University of Minnesota English

06/22/2026

Check out used, antiquarian, and rare books at the annual Minnesota Antiquarian Book Fair this Sat June 27! First editions; signed books; fine bindings; literature; social movements; SF; art books; comics; children’s; etc. etc. etc. St. Paul State Fairgrounds

A summer book fair for everyone.

06/17/2026

Assistant Prof Tosin Gbogi's article "Ears to the Ground: Realness, Decolonial Meta-Rap, and the Language Debate in Nigerian Hip-Hop" received the 2026 Abioseh Porter Best Essay Award for an outstanding article published in African literary studies from the African Literature Association. In recognition the Journal of African Cultural Studies is providing free access!

06/15/2026

Join in celebrating Black literature, historical archives, and community activism since 1926 with UROC University of Minnesota Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center and The Givens Foundation for African American Literature in this new exhibit, opening with live performance Sat June 20 10:30am-12pm:

06/10/2026

We asked two professors who are publishing story collections this summer for advice on short fiction writing. "Details, details, details," says Julie Schumacher (Patient, Female; out now!). Aamina Ahmad (July Sun; out June 30) recommends focusing on the protagonist's "emotional throughline": "Find it and follow it to the end"

Professors Julie Schumacher and Aamina Ahmad talk about their new collections.

06/08/2026

"I think that he always heard poetry calling to him and singing in his head." Remembering Prof Emeritus Michael Dennis Browne, beloved poet, librettist, and teacher, who died this spring at age 85. Deepest condolences to his family, friends, and colleagues.

The celebrated teacher, librettist, and poet excelled at bringing people together around literature and music.

06/02/2026

Next Tuesday! Memoirist Krys Malcolm Belc celebrates the book he wrote in part while Edelstein-Keller Writer in Residence here (and he's still teaching for us!). With Prof Aamina Ahmad posing questions. At Next Chapter Booksellers:
https://nextchapterbooksellers.com/event/2026-06-09/book-launch-krys-malcolm-belc-what-i-made-dinner

05/28/2026

Congrats to Prof V. V. Ganeshananthan: The German translation of her novel Brotherless Night has been shortlisted for the 2026 Internationaler Literaturpreis Prize for Contemporary Literatures in Translation! Award ceremony in July:

Prize for Contemporary Literatures in Translation

05/20/2026

Cheers for these 2026 MFA in Creative Writing graduates, writers of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction who this spring defended their creative theses.

Edwin Banks
Sandra Del Rio Madrigal
Okwudili Nebeolisa
Andrew Nicholson
Cassandra Rodenbaugh
Anna Simonton
Julia Oschwald Tilton
Olivia Wood
Isabel Zacharias

Best wishes from Pillsbury Hall!

05/19/2026

Warm congrats to the English PhDs who successfully defended dissertations this academic year! Best wishes to all.

_Bridget Bergin, “’A Merely Realistic Dream-Country’: Reading Spaces in Nineteenth-Century Novels”
_Adam Burchard, “The Critique of Expression from Herder to Deloria: A Topic in German-Dakota Intellectual History”
_Nyla Numan, “Beyond Recovery: Reimagining Historical Representation in Twenty-First Century Asian American Fiction”
_Shavera Seneviratne, “Performing Imperialism: The Evolution of British Imperial Strategies in Romantic-era Drama, 1770-1830”

05/18/2026

A moving Commencement speech yesterday by BA English alum and filmmaker Scott Z. Burns. The full speech is here, with Burns's remarks at 38:58
https://www.youtube.com/live/nESZnihOJOM

Thank you to English alum Scott Z. Burns for sharing your words of wisdom with our graduates and families. 📚

Read more about this year’s Commencement keynote: z.umn.edu/scott-Mary Burns

Scott Z. Burns