Department of English Newsletter 2012 FROM THE DEPARTMENT HEAD undergraduate curriculum, which I am In This Issue pleased to say will be fully rolled out Welcome! next academic year. Our Writer-in- From the Department Head … 1 It’s been a busy, productive, and Residence program continues to creative time in the Department! promote and support creative writing From the Undergrad Chair … 3 at Queen’s. In 2009-2010, we hosted By Marta Straznicky Helen Humphreys; in 2010-2011, poet From the Graduate Chair … 5 Department Head Stuart Ross; and the residency of Diane Schoemperlen is just coming to From the DSC Co-Chairs … 7 Welcome to the 2012 edition of the an end. All three have been Queen’s English Department Alumni exceptionally generous with their Creative Writing … 8 Newsletter, which I once again have time, working as mentors with writers the honour of introducing. in the Queen’s and Kingston Graduate Studies … 9 communities, giving public readings, It has been a busy, productive, and and organizing workshops on a wide New Faculty … 10 creative three years. Since our last range of topics related to the writing issue in 2009, the Department has profession. Writers-in-Residence … 11 completed a major reform of the Faculty Publications … 12 n Contact Us Department of English John Watson Hall 49 Bader Lane Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada 613.533.2153 [email protected] www.queensu.ca/english n © 2012 Queen’s University Department of English Department Head Marta Straznicky encourages alumni and friends to attend Queen’s Newsletter 2012 is edited by Spring Reunion this year. Faculty members and students from the Department will be Robert G. May on hand to welcome you at the Dean’s Breakfast on Saturday 26 May from 7.30 a.m. to 9.30 a.m. at Ban Righ Hall. Queen’s University Department of English Newsletter 2012 It’s worth mentioning in this context that Both the Whalley Professorship and the Strathy Language Unit are funded By alumni donors, as of course is the Giller Prize Event and a portion of the Writer-in-Residence program. We are most grateful for your support. Further in the Newsletter you will find more information about the Undergraduate and Graduate Programs, as well as a feature on Creative Writing at Queen’s and a selection of some of the major publications by faculty over the past three years. Do consider coming to Queen’s for Spring Reunion this year. The English Department will have a display of This year’s “Fourth-Year Students’ Choice” teaching award was presented to Edward recently puBlished Books at Ban Righ Lobb at the Undergraduate Banquet. Congratulations to Professor Lobb, and also to Hall, and several faculty memBers will the two past winners of the award, Professor Chris Bongie and Professor Michael be on hand to welcome you back to Snediker. campus and Bring you up to date on Departmental affairs. I am also always Thanks to the generosity of Jim and Dictionaries in Global and Historical very happy to receive your news By e- Kelly Osler, the Department hosted Context, which was attended by mail, as well as any suggestions for the 2009 and 2010 Giller Prize delegates from across North America, how the Department might better winners, Linden MacIntyre (The Europe, and Asia. The new Director of engage you as memBers of our Bishop’s Man) and Johanna SkiBsrud the Strathy, Dr Anastasia Riehl, and community. (The Sentimentalists). The 2011 Professor Gwynn Dujardin are co- winner, Esi Edugyan, came to Queen’s editing a volume of selected essays Marta Straznicky can be reached at in April. A gift copy of her widely from the conference, including the [email protected]. acclaimed winning novel, Half-Blood keynote address By Mark ABley on Blues, will be given to each graduating “Dictionaries and the Democratization YOU ARE INVITED student at a reception following of English.” Spring Convocation. Queen’s Spring Also in 2010, the graduate students There have Been a numBer of very organized conferences on Ut Pictura Reunion successful conferences on a wide Poesis: Thinking About Representation Department of English Alumni range of topics organized By memBers in Late Medieval and Renaissance and friends are invited to of the Department. This past England, with Steven Mullaney as SeptemBer, NoBel Laureate J.M. keynote speaker, and on Animals and The Dean’s Breakfast Coetzee headlined Kingston’s Animality Across the Humanities and Saturday 26 May 2012 WritersFest and participated in a Social Sciences. The keynote speaker 7.30 a.m. – 9.30 a.m. workshop on The Art of Critique at this conference was Professor Ban Righ Hall involving writers from South Africa David Clark of McMaster University, and Canadian and U.S. ABoriginal whom we are fortunate to have as Faculty members and students Communities. In June 2010, the Whalley Visiting Professor this from the Department will be on Strathy Language Unit hosted an semester. hand to welcome you. international conference on 2 Queen’s University Department of English Newsletter 2012 FROM THE GRADUATE CHAIR Professionalizing and Networking Our award-winning graduate students enjoy numerous opportunities to advance their research By Leslie Ritchie Graduate Chair Hello. I’m Leslie Ritchie, and I began as the Graduate Chair in January 2011. Here are a few highlights from the past year: Retirement Our beloved graduate administrative Graduate Chair Leslie Ritchie is pleased to point out that 6 MA students in the 2011- assistant, Kathy Goodfriend, is retiring 2012 year are recipients of prestigious Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS awards, and this May after 37 years in the that fully 49% of English PhD candidates are recipients of major awards, such as Department, and 42 years’ service at Ontario Graduate Scholarships and SSHRC Doctoral Scholarships. Queen’s University. She leaves with our immense gratitude for her hard work and devotion to the the LinkedIn professional profile Scholarships, while three others hold Department, and with acclaim– service to post their résumés and prestigious named awards from faculty, staff, alumni, and students search for job opportunities. Growing Queen’s. successfully nominated Kathy for the the Queen’s English social network in Queen’s University Staff Appreciation this professional forum could prove SSHRC Postdoctoral Fellows Award. Faculty celebrated her win at immensely helpful to our graduate the Staff Appreciation reception in students. I would also like to This year, the department of English December. We wish Kathy all the best encourage alumni to consider has been pleased to host Sarah in retirement. becoming “Linked In.” I’ve created a Johnson (PhD McMaster; researcher profile, and by linking to it, you will in early modern theatre) and Brooke Professionalizing and Networking become part of our online Pratt (PhD Western; researcher in community. Canadian literature), as SSHRC This year’s entering graduate students postdoctoral fellows. Both have (22 MA students and 9 PhD Awards contributed to the intellectual life of candidates) have just completed a the Department by giving talks in our series of professionalization The entering MA class of 2011-2012 Research Forum series. Details on workshops given by faculty and guest has already achieved a distinguished Research Forum talks, which are open speakers and covering topics ranging record of scholarship, earning 6 to all, may be found in the Events from applying for grants to writing Joseph-Armand Bombardier CGS section of the Departmental Web site. abstracts and conference papers. In awards of $17,500 each. Our PhD our professionaliZation seminar series students in years 1 to 4 continue to New Literary Internship Course this fall, our speakers from Career exemplify the spirit of scholarly Services, the Faculty of Education (Dr inquiry; fully 49% of these students One novel initiative that we will be Rebecca Luce-Kapler), and from are the recipients of major awards, offering to a select group of next Canada’s House of Commons including the Ontario Graduate year’s MA students is a new Literary (Susanne Griffiths and Kevin Scholarship and the SSHRC Doctoral Internship course. Literary Internship Whitehouse) urged students to use 3 Queen’s University Department of English Newsletter 2012 PROJECTS The Slow Professor By Maggie Berg and Barbara Seeber The Slow Professor: Challenging the Culture of Speed in the Academy examines the relevance of the principles of the Slow Movement for an academic context as a way to counter the increasing corporatization of higher education. The project began as a search for strategies to counter work stress among university and college teachers, Students in Leslie Ritchie’s graduate-level class in the eighteenth-century London but it has evolved into a theatre, “The Whole Show.” Please see page 9 for more pictures! recognition that the Slow approach to academic practice may be the most effective way to counter the erosion of humanistic will offer MA students placements in Here you will find out about our education by corporate culture. research, literacy, language, and arts- current students’ conference papers, related community organiZations, thesis projects, publications, and It is now well documented that with the aim of providing those other professionaliZation activities, changes in academic culture have students with job experience that is such as the superb conferences run by created significant work stress directly related to literary studies, in many of our graduate students over among teachers, but what has not such organizations as Kingston the past year. Our “Where Are They been noticed is the conspicuous WritersFest, or the Strathy Language Now?” section showcases the brilliant link between the corporate Unit at Queen’s University. Students careers of Queen’s alumni, both reliance on efficiency and the will apply for internship opportunities inside and outside academe.