Students in Dr. Quigley's Modernism and fanfiction class wrapped up the semester brainstorming final project ideas and drinking hot cider around the fire (with Major, the dog). Who knew one class could end with final papers on Henry James, Taylor Swift, T.S. Eliot and Startrek?
Professor Kamran Javadizadeh will soon be releasing a new podcast, "Close Readings." He spoke with us about the podcast's origins, his process, and what we can expect when we listen.
I think that for me (as, apparently, for so many!) this is partly a pandemic story. During the early days of the pandemic I found myself listening to podcasts more than had previously been my custom (I wrote a bit about that experience here), usually while walking my dog, and I found that I enjoyed the company that they provided, the peculiar feeling of having a friendly voice or two in your ear while you went about your daily chores. And then also during that time I was able to convince a few of my friends, both scholars and poets, to visit my classes at Villanova. That experience taught me that I quite enjoyed talking to experts for the benefit of curious audiences; I felt like I had a knack for playing the straight man. So then a couple of those strands came together in my mind, and I found myself wondering if I might host my own podcast, where I would talk with a guest about a single poem. That felt like something I could do well (we shall see!) and also like the kind of thing I’d want to listen to, if it existed. Life got very busy and I didn’t return to the idea until recently, when an additional impetus was my sense that the community I’d cultivated on “poetry Twitter” might be in danger of vanishing, or diminishing, or something. And so I thought, better get those conversations going while you can.
And yes, there are lots of good literary/poetry podcasts out there. One that I particularly enjoy is David Naimon’s “Between the Covers.” One thing I’ve noticed, though, is that a lot of literary podcasts, perhaps especially poetry podcasts, tend to focus on having poets as guests and contemporary poetry as the topic. I thought there might be space for something more like poetry studies, where my guests, mainly, were scholars and critics, and where we could talk about poems from a whole variety of periods and places. Maybe I’ll have poets on from time to time, but I think of this really as a podcast more about reading poetry than it is about writing it.
Can you describe what sort of podcast yours will be? What kind of topics will you cover, and what kind of approach will you take to looking at poems?
It will be pretty simple: me and a guest, talking about a single poem of their choosing, for maybe 30-45 minutes each episode. I’m hoping to have conversations where the poem is centered, but where we feel free to digress into things like biography, literary history, literary criticism, theory, etc—but also personal experiences, where they feel relevant. The approach to the poems, beyond that, will depend on the guest and how they tend to read. But what’s especially important to me is that the guests and I have conversations that feel close in the sense of proximate or intimate. “Close Readings” is a bit of a pun for me: both an exegetical reading practice and a kind of friendliness or sociality.
How do you go about choosing guests for your podcast?
I’ve begun just by thinking about who the poetry scholars are out there whom I already have some relationship with—not because I mean to restrict this to friends, but more so because I want to get the thing established, figure out what I’m doing, and so on, before I go pitching strangers—and whose work I’ve admired and feel as though I might be good at engaging with for a general audience. I’ve also got somewhere in the back of my mind the desire to introduce variety into the series right from the beginning, which means things like asking people who cover very different periods, or who have very different approaches to poetry, or who have had different kinds of life experiences and careers. But really I want mostly to be guided by a simpler question: who would I be excited to talk to?
Has anything struck you about discussing poetry in an audio versus a print medium?
Not yet, since I haven’t really yet begun! But I’m anticipating/hoping that the conversations will feel easy and casual, not overly scripted at all or really even produced or edited much. In those ways, I’m hoping this will feel much freer for me and easy than writing does. I love to write, but I’m one of those writers who is almost always editing myself as I go, which means that the work of writing can really feel to me like work. I hope this feels more like play.
When and how can we listen to Close Readings?
I have a teaser episode up already, which people can get on Apple Podcasts here and Spotify here. I also just started a Substack newsletter where I’ll be posting some text to go with each episode. People can find that here. I hope everyone subscribes to the podcast and to the newsletter. I’m recording my first proper episodes with guests (very exciting ones!) in the next few days, and I’m going to try to start posting them on something like a weekly basis before the holidays, even, and then certainly on into the new year.
Professor Cathy Staples's Nature Writing Workshop also took a trip to Rushton Farm to see owls. Take a look at photos from their experience below.
Photos from Professor Cathy Staples's Nature Writing Workshop trip to Rushton Farm for birdbanding during the peak fall migration of warblers.
Professors Quigley and Javadizadeh gathered with students to celebrate 100 years of The Wasteland. Take a look at photos from the event below.
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| Books! |
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| Readings! |
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Tarot readings!!  |
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| cake! |
The English department helped sponsor the Mock Trial Team’s recent competition at UPenn on November 5th and 6th. Erica Marciante reports that they sent 2 teams and received 4 individual awards for best witnesses and attorneys. If any English majors/minors are interested in joining the club, they should reach out to emarcia1@villanova.edu and follow @nova_mock_trial on Instagram! Take a look at the photos below!
Professor Alan Drew and students in his Writing Through Conflict course went to Belfast over fall break. They traveled to the Seamus Heaney Centre at Queens University for workshops, seminars, and symposiums with Irish writers. Take a look at a few of their photos below!
Our own Dr. Megan Quigley is featured in an BBC radio documentary, "Hold on Tight: The Women of the Waste Land," which debuted on Nov. 3rd. You can listen to the documentary, which examines the influence of various women on T.S. Eliot's life and work, here.
You can read more about the women in Eliot's life, particularly in light of the recent unveiling of his letters to Emily Hale, in The Guardian, here.
Dr. Quigley is quoted at length in that article. Here is a small example:
“What does it mean when ‘pills’ means almost nothing? Editing shows our values – what we think is important for scholars to know and for students to learn... When I was a student, we were told that a proper study of The Waste Land was about exploring references to mythology, religion and literature – but of course relating these subjects to Eliot’s life, and our reception of it in the present day, is also really revealing.”
Join us either in person in Falvey Library Room 205 or online via zoom on Wednesday, November 9 at 7:30 pm to celebrate Alice Dailey's recently published book, How to Do Things with Dead People: History, Technology, and Temporality from Shakespeare to Warhol. Professor Peter Holland (University of Notre Dame) and Professor Melissa Sanchez (University of Pennsylvania) will join Professor Alice Dailey to discuss the importance of this book. More information, including the link to register for the online event, is here.
On Friday, November 4 at 2:00 pm in Room 205 of Falvey Library, Professor Jean Lutes and Professor Alan Drew will discuss Professor Drew's latest novel, The Recruit. There will books for sale and a few lucky attendees will win a copy of the book in a raffle. More information here.
On Wednesday, August 24, 2022, Villanova took a big step to ensure that the ON AIR signal remains strong. The University purchased Cabrini College’s shared license, beginning exclusive full-time FM operations for the first time in its history. Read more about WXVU’s history and mission here.
This semester, I am teaching English 2023, Journalism. A high school and collegiate journalist who also worked as an intern and production assistant for WHYY-91 FM’s “Radio Times With Marty Moss-Coane” in Philadelphia, I began my career after college as a newspaper and magazine reporter and editor. I graduated with a master’s degree in Journalism from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism in 2005, and today, humbly and proudly share my expertise and experiences with students through English 2023. My students, in turn, share with me daily their knowledge and insights related to journalism in the 21st century when smartphones and social media make accessing information nearly instantaneous.
My goal in this course is not only to explore theory with my students, but also to put those concepts into practice through the creation of audio journalism. As a class, we have discussed what it means for something to be newsworthy and are exploring the topic, “Dining On and Around the Main Line,” through diverse perspectives and multiple angles. We’re conducting research, identifying sources, and crafting interview questions: How are restaurants able to thrive in a post-COVID-19 world? How will restaurants continue to innovate to survive? From labor shortages to the high cost of rent and ingredients, what are among the greatest challenges facing small-business restauranteurs? How does the restaurant service economy, based so strongly on tips, affect a restaurant’s survival and staff longevity at the restaurant? Now, we switch gears. As a Villanova student, what do you look for in casual, healthy dining off campus? How does price point influence your dining decisions? When you want to splurge with friends on an evening out, what types of restaurants do you enjoy?
These are just a few of the multiple directions my students are exploring individually and in small groups. As we’ve discussed, reporting is a messy business. But through our reporting processes, the stories we seek to tell will reveal themselves more clearly.
I extend my heartfelt thanks to my Villanova colleagues, Deena Leh and Nick Langan, who welcomed my Journalism students into WXVU The Roar studios on Friday, October21, and shared with us the station's long-standing commitment to radio in the public interest. We look forward to more and more collaboration.
Stations like WXVU produce diverse content designed to educate, enlighten, inform, and entertain. At Villanova, all students from all academic majors are encouraged to get involved.
The opportunity to put theory, knowledge, and classroom lessons into practice will allow my curious and hardworking students to strengthen a variety of skills, such as reporting, interviewing, writing, research, and editing. In addition, experiential learning like this supports students' academic, professional, and social development.
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| Amanda Eliandes and Mike Malloy: the people who make the magic happen! |
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| Professor Jean Lutes's dog is excited about spring courses |
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| students! |
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| Professor Wangmo with students |
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| Creating poetry (thank you to Professor Perry for making this possible!) |
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| More poetry! |
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| Food! |
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| Julianna Perri and Catherine Wood |
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| Poetry in motion |
Join us in the SAC East Courtyard from 12:30-2:00 this Friday, Oct. 21st for great food, information about Spring 2023 courses and internships, and news about the English department in general! This is a great chance to socialize with English professors and majors. The reception will feature free lunch and a raffle with a chance to win literary prizes and English Department swag. Please RSVP to Michael Malloy at Michael.malloy@villanova.edu by this Wednesday at noon! (You can also drop by at the last minute! We’re just trying to get an estimate on how much food to order!)
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| A poetry busker at the English department Pre-registration reception. |
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| There will be swag! |
"I have little doubt that my late nights in Falvey prepared me for the pressures of the White House press briefing room (the West Wing could use a Holy Grounds, though)..."
-Thoughts from VU English Alum and current financial journalist J.D. Durkin
J.D. Durkin, VU English '09, has worked as a journalist and news anchor, and has recently begun anchoring the morning show for TheStreet live from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. He kindly took the time to answer some questions from us about his career path from English major to financial journalist (with pit stops in comedy and more).
Please describe your current job and what a typical day might look like.
I host a morning business show from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, so my prep starts the night before -- getting a jump on stories, gathering elements, and writing questions for my guests. I (try to) wake up in the 5am hour and read up on premarket data, and see if any big stories overseas may impact US news/markets later on. I'm at the NYSE by 8:30am and coordinating elements with my amazing producers (who are remote!), ready to go live for Opening Bell at 9:30am -- "The bell waits for no one," as they say. I usually write and shoot some packages in the afternoon, and spend a lot of my day researching and writing.
Before this, I was a White House and Capitol Hill correspondent where my days consisted of regular live shots, wrapping breaking news, attending press conferences/briefings, and talking to sources for my own reporting. I then pivoted to anchoring a nightly show, where I spent all day writing with an awesome team, followed by rehearsals, quick hair & makeup, then popping into the anchor chair.
What got you interested in journalism?
I sort of fell into it -- I always knew I wanted to work in TV, but the start of my career was on the comedy development side. I was hosting news-driven/late night shows on stage in New York, which meant learning a lot about politics/the media... in order to poke fun at it. In 2015 I was offered an actual newsroom position by Mediaite; with polish along the way from great mentors, I realized that although my path to get there was unique, my skills were well-suited for TV journalism. I quickly fell in love with the thrill of a good scoop, or a well-delivered news-making interview with a member of Congress. I've also been drawn to news jobs where I don't have to take myself too seriously, so I can still have a little comedic point-of-view. It's fun, but it's a huge privilege you can't ever take for granted. The viewers/readers/voters are the most important part of the work.
How did you develop your journalistic and anchoring skills?
I started performing at a pretty young age, silly stuff like school musicals (not to brag, but I was a mean Nathan Detroit in 8th grade). Most of my early performing was high school forensics, or speech and debate (my mother made me do it -- and man, she was right; mom's always are). I competed nationally for four years, and my event -- Original Oratory, or OO -- is how I started writing for myself. Being a TV news correspondent is adult forensics.
As an adult, my jump back into performing was improv/sketch comedy for years, often bombing on stage. It builds character, or so they say. I just kept going, and adding crafty little skills to my toolbelt along the way. Years later I started really studying the great anchors and TV personalities I admired -- their cadence, pacing, non-verbals. Properly studying the greats in the arena is a fun and important part of the process.
Do you draw on your English major skills or perspectives in your current role? If so, how so?
Sure, being an English major taught me that no matter how tight of a deadline I was facing, I could pretty reliably crank out a 10+ page paper in a pretty short amount of time. In broadcast, sometimes the deadlines are as tight as minutes, and you have to turn out accurate, solidly-sourced, smooth-sounding scripts/packages on the fly. I have little doubt that my late nights in Falvey prepared me for the pressures of the White House press briefing room (the West Wing could use a Holy Grounds, though).
What was your journey like from undergrad through to career?
Aeneid-sized twists and turns. But more or less:
The morning after graduation I moved to LA to make it "big" in TV, Entourage-style, because of course I did; there were big ups, and big downs; I slept in my car, performed basement improv shows to an audience of 3 people, and handed out my resume to every street vendor on Hollywood Boulevard to find work... but also somehow booked a movie and got into SAG. I moved to NYC, became a bartender to pay the bills while my main hustle was writing/performing live shows and could be closer to my family in Jersey. In my mid-20s, I focused a good bit of time teaching myself the parts of the industry I never learned, like how to shoot with a decent DSLR and edit my own videos. I was a writer's room PA for a few TV comedy shows, and joined Mediaite as Senior Editor, where I covered the historic 2016 election. Cheddar News launched as a TV network, and it was a well-timed fit; I started at the NYSE, but quickly moved to DC as a correspondent, anchor, reporter, you-name-it for 5.5 years. I covered two impeachments, Supreme Court nominations, countless White House briefings and Hill gaggles with grumpy Senators, and traveled to cover the President in Helsinki, Belgium, and Normandy. Now I'm back in New York at the NYSE for TheStreet, an incredible Wall St. institution, at a crucial time for the economy and our future, and I couldn’t be more excited.
Though I may have used the word "I" often in the last paragraph, the journey was only made possible by an astounding list of supportive family members, producers, stage managers, editors -- and friends from Villanova who came to my shows to support my career. I'm wildly grateful for them all.
Has there been culture shock involved in going from studying English at Villanova to reporting from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange?
Not so much -- this is right for the moment I'm in. If I had gotten dropped onto the floor of the NYSE after graduation and asked to anchor a live TV show… I'd be clueless. But I've been out of school now for 13 years (what?!) so that's a lot of time to fail, learn, and hustle. As an English major, I had to learn the daily discipline of getting the icky stuff done, because the reading/writing load demanded it. I do the same thing now: the daily discipline of doing my best work.
What kind of advice would you give to current undergrads thinking about studying English? Or, if you’d prefer, what kind of advice do you wish you could go back in time to give to yourself as an undergrad?
You don’t have to have it all figured out right now! Don’t put too much stock in how your major “determines” your career path – things change. Just be open-minded, work your tail off, be a kind person, and don’t forget to put the work down to go to a ball game or an amazing concert. A beautiful part of the journey is responding to things as they pop up, and saying yes to challenges and opportunities as they arise in your life and career. I went from sleeping in my car to questioning the President in the same lifetime – neither of which I thought I would ever do when I was at Nova. I don’t know that my map is the best blueprint for others, but if it helps even one student, then it’s worth it to share.
And by the way… the correct answer to the endless question, “But what are you going to do with an ENGLISH degree?" is: literally anything I want.
By Theo Campbell
TC: So, to start, what are you teaching this fall, and what are you excited to teach at Villanova in the future?
MD: This fall, I’m teaching two courses in Latinx literature, one is the required writing seminar for non-majors and one is an upper level course. Both of these course look at how Latinx writers have written about work and play in American culture. So they’re focused on Latinx representations of lives of work, but also of play in its many instantiations, from the most obvious one—which is sports— to less obvious ones, which might involve art making art, such a graffiti, or the play that we might think is central to experiments with aesthetics and language, like the play that comes from the collision of multiple languages and their many registers, say between Spanish and English, as in Spanglish, for examples. So really what I think I’m going to be doing here is teaching Latinx literature. And I’m excited to do that in part because it hasn’t been offered in the English department here before, and the undergraduate student body at Villanova now is over 10% Latinx, which I think is a good milestone, we’re catching up—the state of Pennsylvania is about 15% Latinx.
TC: How did you become interested in Latinx poetry as a field of study?
MD: When I was studying in graduate school, one of my mentors was a scholar and artist named MarÃa DeGuzmán, and she was working with me on my reading lists in poetry. She started suggesting many terrific Latinx poets, many of whom were in anthology called Aloud, which is an anthology that emerged from the Nuyorican Poet’s café in NYC. So many of those iconic poets from the 60s and 70s and then into the 80s and 90s are the ones I started studying initially, and I was hooked—in part because I was interested really in the intersections between poetics and politics. In the United States, the relationship between literature, particularly poetry, and politics in disavowed, I think—we want our poets to be apolitical. And the traditions that I was interested in were coming from Latin America, where poets are some of the foremost public intellectuals in their countries. So it’s a very different understanding of the role of the poet. And I was interested in tapping into and learning more about those traditions, many of which have been inherited and transformed by Latinx poets in the United States.
TC: What are you working on right now?
MD: In the last 40 years or so, migration patterns in the United States have changed quite dramatically, and many Latinos have settled in Southern Appalachia to work in timber, in animal processing, carpet factories and so on and so forth. So one thing that I’ve studied in the past is how Latinos in Appalachia have written about what it means to be Latino in Appalachia, a historically marginalized, stereotyped region in the United States. My new project is looking at white novelists’ representations of Latinos in Appalachia. So its turning the lens the other way, to think about how white writers in Appalachia have been thinking about migration to Appalachia of Latinxes and the changes they’re created, the challenges they face, and how they are reshaping the stories that Appalachians tell about themselves. So that’s a small project I’ve been working on and am sort of excited to do in part because I usually work on poetry and poetics and this a project that’s looking at prose, fiction in particular.
TC: So I know you’re a poet, as well as a scholar, and I was wondering: how do your creative scholarly work feed into and influence each other?
MD: This is a question that’s always hard to answer. Because I could give you the answer that I wish were true, which is that creative writing and critical writing are mutually beneficial and they influence each other positively, they provide energy to each other, but really the truth is that in some ways it’s a zero sum game. You don’t have time to do both. So what I really strive to do is to bring the scholar’s critical eye to my creative writing, and I want to bring the creative writer’s creativity—attention to language, to sound, to sense making— to my scholarly work. In part because I really do believe that scholarly writing can be sonorous and beautiful and invested in having lovely sentences and paragraphs. So in terms of the writing itself I see them being intimately connected. At the end of the day, I’m a writer, and it’s all writing.
TC: Is there anything else you’d like to say to the students of Villanova?
MD: Just that I’m excited to be here. It’s an exciting time to be a student, and a really stressful time to be a student, so I’m happy to be here to play my part in helping students to embrace the challenge of being a young person in this really fraught moment in world history and in US history, and I think Latinx literature is a good place to do some of that thinking.