English Accents Summer 2023

ENGLISH ACCENTS

INSIDE the Awards Issue: Hello & Goodbye to English Faculty; Graduate Student Research in Cuba; HBW turns 40; Alumni Notes; and more.

SUMMER 2023 |

english.ku.edu

ISSUE 8

Department of English

1445 Jayhawk Boulevard • Wescoe Hall Suite 3001 Lawrence, KS 66045

(785) 864-4520 • english@ku.edu • english.ku.edu

A Note About Giving

In the University of Kansas English Department, we believe that an education grounded in the humanities provides individuals with the intellectual tools and perspectives to engage successfully with a complex world. Our students are trained to think critically, write effectively, and appreciate fully the ways that language, ideas, and stories reflect and shape our lives. Whether through the study of literature, writing, or rhetoric, the English Department is dedicated to providing students with both academic and life skills. We believe that what students learn during their time in our programs of study will serve them continually, whatever they do or wherever they go.

A gift to the KU English Department helps us offer opportunities to our students in a variety of ways, such as recruitment fellowships, research scholarships, internships, and study abroad and graduate travel funding.

Gifts to the KU English Department are tax-deductible. You can give to the Department as a whole, or target giving to specific programs, degrees, or areas of study. Gifts of all sizes help.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to support the award-winning work of our students and faculty, visit https://tinyurl.com/kuenglishgiving

Dear Friends of the English Department,

After my first full year as Chair (again), I am happy to report that we seem to finally have achieved a sense of post-Covid normalcy. Department meetings returned to in-person, and we had our first in-person retreat in several years. The retreat led us to try several new developments, including “Dinners of Eight” with two faculty members and six graduate students (some of these were dinners, and some were lunches), a new expanded break room for the department—with a water cooler!—where faculty and students can sit and talk while warming up their lunches or coffee, and a new “salon” event in which faculty and graduate students present their work-in-progress to our colleagues. In 2022-2023, topics included “ChatGPT, AI, and English Studies,” “Afro-Futurism,” and “Kansas and the Midwest”—a range showcasing the incredible diversity of the work our colleagues and students are doing! We consider all of these new initiatives to be successes that allow us to share our work and our concerns with each other, both formally and informally.

Our faculty garnered several prestigious awards and fellowships this year, including Phillip Drake, who was honored with the university-wide Louise Byrd Graduate Educator Award, and also won a Keeler Family Intra-University Professorship for Fall of 2023, which will allow him to work closely with the Economics Department in support of his new, interdisciplinary book-in-progress, Parasite Economies . Pritha Prasad was the winner, with her co-author Louis M. Maraj, (University of British Columbia), of the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC)

Richard Braddock Award for Outstanding Article, for their article: “‘I Am Not Your Teaching Moment’: The Benevolent Gaslight and Epistemic Violence.” Prasad also has been awarded a Hall Center Research Fellowship for 2023-2024, to work on her book manuscript, Rematerializing Race/ isms: Rhetoric After Ferguson . Thanks to the generosity of donors, we were able to award Shirley Cardiff and Jordan

Letter from the Chair

L. Haines Faculty Research Fellowships to both Pritha Prasad and Professor Jonathan Lamb (his book in progress is How the World Became a Book in Shakespeare’s England ) to assist them with the completion of their books. I also want to take this moment to honor the long and illustrious careers of our two professors who retired this past year: Dorice Elliott and Doreen Fowler. They are being remembered in these pages, so please read about their incredible research, inspired teaching, and their impact on their colleagues over the course of several decades. Thanks to the William Savage Johnson Memorial Fund , we were able to honor both with a tribute of rare books by Emily Brontë and William Faulkner, purchased for the Spencer Research Library in their names.

Our Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction (CSSF) has flourished under the new leadership of Professor Giselle Anatol, who has diligently sought to expand the scope and breadth of our speculative fiction offerings. The J. Wayne and Elsie M. Gunn Memorial Fund as well as co-sponsorships from units across the university supported the first ever Sturgeon Symposium in Fall 2022, at which premier Jamaican-born, Canadian writer Nalo Hopkinson was honored with the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for her short story “Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story.” A generous gift from alumna Cynthia Reiss-Clark allowed the Center to offer a cash prize with the award for the first time, as well as to establish a new prize for KU students in STEM fields who are eager to use their writing skills to communicate information about scientific research to a wide audience. The CSSF also was able to offer Gunn Center research assistantships for English graduate students, Anthony Boynton and Sandra Jacobo, while the William Savage Johnson Memorial Fund is being used to expand the Gunn Center’s collection to include more diversity in our speculative fiction library, including writing by prominent speculative fiction writers of color. In a fortunate development, dystopian novel Parable of the Sower

by renowned African-American science fiction writer Octavia E. Butler will be KU’s common book this fall, on the 30th anniversary of its publication. CSSF’s second annual Sturgeon Symposium, with the theme “Fantastic Worlds, Fraught Futures, will be held Sept. 28 - Sept. 30, 2023, under the direction of Interim Director Kathryn Conrad (our former Chair!), as Prof. Anatol completes her term as Interim Director of the Hall Center for the Humanities.

Our other longstanding Center, the History of Black Writing Project (HBW), is also thriving under new leadership, with Professor Ayesha Hardison having taken over as Director in 2021 from the founder Maryemma Graham—who has been touring for her much anticipated new monograph, The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret Walker , issued in 2022 and hailed as a “masterpiece.” HBW, which continues to receive major grants from the National Endowment for the Humanities and most recently from the Mellon Foundation, is celebrating its 40-year anniversary in 2023! Please read on to find out about events planned for the 40th anniversary celebration, including the “Black Writing” exhibit, a collaboration with the Spencer Museum of Art. Additionally, generous donor funding has helped HBW to support several graduate and undergraduate students in English, most recently including 2023 KU grads Kai Hansen, Mahala Higginbotham, David Miller, Lucy Whittington, and Brendan Williams-Childs. These students worked in teams to conduct research for HBW programs and to promote its activities and events. A fundraising campaign to sustain students’ professional development will take place in conjunction with anniversary programming in November.

Our study abroad programs are once again thriving, including our Winter Break in Costa Rica and our Spring Break London Review, both led by the magical Mary Klayder, and my own new summer program in Cuba, as last year’s English Accents reported. Our beloved British Summer Institute, which took a hiatus, is scheduled to be back in full swing in Summer 2024, also under Mary Klayder’s leadership. Students continue to report that study abroad is life changing for them; being exposed to the culture, art, music, and nature of another country gives them new perspectives and opens new horizons and possibilities for the future. Through Study Abroad, students come away with the understanding that their world is limitless. None of this would be possible without the help of our generous donors. This year, endowment funds through the Mary A. Klayder Scholarship fund , the Louis P. Caffyn Fund , the Runnels Family Endowment

Fund , and the Gail Johnstone Fund for Graduate Students all made possible the participation of our deserving undergraduate and graduate students in these Study Abroad programs. The David and Louis Cicotello Memorial Fund and the Justin Hampton Memorial Health Opportunity Fund stepped in to support graduate students facing skyrocketing medical bills. The Patricia Cleary Miller Fund assisted graduate students in the purchase of new computers for their teaching and research. And so many of our generous donors, over many years have provided funding to recognize and support the excellent writing of our students. We are truly and deeply grateful.

As you can see, the gifts provided by our generous donors have truly allowed us to enrich our students’ experiences, by giving them hands-on research experience with groundbreaking projects, the opportunity to travel and research abroad, the means to supply themselves with the technology they need to do their work, the celebration of their best work, and so much more. Emerging from COVID has, needless to say, put renewed financial strain on our students, our faculty, and our department as a whole. We simply could not do so much of what I’ve reported above without the unstinting assistance of alumni, retired faculty, and friends who went on to give back, recognizing the need to sustain a rich and varied education in literature, writing, language, and the many forms of communication through which we make meaning in the world. If you are in a position to do so, please consider making your own mark on our current and future students by supporting the English Department. I can assure you, the students will forever remember the effect of your contributions.

Here’s to a year rich in the beauty of language that makes us all human.

Sincerely yours,

Marta Caminero-Santangelo University Distinguished Professor Chair, Department of English

KU English Welcomes New Faculty...

SILVIA PARK

Silvia Park is the author of the novel Luminous (Simon & Schuster, 2024). Before Kansas, she taught creative writing at Oberlin, the University of Utah’s Asia Campus, and NYU, courses ranging from Speculative Fiction to Digital Storytelling.

Her specialty slants speculative, applying it as a lens to render the strange ordinary and the ordinary strange. Her fiction won

the 2018 Fiction Prize from the Sonora Review and was chosen as a finalist for the 2019 Black Warrior Review Contest. Her stories have been published in Black Warrior Review, Tor.com, The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy, and elsewhere.

For the Fall, she will be teaching Fiction I and Fiction II, and will be working closely with the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction. If she’s able to scrounge up some spare time, she’ll take a ceramics class and try her hand at making ugly mugs.

WEN XIN

Wen Xin joined the KU English faculty as an Assistant Teaching Professor of English in Spring 2023. Xin received his Ph.D. in English from KU in 2021. As a former graduate, Xin’s been excited about coming back home and working with old colleagues and friends.

Xin’s taught a wide range of courses in both English Language Studies and Rhetoric and Composition. In all the courses, He develops an understanding in students that language is not about what is “right” or “wrong” but more about what is appropriate in a context. He also guides students to analyze how and why language variations occur in different contexts, particularly the academic context, where students are often involved. In addition, He cultivates students’ critical language awareness, with which students understand when and why language is used to empower them, but more importantly, when and why language is used against them.

Xin’s research lies at the intersection of English Language

Faculty Highlight:

Studies and Rhetoric and Composition. He focuses primarily on the use of pragmatic features, such as metadiscourse and stance, and variations of those features in writing classrooms with a goal of cultivating a better work environment for writing instructors as well as helping students become better writers.

Xin has training in Data Science and holds a certificate of advanced study in Data Science from Syracuse University. He is excited to bring his knowledge and experience with quantitative research, statistics, data analytics and visualization, and text mining to the department.

First AI & Digital Literacy Educators’ Summit led by KU English Professors

To learn about teachers’ specific concerns and what solutions they’re considering to meet the challenges posed by rapidly evolving and increasingly accessible AI-based technologies, the Hall Center for the Humanities hosted the first AI & Digital Literacy Educators’ Summit on Thursday, June 1, 2023. The program, co-directed by KU English professors Kathryn Conrad and Sean Kamperman, brought together instructors and administrators from secondary schools, community colleges, and 4-year colleges and universities to discuss the impact, concerns, and educational potential of AI technologies in Humanities classrooms.

For additional resources on AI literacy for educators, visit the Padlet resource at https://tinyurl.com/KUAIEdResources

Fond Farewell to Longtime Faculty

This year, the KU English Department celebrated the retirements of two beloved faculty members: Doreen Fowler and Dorice Williams Elliott. Both Fowler and Elliott were recognized at the annual department Milestones Ceremony, and, thanks to the William Savage Memorial Fund, were honored with early edition Faulkner and Brontë novels, now housed at the Spencer Research Library in recognition of their service and contributions to their respective fields.

PROFESSOR EMERITA DOREEN FOWLER

Doreen Fowler came to KU in 2001 as a Full Professor and a nationally renowned scholar in Faulkner studies. At the time she was the author of two books, Faulkner’s Changing Vision: From Outrage to Affirmation and Faulkner: The Return of the Repressed. She would later publish a third monograph, Drawing the Line: The Father Reimagined in Faulkner, Wright, O’Connor, and Morrison.

One reviewer for Drawing the Line, Lisa Hinrichsen, wrote, “In contrast to dominant Oedipal interpretations of the father as a divisive figure who introduces opposition and exclusion, Doreen Fowler . . . renders a more complex, paradoxical portrait of the father’s role in establishing identity.. . . . . . Deeply engaged with the nuances of psychoanalytic theory, Drawing the Line . . . sophisticatedly unpacks the father’s function in creating a play of identification and interrelation” (Studies in the Novel p. 382 2014).

Fowler is also the co-editor of no less than eleven books on Faulkner, including: Faulkner and Religion (Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1991), Faulkner and Popular Culture (Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1990), Faulkner and the Craft of Fiction (Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1989), Faulkner and Humor (Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1986), Faulkner and Race (Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1986), Faulkner and Women (Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1985), and Faulkner and the Southern Renaissance (Jackson: UP of Mississippi, 1982).

She has also authored no fewer than 50 articles or book chapters, on William Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Flannery O’Connor, Nella Larson, Carson McCullers, and Walker Percy.

Fowler’s research has been respected and recognized at the University as well as nationally. She won a coveted Hall Center Research Fellowship in 2003; she has served on the Executive Committees of the Faulkner Society and the Society for the Study of Southern Literature, and on the Editorial Board of The

Faulkner Journal. She has served as a reviewer of article manuscripts for prominent journals including PMLA, The Faulkner Journal, Studies in the Novel, MELUS, Journal of African American Studies, Criticism: A Quarterly for Literature and the Arts, Mosaic: A Journal for the Comparative Study of Literature and Ideas, and many more.

Fowler has also been a conscientious and thoughtful advisor for English graduate students. She has served on 23 dissertation committees over the years (six as the dissertation chair) with several more in progress, and 12 MA Thesis or Exam committees, eight of these as Chair. In 2014 she won the coveted Mabel Fry Award for Outstanding Teaching. She led the 2016 ad hoc committee that researched peer institution graduate programs

From left to right, Chair Marta Caminero-Santangelo, Professor Emerita Doreen Fowler holding a 1st edition of Light in August by William Faulkner, and Special Collections Curator Elspeth Healey.

Doreen Fowler & Dorice Williams Elliott

book that has become the go-to study on this topic in the field), and Transported to Botany Bay: Class, National Identity and the Literary Figure of the Australian Convict in 2019.

Reviewers of Transported to Botany Bay applauded the book’s “careful illumination of lesser-known novels published by convict authors… reminding us of the ways in which mass-migration, voluntary and involuntary, has shaped the contours of the modern world.”

Elliott has also published 16 articles and book chapters, on Jane Austen, Elizabeth Gaskell, and Hannah More, and on a variety of topics including women’s philanthropy, settler narratives, and social class.

In 2003, Elliott became the first-ever woman chair of the English Department, leading it for two terms (and another interim semester in 2017). During her time as Chair she oversaw multiple hires and promotion and tenure cases: as one of her colleagues puts it, Elliott guided and mentored new colleagues “with what you might call wise optimism. Always measured and pragmatic in her opinion, she was also always supportive and encouraging. It was clear that she was doing and would do everything in her power to help her junior colleagues succeed.”

and made recommendations about how we could better serve our graduate students, and presided for many years over the awarding of funds for graduate student travel.

PROFESSOR EMERITA DORICE WILLIAMS ELLIOTT

Dorice Williams Elliott came to KU in 1996 with her husband Bob Elliott, former instructor and staff member in the English Department. With the retirement of her senior colleagues in the field by the early 2000s, Elliott became the lead Victorianist in the department. She published two monographs, The Angel out of the House: Philanthropy and Gender Nineteenth Century England in 2002 (a

This is the same attitude she has brought to graduate student mentoring. Having served on innumerable graduate committees over the years, frequently as Chair, Elliott is ready with tough advice and critique when needed, but it is always delivered from a place of sincere admiration, respect, and confidence in the project and the person. In graduate defenses, she has always put her students’ experience and opportunity ahead of her own need to make a point. Elliott’s stellar teaching at both the graduate and undergraduate levels was recognized with the department’s Mabel Fry Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching in 2001 and its Conger-Gabel Teaching Professorship from 2016-2019, as well as the university-wide William T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence in 2010.

In 2012, Elliott spearheaded the department’s assessment efforts, long before they were required and institutionalized and before the creation of the KU Core, and she has led assessment guru ever since. She has overseen the English Department assessment of all Core Goals and of the undergraduate major as well as submitting all the yearly documentation to the requisite university committees.

The Dorice Williams Elliott Award recognizes excellence in the study of pre-1900 literature.

Professor Emerita Dorice Elliott holding the combined 1st uniform edition of Wuthering Heights & Agnes Grey by Emily Brontë & Anne Brontë.

THEN & NOW THE AWARDS ISSUE

In early-May, with the passing of another academic year, English students and faculty, family and friends, gather together in the Kansas Union for the annual Awards Ceremony. Seated at round tables, filled with appetizers and conversation, guests listen for the calling of a familiar name, but before each recipient is announced, another name is read, one belonging to a Jayhawk of the past—a former student, professor, or friend of the department—who like them, once called Mount Oread home.

These names appear on certificates, financial statements, spreadsheets, and email lines, and with them new life is breathed into the department through academic research, recognition,

and recruitment. Awards, scholarships, and other endowment funds not only enable the KU English Department to thrive in the present, but they connect us back to our past, creating a legacy of excellence in English literature and language.

In this issue of Accents, we offer a small glimpse at the stories and individuals behind these funds. We have bolded the first mention of each of them and sought to highlight the impact they are having right now and for the future.

To all those who support the KU English Department, we thank you for your generosity. Rock chalk!

‘Writing about the Arts’ Award Honors English 101 Student

The Ellie Stratman Award for Writing about the Arts was established last year in memory of KU undergraduate student Ellie Frances-Marie Stratman who passed away unexpectedly during her freshman year in 2021.

Ellie was described by her family as “a ball of energy” who “possessed a creative spirit,” having participated for many years in competitive dance. At the time of her passing, she was studying accounting and was enrolled in English 101 with instructor and graduate teaching assistant Meagen Youngdahl-Meyers.

After Ellie’s passing, Youngdahl-Meyers, in collaboration with Ellie’s family and the English Department, sought to honor her life through the development of an award for undergraduate students. Inspired by the last essay that Ellie wrote, a personal essay for English 101 on the communicative qualities of dance, the Ellie Stratman Award for Writing about the Arts recognizes a piece of writing on the arts for an undergraduate English course.

An excerpt from Ellie’s essay:

“People have unique ways of expression, influenced by their early experiences. Growing up, my second home was the dance studio. Starting at age three, I learned the grace and strictness

of ballet and the grand leaps and swings of jazz. Although the styles have many differences, a character is required to bring them to life. Ballet taught me how to show my confidence and power while lyrical [dance] allowed me to move and release any happiness or sadness I was experiencing. Verbally communicating my feelings has always been difficult so dance was crucial in allowing regulation and letting some of my emotions into the open...

I would let my head full with emotions and thoughts control my body’s movements. It is not a natural exercise at first, but with time it felt more comforting than anything. I remember leaving school, my head feeling chaotic but not being able to articulate why... With dance, I would come to class and put the emotions into my movement, feeling the weight slowly lift off my shoulders... shifting through emotions in my head and allowing my frame to follow. The moment when your mind and body connect is one of the greatest feelings.”

This year, the inaugural recipient of the Ellie Stratman Award for Writing about the Arts was Clare Hawkins, for her essay “An Artist,” written for Professor Mary Klayder’s English 205 class.

If you are interested in making a donation to the Ellie Stratman Award for Writing about the Arts, email english@ku.edu.

Interview with Alumnus Dr. Sean Pauzauskie, Founder of New Literature & Medicine Award

Dr. Sean Pauzauskie is a practicing neurologist with UCHealth in Colorado. He is a graduate of the University of Kansas and its School of Medicine. As an undergraduate, he studied English. He is a regular participant in the department’s Value of English event series, which connects current students with English Department alumni, serving on the English and Medicine panel.

English Accents (EA): Why English? What made you choose the major?

Dr. Sean Pauzauskie (SP): For as long as I can remember I’ve loved language and the things stories can do, having written my first ones -- about fighting fantastic monsters on the playground with friends -- just before middle school. And by the time I got to college I knew I wanted to learn in an unrestricted arena, where you can really think or say anything. So English seemed a natural fit for me.

EA: How do you use the skills you learned as an English major in your career today?

SP: To start, the practice of medicine has a lot of narrative baked in. The first thing you do with a patient is take a history of their recent health and concerns, so as to construct a narrative that ultimately fits an intervenable pattern. “Allopathic” medicine means “other path”, and so in essence my chosen arena in healthcare, as a physician -- a word which means “teacher” -- is little more than someone who tries to alter someone’s path in their story. From sickness to health. Or from good to better health.

The other factor common in both pursuits is empathy. If you don’t have the empathy that you develop by osmosis as an English major, by caring about characters and imagining other perspectives, which you do all day, then your patient’s outcomes will be worse. Not to put things in a STEM context, but there’s pretty solid data on patients having better outcomes when they feel listened to, feel their physician had empathy for their concerns. And an education in English is the best way to develop these skills of constructing narrative and practicing empathy.

EA: Which English course or professor had the biggest impact on you?

SP: It was a team effort. In no particular order: Steven Jan Parker, David Bergeron, James Carothers, Katie Conrad, Mary Klayder, Ken Irby, and many others who I apologize for running out of room to name.

EA: What would you like to say to current and future students who are interested in both studying literature and pursuing a career in medicine?

SP: Believe it’s not only possible, but essential to what you’ll do as a healthcare professional. And the English education and practice doesn’t end when you enter your healthcare career. You’ll have a built in hobby or even second career to balance the high demands of medicine, whether that’s reading current fiction or whatever else you want for pleasure, writing healthcare non-fiction narratives or, again, whatever fiction you want, or simply using the communication skills you’ve developed in English to be a more unique individual amongst your professional peers.

The Sean Pauzauskie Literature and Medicine Award was established for the 2022-2023 academic year to provide financial support for students in the English Department who are considering a career in healthcare.

This year’s award winners were Nirali Patel and Fatima Asif.

Nirali Patel ‘24 is a research assistant in Dr. Kristy Allen’s FACT lab, where she examines generational anxiety in young girls. She also works as a medical assistant at Panda Pediatrics and at the Heartland Community Health Center. After graduation, she plans on attending medical school to pursue her goals of becoming a physician.

Fatima Asif ‘24 is a biochemistry and English major and Honors student. Some of her extracurriculars include volunteering in various non-profits and serving as an officer of A Club Against Cancer at KU.

For a full list of English Awards recipients for 2022-2023, visit english.ku.edu/awards.

Graduate Students Conduct Research in Cuba Thanks to Father-Daughter Alumni Funds

This summer, graduate students Abisola Akinsiku and Sarah Hargreaves participated in Marta Caminero-Santangelo’s study abroad trip to Cuba, each continuing to explore research interests that began in her ENGL 790: Latinx Literature of Trauma and Testimony course in fall 2022.

“[In ENGL 790], I came upon this idea of Afro-Cuban people and how we engage with the literature and culture of people in Cuba who also identify as African,” Akinsiku said. As an African woman and scholar of African, African American, and Afro-Caribbean literature, including the study of the transatlantic slave trade, she said Caminero-Santangelo’s class and the discussion of Afro-Cuban people fueled her “academic wanderlust.”

Akinsiku considers her research in Cuba as part of a larger project that “moves...from Nigeria to other spots in the African diaspora... [providing] the point of view of a continental African who is on a journey to find her ‘sisters’ who were forced out through enslavement.” Specifically, she hopes it will contribute to a book, tentatively titled On the Brink of Finding my Sisters.

She was struck by the fact that Afro-Cubans who she spoke to identified as Yoruba, a West African ethnic group to which Akinsiku belongs. “I had been wanting a chance to meet with people of my own descent,” she said. “When I met them, they would say, ‘we are Cuban [not] Nigerian, but we do identify as Yoruba especially in terms of practicing the religion.” Akinsiku found that linguistically, musically, and in worship and museums, the religion helped to preserve memories of Africa in Cuba.

Meanwhile, Sarah Hargreaves, whose research centers on African diasporic drama, was particularly interested in exploring issues of social inequality in Cuba. For her, learning more about the Santería religion, described as a fusion of Catholic and African folk beliefs, and its views on sin helped to inform her understanding of the culture and its perception of different marginalized groups.

In seeking to research contemporary primary sources of Afro-Cuban drama and how it “addresses issues of racism, wealth

1: Hargreaves and Akinsiku learning and participating in Afro-Cuban dance.

2: Hargreaves and Akinsiku, with their guides Adetola and Ledu, visit with an Afro-Cuban religious practitioner, known as a Babalawo, and his wife Obalabi.

3: Located at the Africa House in Havana called The Museo Casa de África, this stout wooden sculpture was produced by a Nigerian sculptor.

4: Hargreaves and Akinsiku visit the Museo de los Orishas in Old Havana. This museum harbors life-size casts of many of the Yoruba pantheons. It is a site of memory; many of the artistic representations of the pantheons were also imported from Africa.

5: Hargreaves and Akinsiku visited Beyond Root, an Afro-Cuban business venture in La Habana. They specialize in providing an Afro-Cuban experience to visitors, creating an avenue for them to experience the idea of Afro-Cuba through their five senses.

inequality, and labor practices in order to seek a more equitable and just world,” Hargreaves also participated in conversations with a Cuban playwright, critic, and members of the drama department at the University of Havana.

Hargreaves plans to continue studying the subject and the various works that were recommended to her by the people she spoke to in Cuba. Both she and Akinsiku hope to develop syllabi for an ENGL 203 course based on their respective research areas.

Hargreaves and Akinsiku’s research in Cuba was made possible by the Gail Johnstone Fund for Graduate Students in English, the Runnels Family Endowment Fund, and the KU Tinker Field Research Grant.

Gail Johnstone is a KU alumna from the Class of 1963 whose family also sponsors the John F. Eberhardt Excellence in Writing Award and its respective Memorial Fund. Both were established for her father, who was “not only a very proud Jayhawker, but a graduate of Harvard Law School, a superb lawyer, and a wonderful writer,” Johnstone said. “Supporting graduate students and young professors of English is a perfect tribute to him.”

This year’s Eberhardt Writing Award recipients were Jane Makela and Janie Rainer.

Kendall & Ruhe Memorial Scholarships to Honor Former KU English Faculty, Support Current Humanities Students

The Paul Murray Kendall Memorial Scholarship has been established in honor of Dr. Paul Murray Kendall (1911-1973).

A playwright, author, and professor at both Ohio University and KU, Dr. Kendall’s academic work focused primarily on Renaissance writing and Shakespeare. During his time at KU, Dr. Kendall served as the head of the Shakespeare Institute.

This fund will provide scholarships to undergraduate students with financial need and majors or minors in the Departments of English, History, or for Theatre Performance majors or minors in the Department of Theatre & Dance at the University of Kansas beginning this fall.

The Edward L. Ruhe Memorial Scholarship was founded in

honors of its namesake, Dr. Edward L. Ruhe (1923-1989), a KU professor of English Literature, WWII Navy veteran, and collector of Aboriginal art.

According to his New York Times obituary, Dr. Ruhe’s literary scholarship specialized in John Milton, Samuel Johnson, James Agee and film. He also served as the editor of KU’s Humanities Studies Monograph Series between 1972 and 1981.

Established as a collaboration between KU Endowment and an alum, the Edward L. Ruhe Memorial Scholarship will provide financial assistance to KU undergraduate students with financial need in the majors or minors of Anthropology, Art, Art History, English, and Film beginning this fall.

https://www.nytimes.com/1989/07/03/obituaries/edward-ruhe-collector-of-aboriginal-art.

https://kluge-ruhe.org/about/history-of-kluge-ruhe/.

“Edward Ruhe, Collector of Aboriginal Art.” (1989, July 3). The New York Times. Online.

html.

“History of the Kluge-Ruhe Collection.” The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection. Online.

Updates from Affiliate Programs

HBW Celebrates 40th Anniversary in 2023

The History of Black Writing (HBW) began its 40th anniversary year with a plenary session at the Modern Language Association (MLA) Conference in San Francisco, “The History of Black Writing (HBW) at 40 and Beyond: Literary Recovery, Archives, and Digital Communities.” A reception at the College Language Association (CLA) Convention in Atlanta featured the authors of three major Black biographies, Half in Shadows: The Life and Legacy of Nellie Y. McKay by Shanna Greene Benjamin; Love, Activism, and the Respectable Life of Alice Dunbar-Nelson by Tara T. Green; and The House Where My Soul Lives: The Life of Margaret Walker by Maryemma Graham, HBW’s founding director.

The events helped to highlight HBW’s importance as the only dedicated center for the study of the Black book, and its ongoing efforts to bring increased attention to Black writing through digital preservation and expanded research opportunities. In this second year of grant funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Mellon Foundation, HBW’s student

staff includes over 25 researchers organized into teams led by graduate student coordinators. HBW’s digital operations office is based in Watson Library, which supports the HBW Black Book Interactive Project (BBIP).

The external grant funding provides greater access to the growing number of texts in the HBW corpus, whose inventory of novels has increased by 114% in the past year with 6,785 titles currently identified. Many of these have been digitized, and the full text of some of the out-of-copyright novels are available through the University of Chicago Textual Optics Lab’s user platform PhiloLogic. Further, the team has sourced 567 memoirs written by Black authors to be added to the HBW corpus. Additionally, we welcomed the fifth and sixth cohorts of BBIP Scholars, who train, research and publish using digital methods. HBW’s highly effective social platforms – all student-run – are responsible for sharing HBW’s wide range of successful public programming with an international audience. One such public program was the tenth Black Literary Suite (BLS). The Fall 2022 BLS exhib-

From left to right: Donna Akiba Sullivan Harper, Maryemma Graham, Meta DuEwa Jones, Shanna Greene Benjamin, Carole E. Henderson, Tara T. Green, and Ayesha Hardison at the HBW reception honoring Black biography, part of the CLA Convention in Atlanta, GA on April 7, 2023. Image credit: Morgan Hayes.

it highlighted Afro-Latinx authors and texts from different cultures within the Afro-Latinx and Afro-Latin American diaspora. These texts focused on reclaiming historical and cultural narratives.

The Mellon funding for “The Black Literature Network” also made it possible for HBW to increase our collaborators for greater impact and inclusion. This joint effort includes the IRIS Digital Humanities Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville with Co-PI Howard Rambsy; the University of Texas Arlington with Co-PI and HBW alum Kenton Rambsy; and KU’s College of Engineering and Computer Science with Co-PI Drew Davidson. The intent is to provide more opportunities for public access to Black texts. Thus far, the Black Literature Network has produced 75 podcast episodes under the title “Remarkable Receptions,” which are available in any podcast app; 25 literary briefs; 33 data visualizations; and the Current Archives and Collections Index (CACI), an online searchable bibliography with information about Black-themed collections.

NEH funding for “Building Literacy and Curating Critical Cultural Knowledge in Digital Humanities” and “Black Book Interactive Project III” allowed us to continue our partnership with the HathiTrust Research Center and Afro-Publishing Without

Walls. Co-PI Marilyn Thomas-Houston and her team at the University of Illinois lead the training program and peer-reviewed publication process for the BBIP Scholars Program cohorts.

As part of its 40th anniversary events, HBW will extend its public outreach with a major exhibition titled “Black writing,” organized by HBW Director Ayesha Hardison and Joey Orr, curator at the Spencer Museum of Art. The exhibit will run from August 19, 2023 – January 7, 2024 and will showcase works engaging Black literature, reading, and language. In addition to extending HBW’s goals through visual culture, the exhibition will include a reading space featuring select books and a video installation featuring documents from HBW’s archive.

Finally, HBW would like to recognize graduating staff members Kai Hansen (BA English), Mahala Higginbotham (BA English), Venkata Karasani (MS Computer Science), David Miller (Ph.D. English), Victoria Garcia Unzueta (BS Journalism), Lucy Whittington (BA English), and Brendan Williams-Childs (MFA Creative Writing – Fiction). These team members have made major contributions to all areas of HBW’s work. We are proud of their academic achievements and wish them success with their new endeavors.

Student Association of Graduates in English

SAGE (Student Association of Graduates in English) had another productive year in 2022 – 2023, continuing to support and advocate for graduate students in KU’s English Department. Founded in 1967, SAGE’s mission is to represent the interests of graduate students in the department, providing opportunities for professionalization, advancement, and community. From helping to evaluate First Year textbook options, to hosting write-ins, to representing SAGE in the Graduate Teaching Assistants Coalition (GTAC) and Graduate Student Advisory Board (GSAB), participation in SAGE provides graduate students with experience in both departmental and university-level committees. Whether pursuing academic or alt-ac jobs, serving on SAGE committees uniquely equips graduate students with leadership, collaboration, and problem-solving skills guaranteed to serve them well on the job market and beyond. SAGE was also able to support three graduate students’ conference travel using the funds raised at our events of this year.

SAGE continues to have a positive impact on graduate students and the department more broadly, holding both social and fundraising events. This year’s SAGE events included:

• The annual Welcome Picnic for faculty, graduate stu-

dents, and family to kick off the school year, coordinated by the SAGE Executive Board

• Book Fairs in the Fall and Spring Semesters, coordinated by the Events & Fundraising Committee

• Reorganizing the SAGE lab and donating unsellable books, coordinated by the Events & Fundraising and Sustainability Committees

• The annual silent auction fundraiser at the English Department Holiday Party, coordinated by the Events & Fundraising Committee

• Meet and greets with prospective graduate students and faculty job candidates

• Write-ins for graduate students, coordinated by the Professional Development committee

Here are a few things that SAGE members have been up to this year:

Creative Writing: Alex Crayon (2nd year Creative Writing PhD Student): “I and the other Creative Writing students have been hard at work writing, workshopping, and submit -

continued on page 15

The Gunn Center for the Study of SF

The 2022-2023 academic year was an exciting one for the Gunn Center for the Study of SF (CSSF)!

Prof. Giselle Anatol served in her first full year as Director, unexpectedly juggling a last-minute assignment as the interim director of KU’s Hall Center for the Humanities. Luckily, she was assisted at the Gunn Center by an enthusiastic staff of graduate students who made sure that CSSF programming ran smoothly.

Anthony Boynton, who is writing his dissertation on ghosts and haunting in African American literature, served as the Graduate Research Assistant (GRA) in the Fall semester; Sandra Jacobo, who is starting her dissertation on embodiment and gender in African Caribbean women’s speculative fiction, served as the GRA in the Spring term.

Madeleine Bonnallie, an MA student with interests in Gothic literature and horror, coordinated our social media presence, started documenting items in the Gunn Center’s physical space, and began working on a digital database to make CSSF holdings more accessible to SF writers, researchers, and enthusiasts around the world. She was joined in this task by MA student Michael Johnson, who hopes to use place and space metadata from the Center’s periodicals collection for his master’s thesis. Bonnallie and Johnson were supported in the database project by a grant and technical collaboration from KU’s Institute for Digital Research in the Humanities (IDRH). Because Anatol’s position at the Hall Center will last one more year, Prof. Katie Conrad has graciously offered to serve as the Gunn Center’s interim director for 2023-2024.

The CSSF Virtual Book Club, an online event that has drawn an international, interdisciplinary group of participants, continued to meet at lunchtime on the last Friday of each month. This year’s selections included Sofia Samatar’s A Stranger in Olondria, in anticipation of the author’s campus visit in Spring 2024; Mongrels, a werewolf coming-of-age story by Stephen Graham Jones; a musically-inspired novella entitled The Deep, by Rivers Solomon; and two works for young people: Pet by Akwaeke Emezi and the Newbery Prize-winning novel The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera. The CSSF staff is looking forward to the next round of lively and thought-provoking conversations; if you’re interested in joining us, please check the website for the 2023-2024 reading list and Zoom registration link! (https://sfcenter.ku.edu/book-club)

As the kick-off event of 2022-2023 year, the book club engaged in a discussion of 3 of the top 10 finalists for the 2022 Theodore A. Sturgeon Memorial Award: “The Dark Ride” by John Kessel, “Bots of the Lost Ark” by Suzanne Palmer, and “Broad Dutty Water: A Sunken Story” by Nalo Hopkinson.

Participants were the first to learn (and sworn to secrecy!) that Hopkinson’s short story had been selected by the jury as the winner of the annual prize. Hopkinson was unable to join us in person at the Sturgeon Award Ceremony, but her virtual reading and Q&A were an inspiring cornerstone event at the first annual Sturgeon Symposium—2 days of interdisciplinary programming from a diverse range of scholars, artists, and speakers.

The theme for the 2022 symposium was Celebrating Speculative Communities, and included in-person and online research panels, roundtable discussions on “The Current State of SF” and “Teaching SF in the Current Age,” and creative presentations by Indigenous and Native Hawaiian writers. (Videos

Top: CSSF Director Giselle Anatol (left) with Andrea Rogers, author of Man Made Monsters, who was one of the keynote speakers at the 1st annual Sturgeon Symposium.

Bottom: From left to right: Giselle Anatol, Prof. Simon Bréan (U. of Paris-Sorbonne), Prof. Christina Lord (UNC Wilmington), and Prof. Paul Scott (KU, FFI)

available at https://sfcenter.ku.edu/sturgeon-symposium.)

This Spring, the Center also welcomed a visit from world-renowned scholar and specialist in science ficton Prof. Simon Bréan (U. of Paris-Sorbonne) as the Hall Center for the Humanities 2023 International Scholar.

Planning for the 2023 symposium is well underway, once again highlighting the wealth of incredible work being done in the speculative arts, here at KU and across the globe. The 10 Sturgeon Award finalists for the 2023 prize have just been announced:

• Samantha Mills’ “Rabbit Test”

• Maria Dong’s “In the Beginning of Me, I Was a Bird”

• Dominque Dickey’s “Slow Communication”

• A.T. Greenblatt’s “If We Make It Through This Alive”

• Nicasio Andres Reed’s “Babang Luksa”

• Derrick Boden’s “Ten Steps for Effective Mold Removal”

• Innocent Chizaram Ilo’s “The City and the Thing Beneath It”

• Annalee Newitz’s “A Hole in the Light”

• A.D. Sui’s “Toronto Isn’t Real and Other Metropolitan Anomalies”

• Yoon Ha Lee’s “Bonsai Starships”

And in light of the selection of Octavia E. Butler’s groundbreaking novel, The Parable of the Sower, as the 2023-2024 KU Common Book, the organizing committee has decided on a theme of Fantastic Worlds, Fraught Futures. We welcome you to join us from September 20 - 22, 2023 for this stimulating event! More information can be found online at https://sfcenter.ku.edu/sturgeon-symposium.

And if you are in town next spring, make sure to get your tickets early for the April 2024 campus visit of 3X-Hugo Award winner N.K. Jemisin, who will serve as the 2023-2024 KU Common Book speaker. The Gunn Center is thrilled about the prospect of having undergrads, grad students, staff, and faculty across KU engaged in a reading experience centered on a work of science fiction, and equally as excited about the chance to engage with one of the top SF writers of our age!

Please visit our website regularly for frequently updated information about our history, affiliated faculty, course offerings, award opportunities, the book club, and other upcoming events (https://sfcenter.ku.edu/), and email us at sfcenter@ku.edu with any questions.

Ever onward!

ting our prose and poetry! Additionally, I’ve been leading the effort to get LandLocked, the graduate literary and arts magazine based out of the English Department, back on its feet, and I serve on the departmental Creative Writing Committee. I speak for all Creative Writing graduate students when I say we’re excited for Silvia Park to join the KU writing community!”

Rhetoric and Composition: Emily Counsil (she/they) (2nd year Rhetoric and Composition graduate student) “As I’m entering my second year of graduate school, I’m grateful for the opportunities and experiences from my first year. I presented at two conferences on the importance of digital testimony. This connects to my broader interests of digital/social media, feminism, and queerness. I’ve been enjoying being a part of SAGE’s Professional Development Committee and hosting write-ins for the graduate students. I’m looking forward to serving on the Events and Fundraising Committee this coming year.”

Literature and Literary Theory: Jade Harrison (4th year Literature PhD Candidate): “The 2022-2023 AY was a very

productive and generative year. During Fall 2022, I received the opportunity to travel to Sheffield, England and present my research on text analysis and language in 20th century African American women’s fiction at the Digital Humanities Congress on behalf of the History of Black Writing (HBW) and their work with the HathiTrust Research Center. In Spring 2023, I was awarded a GRAship with the History of Black Writing (HBW) as a Data Curation and Visualization Coordinator for its ongoing work with an Andrew W. Mellon Foundation-funded project called The Black Literature Network. Additionally, I received the Sharistanian GRAship to support my dissertation writing and research during Spring 2024. I also presented my work “An Exploratory Analysis of Language in Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God” at the College Language Association Convention (CLA) in April, where I was also able to talk with prospective students interested in pursuing or continuing their graduate studies with KU English on behalf of the department’s DEI Committee.”

We hope that SAGE will continue to evolve to best support graduate students’ needs, and to prepare them for futures in graduate school and beyond.

KU English in the News

Book gives fresh perspective on Black literature of 1930s | KU News (June 2022)

Associate Professor Ayesha Hardison co-edited “African American Literature in Transition, 1930-1940,” including contributor John Edgar Tidwell, Professor Emeritus.

Literary scholars digitally illuminate early critique of Columbus | KU News (June 2022)

Professor Laura Mielke co-edited the “John Brougham’s Columbus Burlesque” microedition of Scholarly Editing, examining an early & important example of American literature criticizing Columbus.

The 6th & 7th John S. Tuckey Awards for Lifetime Achievement in Mark Twain Studies | Mark Twain Studies (August 2022)

Emeritus Professor Susan K. Harris was given the John S. Tuckey Award for Lifetime Achievement in Mark Twain Studies.

Paths to accessing Shakespeare affect understanding | KU News (August 2022)

Professor John Lamb & doctoral student Suzanne Tanner wrote book chapter “Abstraction as Shakespearean Interface” for The Routledge Handbook of Shakespeare and Interface

Psychological lens reveals racial repression at heart of ‘Passing’ | KU News (August 2022)

Professor Doreen Fowler published article “Racial Repression and Doubling in Nella Larsen’s Passing” for The South Atlantic Review

Hawks to Watch: Tracey Lien, author | KU College Stories (November 2022)

Ecocritic ponders links between race, environmental crisis in new works | KU News (February 2023)

Associate Professor Paul Outka wrote book chapter “Slavery and the Anthropocene” for The Cambridge Companion to American Literature and the Environment

At Spencer Museum of Art, poetry invites the public into redesigned, more diverse galleries | KCUR (March 2023)

Tracey Lien (MFA ‘21) was featured as a ‘Hawk to Watch’ after the publication of her debut novel, All That’s Left Unsaid

An Interview with William J. Harris | Poetry Magazine (February 2023)

Poetry Magazine published a feature dedicated to the work of Emeritus Professor William J. “Billy Joe” Harris.

Doctoral candidate Anthony Boynton was commissioned by the Spencer to write poems inspired by six works now on view in their galleries.

KU Professor co-writes award-winning ‘benevolent gaslight’ essay | KU News (April 2023)

Assistant Professor Pritha Prasad co-wrote “’I Am Not Your Teaching Moment’: The Benevolent Gaslight and Epistemic Violence”, which was given the Conference on College Composition and Communication’s 2023 Richard Braddock Award.

Lifelong Lawrencian finds her niche in advocacy and scholarships | Lawrence Times (April 2023)

Undergraduate junior Cherin Russell was awarded the Newman Civic Fellow Award for 2023-24.

MTSU’s diversity fellowship program supports doctoral students from dissertation to professorship | MTSU News (June 2023)

Doctoral candidate Sandra Jacobo has received the MTSU diversity fellowship, to pursue her dissertation which investigates art by Afro-Caribbean femme writers.

Latest Issue of Modern Drama features KU connections (July 2023)

Modern Drama literary magazine features an article on the first Modern Drama Conference which was held in December 1959 and organized by A.C. Edwards, the founding editor of Modern Drama and a professor at the University of Kansas.

Alumni Updates

1950s

Lynn Miller, Ph.D. (BA ’59) notes that writing has been a major part of her life, and has included several scholarly books during her years as a Professor of Political Science at Temple University, and a number of the less scholarly variety in her retirement, among the latter a novel and a memoir. Even though, as a graduate student (KU MA in Political Science and Princeton PhD) she turned to a different discipline to prepare for her career, she considers her undergraduate years as an English major a marvelous foundation.

1960s

Ronald F. Best (BA ’64) has spent most of his working career as International Counsel for large design, engineering and construction company with responsibility for legal aspects of numerous projects mostly outside the US. Sgt E-5 in US Army reserve 1967-1973, demoted to 2LT MSC in 1971. Saw a goodly part of the world on an expense account. Can order a beer in about nine languages. Currently living in Richmond, TX with wife Betty.

Max Royle (MA ’66) is still employed as city manager, St. Augustine Beach, Florida.

Preston Fambrough, PhD (BA ’68) taught English and French at Baker University until retirement in 2012. He is married to Virginia Jones (KU PhD in English).

Timothy C. Averill (BA ’69) is a debate coach at Waring School in Beverly, MA (2005-present) after a 35-year career at Manchester Essex Regional HS in MA. Waring School is a bilingual school and Tim enjoys chaperoning students on their annual exchange with Nantes, France. Tim is a consultant in AP English for the College Board and was inducted into the National Speech and Debate Association’s Hall of Fame. Tim’s wife of 50 years (Lauren Bonnie [Roberts] Averill) passed away in December 2019. Tim enjoys playing bocce, gardening, reading, and cooking, and enjoys his family of two daughters (Jennifer & Rebecca), their husbands, and his four grandchildren.

1970s

Micheline (Zacharias) Burger (MA ’70) recently published a memoir, FIRELINES: MOUNTAINS, MEMORIES AND FIRE. It is a personal story of her family’s relationship to mountains on two different continents, the transitory nature of memories, and the fire that destroys and renews. It is available on Amazon.

Jack T. Lundy (MA ’70, PhD ’78) is retired and lives with his wife in Burlington, KY. They enjoy reading, going to the symphony, and gardening. Next June 1st, they will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary. They celebrated their grandchildren and weddings. Go Jayhawks!

Ron Pullins (MA ’70) retired to Tucson a few years back after four great decades in book

publishing in New York and Boston, including founding and managing his own company doing modern and Classical languages and humanities. Those titles are now a part of Hackett in Cambridge, MA. Ron has returned to writing fiction (and some playwrighting) and recently signed for a novel with Unsolicited Press, a successful and fiercely independent press in Portland Oregon. The novel is due out in 2026. Stories have appeared in Shenandoah, Southwest Review, Typishly (online) and a dozen other places. Some can be linked via his webpage, pullins.com. Ron’s master’s thesis was a collection of stories and three of those stories have now been published.

Albert J. Devlin (PhD ’70) completed study with emphasis on modern and American literature. Professors of the day included Charlton Hinman, Ed Grier, George Worth, and Max Sutton. The Jayhawk gave way to the Tiger as Devlin began a long career at the University of Missouri-Columbia. His interest in Southern literature led to Tennessee Williams, whose correspondence he published in two volumes (New Directions Press, 2000-2004) with the aid of a senior NEH Fellowship. Elia Kazan, close friend and dramatic interpreter of Williams, led to an edition of Kazan’s correspondence (Alfred J. Knopf) that Devlin published in 2014. In retirement he and his wife Molly enjoy grandchildren visits and continue to read and garden.

Troy Reeves (PhD ’70) and his wife, Susie (BFA, KU, ’65) moved to Nixa, Missouri after Troy’s retirement from Angelo State University

(a campus of Texas Tech), where Troy taught for 33 years. Troy and Susie enjoy swimming in Table Rock Lake, walking Ozark trails, ping pong, and reading. They volunteer at their church’s homeless men’s shelter. Troy’s poems have in recent years appeared in AMERICA, SOJOURNERS, ANGLICAN THEOLOGICAL REVIEW, CALIFORNIA QUARTERLY, and elsewhere. His personal essay, “Polio in War and Peace,” was in the July 2022 online issue of KALEIDOSCOPE, published by United Disability Services, Akron, Ohio.

Nancy Vogel, PhD (MA ’65; PhD ’70) is the author of Robert Frost, Teacher (Phi Delta Kappa. Bloomington, Indiana, 1974.), “Profile of a Family Farm: The Vogel Family” (Kansas Century Farms: Preserving Our Agricultural Heritage of Family Owned Farms. Acclaim Press, Morley, MO, 2018. Pages 36-41.), and “A Post Mortem on ‘The Death of the Hired Man’” (Frost: Centennial Essays, Compiled by the Committee on the Frost Centennial of the University of Southern Mississippi. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1973. Pages 201-206.), and editor of The Power of Thought: Fort Hays State University President’s Distinguished Scholars 1989-2000 (2001. “The President’s Distinguished Scholar Medallion: Lessons from Its Symbols,” Pages 37-44.) and P.E.O. in Kansas: Our Centennial Heritage (2003. 435 pp. ISBN 0-9712076-3-1. “Introduction, “ Pages 1-3.)

Larry Mundy (BA ’72; MA ’74) is retired from

law practice, lives in Texas, and still maintains that Tristram Shandy is the best book he has ever read.

Raylene Hinz-Penner (MA ’72) published East of Liberal: Notes on the Land, December 2022, in the DreamSeeker Memoir Series by Cascadia Publishing House. She and husband Doug Penner recently downsized and moved from Topeka, KS where they had lived for 20 years (Raylene taught in the English Department at Washburn University) back to North Newton, KS where they began their professional lives at Bethel College.

Bruce Keplinger (BA ’74) has practiced law for 46 years, usually defending health care providers in civil cases. Last year he left the law firm that he founded and now works parttime as an independent consultant, mediator/ arbitrator, and expert witness. The American College of Trial Lawyers inducted him in 2009 and he was named an ICON of the Missouri Bar in 2022.

Lawton R. Nuss (BA ’75) has been named to the advisory committee to the national Veterans Justice Commission chaired by former U.S. Defense Secretary and U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel. Nuss is the retired chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court. He lives in Topeka with his wife, Barbara.

William (Brad) Bradley, J.D. (BA ’77) is retired from the company he cofounded, NIC,

Inc. (Nasdaq:EGOV, 1999-2021), and now is an enthusiast for regenerative agriculture on his rural land, Little Osage Ranch, LLC, curates a quarterly podcast on soil health for The Nature Conservancy trustees and staff, and is launching a website (www.farmtender.us) to match regenerative farmers and landowners this summer. He lives in Overland Park with his wife Robbie and stepdaughter Lauren, and enjoys his children, stepchildren, and his eight grandchildren.

Kevin M. McKinnon (MA ’77) moseyed about for a spell and picked up a JD in Arkansas along with that all important license to practice in 1985. Now pushin’ 70 or is 70 pushin’ me? Need ponder that a spell. Wandered down here to Bedford, TX going on 33 years ago. Continue to write poetry. Had an unfortunate accident back in the third grade (now that was a few years back), I swallowed a Webster’s dictionary whole. I’m still chewing on those words to this day. I write poetry in rhyme, free verse, dabble in haiku and a dab of Limerick (that’s for the Irish in me). Now retired these past few years, I don’t have to tuck in my shirts or wear shiny shoes. I have also continued to paint in acrylic, watercolor and oil (might as well experience it all). This past February, I began to write prose fiction for the first time. Chose to do a murder mystery. Coming at it from a bit different perspective. It’s simply a long poem intwined within narrative prose meter.

Neil Nehring (BA ’78; MA ’80) retired from the English department at the University of Texas at Austin at the end of the Spring 2023 semester after 37 years there. He and his wife Maria plan to continue to live in Austin.

Virginia L. Wolf (Bonham) (MA ’66, PhD ’80) retired as full professor from the University of Wisconsin-Stout in 2001, having published some 50 articles about children’s literature and two books, Louise Fitzhugh: A Literary Biography and Little House on the Prairie: A Literary Analysis. In 1993 she began seminary, in 1999 she was ordained a Unitarian Universalist minister, and she served the Eau Claire Congregation for nine years. She has written hundreds of sermons and still occasionally preaches. She began a lifelong relationship with Carol Schumacher in 1977 and became an activist for gay rights, resulting in the legalization of samesex marriage in Wisconsin in 2014 in the case of Wolf vs. Walker. Carol and Virginia married and have been together nearly 48 years. They have two children, Laura and David, and five grandchildren.

David M. Powls (BA ’82) recently noted his 41st year in the Kansas community journalism business and was this year’s recipient of the Clyde Reed, Jr. Master Editor Award from the Kansas Press Association, which recognizes a Kansas newspaper editor for a lifetime of achievement that involves commitment to his or her own community, the Kansas newspaper industry and to the state. David and his wife Connie were also selected for the Holton/ Jackson County Chamber of Commerce Hall of Fame this year for their longtime contributions to their community.

Leigh Clark (PhD ’83) has almost completed his epic revisions of a short historical novel (which by inverse creation gets shorter with each edit) and will soon be submitting it to publishers. When not writing, he spends his time playing Bach on the piano or reading, of late in the complete Loeb Virgil. He finds the first comment of the shepherd Tityrus in Eclogue I—“deus nobis haec otia fecit—to be a perceptive reflection on his own life as a writer of modest but independent means.

Anne D. Wallace (BA ’77; MA ’84) becomes Professor Emerita this August after more than 30 years as a teacher and scholar of 19th-century British literature. After taking her PhD at the University of Texas in 1989, Wallace taught for a year at Washburn University before joining the English faculty at the University of Southern Mississippi. In 2005 she became Head of the English Department at UNC Greensboro, serving in that position until 2014 and as Chair of the Faculty Senate from 201517. In August 2022 Wallace published “’Paths to freedom and to childhood dear’: Walking and Identity in a Time of ‘Stopt’ Paths” in the online journal Green Letters: Studies in Ecocriticism (26.3). She lives in Greensboro and Asheville, North Carolina, with her partner Tony Harrison.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Kent Jackson’s (BA ’85) first book, which is still in print (and an eBook). The current title is “Jet-

law Explained.” The book explains the Federal Aviation Regulations for pilots. (The movie rights are still available.)

Ellen Boddington (Wilson) Baumler (BA ’74; PhD ’85) is a noted Montana author of many articles and books, most recently a history of Montana’s cemeteries, The Life of the Afterlife in the Big Sky State (U of Neb, 2021). Her work was a finalist in the Willa Literary Awards (2004) and she earned a prestigious Award of Merit (2016) from the American Association for State and Local History. This year, the Montana Historical Society’s Board of Trustees has honored her with the Heritage Keeper’s Award. “While Montana is fortunate to have had incredible professional historians, none have surpassed Ellen Baumler in her exceptional capacity to connect with the public and K-12 students. “Her ability to share her passion with almost everyone — making the past relevant, understandable, and enjoyable — is what makes her contributions so far reaching,” noted Kirby Lambert in the nomination materials. “At the same time, she retains the respect of academics and regularly lectures to college classes and volunteers on PhD advisory committees.”

Chuck Marsh (PhD ’85) retired in 2021 as the Oscar Stauffer Professor and associate dean for research at the William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications, University of Kansas. He and his wife, Kris, live in Lawrence.

Gina Kellogg (BA ’86) transitioned to semiretirement at Ascend Learning (Leawood, KS) in June after a career spanning positions as magazine editor, director of communications, and senior director of content marketing strategy, among others, in industries ranging from water parks, facilities maintenance, and healthcare to floristry and international children living in poverty. In her new part-time role at Ascend, she continues to focus on the critical need for graduating more and better educated nurses while also pursuing interests in travel, genealogy, writing, fundraising, helping to plan her son’s wedding next year, and enjoying life with her husband and grandchildren.

Heather Enos, MBA (BA ’87) moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, to start a role as Chief Financial Officer, Senior Vice President, and Treasurer, for the Darden School Foundation at the University of Virginia. Ironically, her first day was the day that everyone was told to start working from home because of COVID and didn’t actually set foot on grounds to meet her staff and colleagues for almost three years!

As CEO of Bloomfire, the world’s leading knowledge management platform, Mark Hammer (BA ’88) and his team grew the company over 600% in sales, culminating in a sale to a private equity firm. After the sale, Mark moved his family to Berlin Germany.

Steve Farmer (MA ’82; PhD ’88) retired in 2022 after thirty years of teaching Victorian fiction and poetry, as well as graduate seminars in pedagogy, in the department of English at Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona.

Kiersten Firquain (BA ’90) published a children’s book Penny Goes to the Circus.

Jim Starr (BA ’90) is currently working in the field of Project Management/Coordination and Strategic Communications management, residing in St. Louis, MO.

Daniel B. Hunt (BGS ’92) accepted an assignment with the U.S. Department of State as the Regional Security Officer for the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, China. Mr. Hunt has been employed by the Department of State since 1999, and is the author of four science fiction novels, two poetry collections, and a collection of short stories. He departs Berlin, Germany with is his wife and two younger children in the summer of 2023.

In addition to being a member of senior leadership in a research-focused academic institution, Deborah Maloney (BA ’93) has put her degree in English to use. Beginning in 2021, she started publishing darker-themed romances (under a pen name). Currently, she has four published novels, an entry in an anthology, and is working on her fifth publication. To date, all of her publications have contracts and are being recorded for audiobooks.

Marcia E (Riley) Kelley (BGS ’94) has retired from a career of Technical Writing and freelance writing. She currently lives in Dallas, Texas with her husband, Vernon Kelley and her youngest son. Her oldest son lives in Kansas City, Missouri.

Aaron Rosenberg (BA ’92; MA ’94) hit two publishing milestones this year, turning in his 50th novel and his 100th short story. His most recent release, the urban fantasy novel Yeti Left Home, also received a glowing review in Publishers Weekly. Aaron still lives and works in New York City.

Dana Carlisle Kletchka (BA ’95) was promoted in 2023 to Associate Professor of Art Museum Education in the Department of Arts Administration, Education, and Policy at The Ohio State University, where she also serves as the Director of the Museum Education Specialization.

Amy Lerman (PhD ’97) lives with her husband and very spoiled cats in the Arizona desert where she is residential English Faculty at Mesa Community College. Her chapbook, Orbital Debris (Choeofpleirn Press, 2022) won the 2022 Jonathan Holden Poetry Chapbook Contest.

Tully McCoy (BA ’98) accepted a position as President and CEO of Great Plains Trust Company in Overland Park, KS. Tully lives in Prairie Village, KS with his wife, Nicole, and their two children, Tully (13), and Rory (11).

Jesse Alemán (PhD ’99) served as the Interim Associate Dean of Graduate Studies from 2022-2023 and has been named the 20232024 Mellon Distinguished Scholar in Residence at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, MA. His essay, “The End of English,”

can be found in PMLA, 136.3. The piece is dedicated to another KU alum, Doug Steward.

Stephanie Hamby (BA ’99) graduated this May from Gateway Seminary in Ontario California with a master of divinity with a concentration for ministry to women. She works in communication and ministry to women. Stephanie lives in Lawrence, Kansas with her husband, David.

Joshua W. Mermis (BA ’99) is a board-certified attorney in Houston, Texas, and the co-founder of West Mermis, PLLC, which is a US News and World Report-ranked law firm that specializes in construction law. Joshua lives in Houston with his wife, Corey, and their three children.

2000s

Sarah McGreer Hoyt (MA ’00) is a grants manager for KC CARE Health Center, a nonprofit community healthcare provider, in Kansas City, MO. Sarah and her 6-year-old son, Seyvion, recently moved back to Lawrence.

Casey DW Jones (BA ’01) recently completed a yearlong fellowship at The Loft Literary Center’s Mentor Series in Minneapolis, MN. He is a creative copywriter and Pushcart-nominated fiction author. Casey lives in Minneapolis, MN, with his two daughters.

Mary Ann Caram (BA ’04), her husband Joel and their son Jack welcomed Mabel Morning Emmileen Caram to the family on August 31, 2022. Mary Ann also began a new role at Bacardi Limited as a Director of Digital Commerce & Paid Media. She is based in Oklahoma City, OK.

Moira Ozias (MA ’04) was hired (2021) as an Assistant Professor in the Center for the Study of Higher Education in the College of Education at the University of Arizona. Previously she worked at the University of Oklahoma (OU Writing Center), University of Wisconsin-La Crosse (Student Affairs Administration Graduate Faculty), and Grand Valley State University (College Student Affairs Leadership Graduate Faculty). She lives in Tucson, AZ with her partner Z and still roots for the Jayhawks.

Jess Durrett (BA ’05) runs a small business as an Educational Therapist. She received her MA from New York University in Special Education in 2007 and has spent the last three years building a business dedicated to supporting neurodivergent learners.

Will McCollum (BA ’05) went on to work in Prague, CZ for five years in his twenties. He repatriated and completed his MBA at CU Boulder in 2012. Graduating with a masters in Venture Capital, he was one of the first employees at Uber. He now runs his own family office, Pioneer Ventures (www.pioneerventures.us). Will lives in Denver, CO and Big Sky, MT.

Mary McGuire, Ph.D. (BA ’06) was awarded tenure in the department of Art History at Mt. San Antonio College in Spring 2023 where she also received the honor of Educator of Distinction in 2021-2022. Mary presented a paper on the work of Carmen Argote at the 2023 CAA Annual Conference, and she will contribute programming to the artist’s exhibition at ICA-

LA this summer. Mary recently began curating a salon series, Apt 310, featuring actions, performances, and discussions with Los Angeles-based artists. She lives in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles.

Michael Barry (BA ’07) graduated with an MFA in Writing and Literature (Fiction) from Bennington College in January. His critical essay on Philip Roth’s The Counterlife won second place for the Siegel McDaniel Award and is forthcoming for publication. He is at work on a novel, a round of short stories, and a critical work on ZZ Packer’s Drinking Coffee Elsewhere

Teresa Fernández (PhD ’07) is the owner of Er2 Pro Editing Services (www.Er2Pro.com) which provides copywriting, editing, proofreading and translation services. Teresa lives in beautiful Lawrence, KS with her partner and their two cats, Oliver and Meiga. She recently brought her parents from Spain to live with her after over 20 years of separation.

2010s

Jill R. (Ethridge) Gillett, J.D. (BA ’10) is an Elk/Greenwood County Attorney as of August 2020.

Sarah Bluvas (BA ’11) received her MBA in Arts Administration from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2018 and is celebrating five years with the City of Mercer Island, an island community of 25k people located in Lake Washington in between Seattle and Bellevue, WA. There she manages capital projects for the community’s extensive park system as well as oversees a public art collection of more than 70 2D and 3D works. Sarah lives in Seattle, WA, with her partner Troy, their dog Cosmo, and their cat Ellie.

David Reiersgord (BGS ’12) published his first peer-reviewed essay in the Journal of South African and American Studies in 2022 titled ‘Contradictory Excessiveness: Abandoned trolleys in post-apartheid South Africa.’ He directs the IES Abroad Cape Town centre in Cape Town, South Africa. David lives in Cape Town with his wife, Ntina, and their two cats, Sebastian and Lily.

This year Dr. Kristi Boone (BGS ’14) completed her PhD at the University of Leeds; a true ripple effect of Mary Klayder’s British Summer Institute programme. She is now a lecturer in Religion, Politics and Gender in Leeds, England.

Jennifer Nish (PhD ’14) published her book Activist Literacies: Transnational Feminisms and Social Media Rhetorics with the University of South Carolina Press in October 2022. She also earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor at Texas Tech University, and accepted a new job as Associate Professor of Humanities at Michigan Tech University.

This spring Renee Harris (PhD ’16) earned tenure and promotion to Associate Professor at Lewis-Clark State College.

Candice Wuehle (PhD ’19) published her first novel, MONARCH (Soft Skull), in 2022. MONARCH was selected as a best book of 2022 by NPR, Lambda Literary, SPIN!, and Crime Reads and was shortlisted for the American Library Association’s Over the Rainbow Recommended Books List.

2020s

Jerika Miller (BSE ’20) graduated from Regis University in Denver with her Masters in English Literature and taught high school English in Aurora, CO for 3 years. She was accepted into a fully funded PhD program at the University of Indiana to study learning sciences and will begin that program in Fall 2023.

Connor Terrill (BA ’20) recently published a children’s book titled Chloe Jane and the Doodlecorn. He had tons of fun writing and illustrating this passion project, and would love to see it reach more kids! The book is available on Amazon.com.

Casey Keel (PhD ’20) is a writer and editor with the USDA’s Economic Research Service (Kansas City/Washington DC), where she works with agricultural economists to edit their publications for public and policy making audiences. She lives in Lawrence, KS with her spouse and their two cats.