Ripon College Department of English

05/20/2026

E. B. Jansky, Ripon College English major and Creative Writing minor, class of 2025, has published a story, "Four Cans of Beer," in the online literary journal PALMETTO ROW. Classmates from Advanced Fiction 2024 might recognize the piece, which they saw in an earlier version...

Jansky is now an MFA candidate at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Four Cans of Beerby E.B. Jansky Eden Bridges lived in a sh*tty trailer with her sh*tty dad on land he rented from Mr. Irving. Surrounded on all sides by a carpet of soybeans, the trailer sat, all weathered siding and crumbling shingles.            Not that my place was much better, to be ...

04/29/2025

Senior Super Star Chase Polyak scored her first national publication. Read her gorgeous poem in The Allegheny Review here:

05/26/2024

Professor Gannon recently published a poem in Calyx Literary Magazine that was converted into a video poem. https://www.instagram.com/reel/C7XSWsoKHHk/

11/13/2023

On Saturday, November 11, four upper-level Creative Writers read their poetry at the annual Greater Federation of Women's Clubs meeting. Lane Library was packed, and they rocked the house. Here are a few clips commemorating the brilliance of Gwen Frei, Chase Polyak, Ethan Brannen, and Alanis Harris. Not pictured: Mikayla Flute, who was unable to read because she was busy earning the [third-ever-in-Ripon-College-history] ticket to the NCAA Cross Country championships. Also not pictured: our awesome up-and-coming freshman and sophomore writers. The talent pool is DEEP here at RC.

09/21/2023

01/11/2023

Katelyn Von Behren, RC '22, gives her first public reading-- and it's virtual! Get your ticket/online invite now!

Join Kate Tufts Discovery Award winner Donika Kelly and Kaitlyn Von Behren for a q***r reading!

07/23/2021

Treat yourself to this stunning, sound-driven poem by Kaitlyn Von Behren (RC '22), published in the latest issue of Redivider. Congratulations, Kaitlyn!

found. Another quiet woman drowned. No rings of salt, please. Rings of sugar. You’ll need the tiniest orchid’s petal,

05/03/2021

The English Department is ecstatic to announce that the legendary Sandra Cisneros awarded Bren Davis the Honorable Mention in this year's Nick Adams Short Story Contest.

The winning story was selected from six finalist stories by final judge Sandra Cisneros, bestselling author of The House on Mango Street. Cisneros also awarded an honorable mention to “Blackberry’s Blues,” by Bren Davis, a student at Ripon College.

04/29/2021

Professor Gannon here, prepping my pre-sabbatical summer reading. Please suggest your gothic, neo-gothic, and gothic-adjacent faves to add to the pile.

01/20/2021

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/watch-amanda-gorman-reads-inauguration-poem-the-hill-we-climb

After Biden was sworn in as the nation’s 46th president, Gorman read “The Hill We Climb,” building on a tradition of poets -- including Robert Frost, Maya Angelou, Elizabeth Alexander and Richard Blanco -- who have read for incoming Democratic presidents.