time to settle in.

The Department of English prides itself on offering students the most innovative scholarly programs with courses that cover a wide range of fields such as women’s studies, poetic technique, critical theory, film studies, and visual rhetoric, among others.