Writing

Q&A Commentary: Reflections on the Elizabeth Lindsay Rogers Poetry Reading and Workshop

Professor Mandy Gutmann-Gonzalez and students reflect on their experience attending the Elizabeth Lindsay Rogers poetry reading and workshop this past February, speaking to the importance of events such as these and sharing work of their own.Can you start by telling us a little bit about the Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers poetry reading and workshop? M.G: The…

A Note of Inspiration from Professor Kourtney Senquiz: Earning her Ph.D. and the Importance of Academic Support

Professor Kourtney Senquiz speaks on the academic support she received while completing her Ph.D. as a first-generation college student. February 18th, what would have been Toni Morrison’s 89th birthday, I defended my dissertation, The African American Gothic Double, and earned my Ph.D. from the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at UMass Amherst. My dissertation…

Michael Carolan’s Creative Writing Nonfiction Course Takes on the 2020 Climate Crisis

Olivia Simonds revisits Michael Carolan’s creative writing course, which is now engaging with the environment and confronting reality.By Olivia Simonds It’s gray and raining on a Monday as students slowly file into Michael Carolan’s Creative Writing Nonfiction class. They are a reserved group of eight, but present nonetheless. The room hums with anticipation. When I…

In the Market Race, English Majors Get Ahead

Olivia Simonds writes on the importance of English Majors in our modern global economy.It could be argued that in English majors’ down-time—from literary essays, critical readings and textual analysis—they are often met with the moral dilemma of where such studies will take them, perhaps instigated by their fellow STEM majors, a prying but caring parent,…

Welcome to the freshman class of 9/11

This essay was published by The Washington Examiner: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/op-eds/welcome-to-the-freshman-class-of-9-11 This is the first day in 18 years that I didn’t spend 9/11 in New York City. It was the first time nothing took place at my school. The first time people didn’t even bring it up. The first time no one seemed to remember what…

The Immortal Blossom of Toni Morrison

Kourtney Senquiz, a Ph.D. candidate in the W.E.B. Du Bois Department of Afro-American Studies at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, is a Visiting Assistant Professor in Clark University’s Department of English. She plans to offer a course on Toni Morrison in S ’20. On Monday, August 5th, Toni Morrison passed away in a Brooklyn hospital…

I Wrote it, Now What Do I Do With It?

If you’re anything like me, writing is a minefield. You love it, and when the idea takes hold and doesn’t let you go, it’s a rush. Maybe you like to write poetry or stories, or maybe you’re attempting Nanowrimo for the first time. Writing something—anything—is a wonderful, powerful thing. But then comes the second part,…