The YAWP: Villanova's Graduate English Program Blog

Dr. Tsering Wangmo was invited to the Nepal Literature Festival organized by Middle Ground in Berlin, Germany last week. Dr. Wangmo read poems with fellow poet, Mukahang Limbu, on the panel "Listening to What Endures." Read the description for more information on their writing in conversation here:  https://www.hkw.de/en/programme/middle-ground-nepal-literature-festival/listening-to-what-endures     Dr. Wangmo also moderated a reading and discussion, "Rethinking Geographies of the Disquiet" with three women writers from the Himalayan region: Manjushree Thapa, Farah Bashir, and Tsering Yangzom Lama. More information of the event can be found here:  https://www.hkw.de/en/programme/middle-ground-nepal-literature-festival/rethinking-geographies-of-the-disquiet   Congratulations Dr. Wangmo on both events and your invitation!  ~ by Juliana Catania MA '28

 A new season of the Villanova English podcast is coming soon! In the meantime, why not catch up with our most recent episode, an interview about early American and Indigenous literatures with Professor Kimberly Takahata? You can listen to the podcast using the links above, or subscribe on Apple, Amazon, Spotify, or other major podcatchers so you never miss an episode!

By Alexis Stakem MA '28 Some people see the liberal arts and STEM fields as being in constant conflict. However, Bryan Serinese ‘91 BA is a Villanova University alum who embodies the  melding   of these  two broad fields. Last spring,  Serinese  reached out to Villanova’s English department to gift us a poetry phone. The poetry phone is an old rotary phone that has been rewired to play the dialer/listener/caller one of 333 poems upon dialing any three-digit number – a clear physical representation of intermingling between technology, poetry, and performance art. Serinese with the Poetry Phone in Villanova's English Department office Serinese’s father worked for Bell Labs, now AT&T, and they built their first computer together in 1976. While at Villanova,  Serinese  also minored in computer science, which at the time was a  relatively small  department, housed in the basement of Mendel Hall. Sel...

Villanova English MA alum (class of 2022) Christopher Sassaris was out and about today bringing things from the old library building to the new library. You can read more about Christopher's journey from our MA to a career in distinctive collections on the YAWP . The new Falvey Library at Vic Maggitti Hall will open officially on Friday, October 23.

Grad students, undergrads, faculty, and staff came to SAC 300 on Thursday, September 24, at 3:30pm, for a hybrid critical-creative talk by the award-winning Puerto Rican scholar, poet, translator, and performer Urayoán Noel, who is an associate professor at NYU. Sponsored by the Department of English’s Graduate Colloquium Speaker series, “Bodymind Poetics” drew from Noel's forthcoming monograph Virtually Latinx: Identities in the Age of Social Media , and his in-progress experimental memoir of living with epilepsy, Neural Sea . Professor Noel presented students with a talk that drew from his diverse interests in academic writing, literary translation, and poetry. He began by discussing the work of poet Pedro Pietri, whom he described as modeling a "radical bodymind freedom." He then read from his upcoming work Virtually Latinx , where he described the presentation of diverse aspects of identity over contemporary social media platforms like tiktok. He went on to read secti...

This past Wednesday, the English Department celebrated 100 years of Langston Hughes's The Weary Blues with the event "I, too, sing America." A huge crowd of undergraduate students stopped by the 2nd floor lounge of Good Counsel Hall for a night of poetry and pizza. In his opening remarks, Professor Javadizadeh said he hoped the event would give students a taste of what they could expect from English classes at Villanova. Professor Javadizadeh originated the event over 10 years ago as a way to introduce 1st year students to the English major and minor, at the time focusing on F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby . The event has since centered on other works including J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye , and, this year, Langston Hughes’ poetry collection The Weary Blues . Professor Javadizadeh and Professor Skillings welcome students. 2nd Year English MA Christopher Supplee then took center stage, providing historical context to Langston Hughes’ life and his publicati...

Sixty degree weather and afternoon sun made this past Thursday the perfect setting to talk about nature writing with English graduate student, Christopher Supplee. Chris is part of a nature writing collective based in Greater Philadelphia, the Buried Creek Collective. According to their mission statement, Buried Creek Collective works to educate Greater Philadelphia writers on our changing climate to foster informed storytelling and creative climate resistance. The collective guides members through their curriculum as part of the writing process, which is designed to provide knowledge on local waterways, land use, ecology, and infrastructure. Visits to sites of both environmental crisis and renewal are integrated into the curriculum to help provide an instructional basis for literary representations of the natural world. Not only do collective members visit these local sites, they also meet local sustainability and conservation professionals as part of the research process. The collect...

I recently had the chance to speak with Professor Adrienne Perry about her forthcoming co-edited poetry anthology, Other Legacies: Great Unsung American Poets . The book, co-edited by Kevin Prufer and Martin Rock, features contributions from 35 contemporary poets, each introducing a poet of their choice whom they feel has been neglected in literary conversations. The book arose out of Professor Perry and her co-editors' work on the Unsung Masters Series, an annual publication highlighting the work of an under-appreciated poet. The publication has an associated reading series, for which Professor Perry served as co-host, in which several scholars and writers are invited to come together to read the work of one such neglected poet. Recognizing the value these readings brought to discussions of American poetry, Professor Perry and her co-editors sought to build upon this unique experience in the form of a poetry anthology–one that would notably differ from traditional poetry anthologi...

Dr. Michelle Filling-Brown was named MVP (Most Valuable Professor) during the Women's Soccer Faculty Appreciation Day game. Dr. Filling-Brown was nominated by Avrie Nelson (#6), who is in her English 1975 course along with her teammate, Tea Gambardella (#2). Both players were excited to recognize their English professor as one of the day's MVPs. This moment was extra special for Dr. Filling-Brown, who values following her student athletes' games. Nelson and Gambardella are currently undefeated as the Women's Soccer team heads into conference play this weekend. Dr. Filling-Brown notes that they are amazing student athletes.  With excitement building for the upcoming weekend, this year's Faculty Appreciation Day was extra special for both the student athletes and the faculty members cheering them on.  Dr. Filling-Brown is pictured below during the MVP recognition at halftime and with Allison Venella, Senior Associate Athletic Director of Student Athlete Development: T...

Cathy Velez, a beloved English adjunct faculty member, was honored at a recent Villanova Women's Soccer game for Faculty Appreciation Day. This recognition happened during halftime where she was titled one of the game's inaugural MVPs... Most Valuable Professors. Professor Velez, who has taught English 1975 for many years, was touched by the kind gesture and celebration. Attached below is a photo of Professor Velez at the game. Go Nova, Go Cats!  - Juliana Catania MA '28