FSU Department of English

‘Our best selves’: FSU poets celebrate National Poetry Month 2022

Professor Virgil Suarez considers poetry the antidote to all that ails the human spirit. Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor David Kirby sees poetry as a lens that allows him to see the world more clearly. And for graduate student Hera Naguib, poetry leverages dreaming and questioning and opens a window into our shared humanity. Those […]

Prolific scholar of African American Studies named 2022-2023 Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor

A prolific and impactful scholar whose work has risen to the pinnacle of African American Studies has been named Florida State University’s 2022-2023 Robert O. Lawton Distinguished Professor. Maxine Montgomery, a professor in the English Department since 1988, has earned the highest honor FSU’s faculty can bestow on a colleague. “Professor Montgomery is a fantastic […]

FSU English professor earns prestigious NEH grant to digitize novelist Gloria Naylor’s work and develop literary archival model

Florida State University · English Professor earns NEH Grant to preserve work A faculty member in Florida State University’s Department of English has received a collaborative research grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to digitize the work of award-winning American novelist Gloria Naylor and develop a model for engaging Black women’s literary archives. […]

FSU English doctoral candidate receives NEH grant to improve visual accessibility

A Florida State University English doctoral candidate has been awarded a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) to improve accessibility of graphic and visual narratives for blind and low-vision readers. Aaron Rodriguez, doctoral candidate in FSU’s History of Text Technologies Program, was awarded a $99,915 Digital Humanities Advancement Grant to develop and […]

FSU English professor receives prestigious Mellon Foundation fellowship

A Florida State University English professor has been awarded a fellowship from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Assistant Professor Frances Tran will receive a Career Enhancement Fellowship administered by the Institute for Citizens & Scholars and funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation. Her fellowship term runs from June 1 through Dec. 31. Tran, who came […]

Eleanor Boudreau

Eleanor Boudreau came to Florida State University in Aug. 2016 with the utmost admiration for FSU’s Department of English poets. Now, nearing graduation with her Ph.D. in English, she is an accomplished poet herself. “When I was first admitted to the Creative Writing Program, I felt fortunate and grateful,” Boudreau said. “That feeling has only […]

FSU experts available to comment on first female vice president of the United States

When she is sworn in next month, Kamala Harris will become the first woman to serve as vice president of the United States. Harris has a long political career, having served as district attorney of San Francisco, attorney general of California and a U.S. senator before this position. Florida State University faculty members are available […]

FSU sets school record with nine Fulbright Scholars

Nine Florida State University faculty members have been selected as U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program award recipients, setting a new FSU record for most Fulbright Scholars in one year. These individuals plan to teach and conduct research as part of opportunities funded by the U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program during the 2020-2021 school year. Marcia A. Mardis, professor and associate dean for research in the College of Communication […]

Two FSU graduate students win state’s only P.E.O. scholarships

Only two graduate students in the entire state of Florida were awarded prestigious Scholar Awards from the Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.), and they’re both enrolled in programs at Florida State University. Jessi Thomsen, a doctoral candidate in the English Department with a specialization in Rhetoric and Composition, and Brittany Mathes, a doctoral candidate in the […]

FSU English doctoral student spearheads literacy program for incarcerated individuals

Florida State University doctoral student Dyan Neary is driven by a passion to give a voice to the voiceless, using her writing skills to reach communities and empower them to share their stories. Since coming to Tallahassee to pursue a doctorate in creative writing from Florida State, the New York University graduate has dedicated herself […]

Recent FSU graduate’s novel being turned into SYFY pilot

Before she applied for college, Mikaela Bender was already writing a novel. Now, just weeks after graduating from Florida State University, a digital pilot of the Orlando native’s first book is getting ready to debut on Syfy, a cable network featuring science fiction programming. Bender, who graduated in May with a bachelor’s degree in Editing, […]