Whittier College English Department

06/06/2026

Tony on Nepalese TV. Enjoy!

Kathmandu during the Himalayan Literature Festival carried more tha...

06/03/2026

Happy 100th Birthday to Allen Ginsberg (June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997), American poet and leading Beat Generation figure best known for "Howl" (1955), the focus of a 1957 obscenity trial that resulted in City Lights Publisher Lawrence Ferlinghetti winning the case when Judge Clayton Horn decided the epic poem was of "redeeming social importance." As an openly gay writer whose work treated q***r desire as part of public, literary, and political life, Ginsberg also became an important figure in the longer struggle against sexual repression and for gay liberation.

Today "Howl" is recognized as a classic Beat poem and widely regarded as one of the greatest works of twentieth century American literature. Especially if you've never heard or read the poem, there are worse ways to commemorate Ginsberg's birthday; you can listen to the poet reading "Howl" in 1959, here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkNp56UZax4

05/11/2026

Check out this amazing musical by Whittier English grad Daisy Villegas!

Open the invitation to see details and reply.

03/19/2026

😍

11/20/2025

Jane Austen fans interested in attending Jane Austen Now—a [free, remote] Saturday Symposium happening December 6 at the University of Delaware—can register here:

https://udel.libcal.com/event/15550706

11/13/2025

Would that we could travel back in time! So it goes ...

Happy * SLIGHTLY BELATED * birthday to Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (November 11, 1922 – April 11, 2007), anti-authoritarian American author and social critic best known for satirical, darkly comedic science fiction novels like Cat's Cradle (1963), Slaughterhouse-Five (1969), and Breakfast of Champions (1973); as well as for myriad essays and plays, and for short stories like Harrison Bergeron (1961) and Welcome to the Monkey House (1968). An unapologetic pacifist, cynic, and humanist extraordinaire (he was in fact honorary president of the American Humanist Association), naturally Vonnegut was a harsh critic of the status quo; indeed, Whittier boosters might recall that in a 2006 interview with Rolling Stone magazine in part about the Iraq War, Vonnegut sighed, "Honestly, I wish Nixon were president. Bush is so ignorant."

Today Vonnegut is considered by readers and critics alike as one of the greatest American writers of the twentieth century. Folks interested in learning more about his life and works (and in buying a Vonnegut-themed merchandise) should check out Vonnegut.com, while those in the author's hometown of Indianapolis, Indiana should make a point of stopping by the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library: http://www.vonnegutlibrary.org/. Meanwhile, the indigent and the sedentary might enjoy "And So It Goes," the first-rate documentary about Vonnegut aired on the BBC's Arena in 1983, and online in its entirety here: http://goo.gl/OxG3TX

11/12/2025

Today we remember that the armistice that concluded World War I—the "war to end all wars"—was signed 107 years ago, at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month. Among allied nations November 11 became a day of remembrance for the estimated 20 million people who died in the conflict and was known as Armistice Day until after World War II, when its name was changed to Remembrance Day in Britain and to Veterans Day in the U.S.

Though their singularly horrific and tragic experiences in World War I resulted in soldiers on both sides producing a slew of wartime art and literature, perhaps no work is as closely associated with those who fell in the conflict as John McRae's rondeau "In Flanders Fields." A tribute to the war dead that is poignant in its own right, the poem is especially moving in this choral version arranged by Stephen Chatman: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0wwAy2c84w

11/05/2025

Remember, remember the Fifth of November -- Gunpowder Treason and Plot!

WHAT'S GOING ON?!

Today we celebrate Guy Fawkes Day, an annual event that commemorates the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot -- the 1605 plan to blow up King James I and Parliament most closely associated with Catholic conspirator Guy Fawkes. Primarily observed in Great Britain, every November 5 Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated with pomp, circumstance, fireworks, and little English kids asking strangers for money (today children will seek "A penny for the old Guy!" in order to fund Fawkes effigies that are set ablaze after sundown). Meanwhile, the traditional Guy Fawkes mask -- popularized by the 1982-89 graphic novel (and 2005 film) V for Vendetta, the Occupy Movement, and the hacker collective Anonymous -- has most recently become associated with collective resistance to oppressive government regimes.

For a brief (i.e., 30-minute) but fun overview of the Gunpowder Plot, Guy Fawkes, and Guy Fawkes Day, watch this 2002 BBC documentary presented by Nick Knowles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMLHau_rBJ8.

10/29/2025

Hi Friends, Just landed, talking on this podcast about banned books, tarot, and more. Enjoy!

THE NAUGHTY LIBRARIAN "TNL" · Episode

08/07/2025

Content warning: Death, war, mass destruction, and injury depiction including body horror.

On August 6, 1945, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, instantly killing nearly 70,000 people and leveling what had been one of Japan’s most modern cities. Because of the myriad, profound ways in which the bomb and ensuing nuclear age affected history and culture, many critics reckon August 1945 as the starting point of contemporary art and literature.

One of the most affecting and effective artistic renderings of the horror of the event itself is captured in Keiji Nakazawa's Barefoot Gen, a 1973-1985 manga series that was adapted into an anime movie in 1983 (the manga and anime are available at Wardman Library).

As noted above, there are some disturbing images in this clip from the film, so viewer discretion is advised; the detonation occurs at the 2:39 mark: https://youtu.be/FQZtfDQl2TQ