Just Published! Dr. Mary Mullen on the Irish Famine and Fast Days in Victorian Fiction

It's been a busy month for Dr. Mary Mullen: not only has Edinburgh University Press just published her book Novel Institutions, but her article, "'A Great Public Transaction: Fast Days, Famine, and the British State,"" was just published in the journal Victorian Studies. 

The article considers the National Day of Fast and Humiliation, observed in 1847 on the occasion of the Irish Famine. Dr. Mullen studies the literature that fast days produced—poems, pamphlets, newspaper articles, political cartoons—as well as how fast days become a narrative device in fictional narratives like Elizabeth Gaskell’s Lois the Witch (1859) and historical accounts like Charles Trevelyan’s The Irish Crisis (1848). Ultimately, she suggests that fast days help us think about conceptions of the public in Victorian Britain. Although fast-day literature works to foster public unity during times of heightened social divisions, it ultimately distinguishes between publics and populations: groups of people that find expression through the state and groups of people that are managed by the state. Trevelyan’s The Irish Crisis reveals the inherent violence of this distinction. Through his representation of the fast day, Trevelyan works to integrate Ireland into a British public in order to justify the devastating population loss of the Famine.

Just Published! Dr. Mary Mullen's book Novel Institutions

Congratulations to Dr. Mary Mullen, whose book Novel Institutions: Anachronism, Irish Novels, and Nineteenth-Century Realism, was just published by Edinburgh University Press.

Dr. Mullen's book examines anachronisms in realist writing from the colonial periphery to redefine British realism and rethink the politics of institutions. Paying unprecedented attention to nineteenth-century Irish novels, it demonstrates how institutions constrain social relationships in the present and limit our sense of political possibilities in the future. It argues that we cannot escape institutions, but we can refuse the narrow political future that they work to secure.

To learm more, read Dr. Mullen's blog post about her book on the Edinburgh UP website.

Professional and Student Literary Editors Discuss How To Get Published

On Wednesday night, students had a chance to hear authors and editors talk about their experiences with the publication process. Author Robin Black shared her experience of having a short story turned down, only to have another journal pick the story up and praise it later. The lesson for Black: persistence matters. Rejection isn’t about whether we’re a “good” writer; it’s about finding a good fit.

Tia Parisi, editor of Villanova literary magazine Ellipsis, spoke about assuming that every move an author makes is intentional and the need to break down barriers between author and editor, as well as our assumptions about whether we have something valuable to contribute to a literary journal. 

The editor Travis Kurowski reminded the audience that there are a lot of ways to see our name in print—from blogs to journals. The goal of publishing, Kurowski suggested, is to create publics, places of community where literature can be celebrated and shared.

Pictured (left to right): Dr. Adrienne Perry, Travis Kurowski, and Tia Parisi.

Dr. Crystal Lucky Gives Convocation Address at Mills College

Earlier this month, Villanova English faculty member Dr. Crystal Lucky, who is currently serving as Dean of Baccalaureate Studies, was invited to deliver the Convocation address at Mills College in Oakland, CA. Dr. Lucky spoke about her current research project, Relentless Hearts: A Journey of Time, Love, and Remembrance, which tells the story of Michael and Debbie Africa (with their son Michael Jr.), the first two members of MOVE 9, who were released from prison last year, having served 40-year sentences for the death of a Philadelphia police officer during a standoff with police in 1978.

Located in Oakland, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area, Mills College is a nationally renowned independent liberal arts college for women and gender non-binary students, with graduate programs for all genders. Ranked one of the top-tier regional universities in the West by U.S. News & World Report, Mills is also recognized as one of the Best 385 Colleges in the nation by The Princeton Review. 

Just Published! Dr. Tsering Wangmo on the "Tibetan Question"

Congratulations to Dr. Tsering Wangmo, whose article, "Dialectics of Sovereignty, Compromise, and Equality in the Discourse on the 'Tibetan Question,'" was just published in the journal boundary 2.

In her article, Dr. Wangmo observes that since 1950, the Chinese government has determined the status and position of Tibetans, but it has not won the battle for Tibetans’ hearts and minds. On the contrary, ongoing Tibetan resistance under Chinese rule points to serious fissures in the Chinese state’s ideological and cultural project of “liberating” Tibet. Wang Hui’s article “The ‘Tibetan Question’ East and West: Orientalism, Regional Ethnic Autonomy, and the Politics of Dignity” analyzes the March 2008 “riots” in and around Lhasa in order to understand the impediments to a real solution to the crisis in Tibet. Although Wang Hui offers productive ways of moving beyond the status quo, Dr. Wangmo suggests that his analysis of Tibet is limited by multiple ideological contradictions that ultimately fail to lift Tibet out of the advanced/backward binary that typifies late nineteenth-century orientalism.

Dr. Wangmo also travelled to Columbia University in New York last week to give a talk at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute. Her presentation, entitled "Reenacting Homecoming," discussed literature produced by Tibetan refugees and exiles in the 1960s-70s and their relation to place. She looked at literature as a logbook of events where the function of memory was not simply to recollect but to attempt to recover and to recreate the meaning of place outside the lost territory, and spoke of the function of literature in relation to the production of history and nation in exile.

Just Published! Dr. Jean Lutes on Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop

Congratulations to Dr. Jean Lutes, whose article, "Legendary Affect: Intimacies in Willa Cather's Death Comes for the Archbishop," was just published in the latest issue of the journal Studies in the Novel. 

Dr. Lutes's essay uses affect theory to better understand Willa Cather’s master experiment with legend in Death Comes for the Archbishop (1927). Treating emotions not as interior to individuals but as dynamic impressions within social networks, she connects the novel’s deliberate, nondramatic continuity of feeling to Cather’s understanding of the legend as a genre. The novel articulates the value of legends repeatedly, and Cather viewed Archbishop itself as a legend. The novel’s serene, inexorable narrative of incomplete intimacies celebrates bonds of faith and love, even as it documents failures of understanding and the weaknesses of personal attachments as a form of resistance to oppression. Discovering what she calls “legendary affect” at work does not absolve Archbishop from complicity with racist regimes and colonial enterprises, and the speed with which the text moves on can act as a silencing mechanism. Yet its resolute pace allows Cather to register some of the most elusive and disturbing dimensions of cross-cultural encounters.

The essay evolved from research Dr. Lutes conducted with the help of her First-Year Match student Amanda Gerstenfeld, now a senior English major and a member of the department's Student Advisory Council.

Villanova English Major and Faculty Member in Local News

Check out this report about Friday's climate change demonstration in the Delaware County Daily Times, featuring comments by Villanova English professor Dr. Jean Lutes and senior English major, Molly Bonini.

Dr. Alice Dailey Comments on Discovery of Milton's Shakespeare First Folio in the Philadelphia Inquirer

Check out the front-page story in today's Philadelphia Inquirer to see Villanova English's own Dr. Alice Dailey discussing the amazing discovery of a Shakespeare First Folio annotated by John Milton, which had been hiding in plain sight in the Free Library of Philadelphia since 1944.

Climate Change Demonstration - Sept 20

Please join English majors and faculty at the Oreo at noon this Friday, September 20 for a climate change demonstration. Raising their voices in support of the global Climate Strike inspired by Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, which begins the same day, protestors will be urging Villanova's administrators to adopt a more ambitious set of sustainability goals as part of its new strategic plan. In particular, they will be asking university president Father Peter Donohue to commit to two central goals: 1) make Villanova carbon neutral by 2030; and 2) enter into a Power Purchase Agreement for renewable energy in 2020.

Speakers at the event will include the English department's s own Dr. Jean Lutes and senior English major Molly Bonini. 

Volunteers Needed for Political Art Project on Undocumented Migration at Penn - Sept 23-24

Hostile Terrain 94 (HT94), a global participatory political art project that memorializes and bears witness to the thousands of migrants who have died on the United States's southern border as a result of its immigration policy, is calling for volunteers to help create a pop-up art installation on the University of Pennsylvania campus. Volunteers will meet at various locations on September 23 and 24 to handwrite on toe tags the identifying details of the nearly 3200 people whose bodies have been recovered along the Southern Arizona border since 2000. The tags will then be placed on a 20-foot wall map of the Arizona/Mexico border in the exact location where the corresponding human remains were found. The installation will be on display at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia from September 25-27.

The project is sponsored and organized by the Undocumented Migration Project, a non-profit research-art-education-media collective directed by Jason De León, Professor of Anthropology and Chicana/o Studies at UCLA.

In collaboration with the 2019–2020 Forum on Kinship at the Wolf Humanities Center, Penn Museum is to host one of HT94's eight prototype exhibitions in 2019. Those exhibitions will then culminate in the 2020 launch of Hostile Terrain 94 in approximately 150 locations around the world. As an active community event at Penn, HT94 will be created by hundreds of volunteers across Penn and throughout the Philadelphia region.

For more information, visit the Wolf Humanities Center website here.

To volunteer and sign up for a time and place on September 23-24, visit here.

Margaret Atwood's The Testaments Is Out Now!

This week Dr. Heather Hicks was excited to get her copy of The Testaments, the new novel from Margaret Atwood. The Testaments has been billed as a sequel to Atwood's 1985 classic The Handmaid's Tale, which Dr. Hicks has been teaching at Villanova for many years. Get a copy for yourself and join the conversation!

Photos from Toni Morrison Event

Thanks to everyone who came out to the "Remembering Toni Morrison" event on Wednesday night. Special thanks to Dr. Crystal Lucky for her opening remarks and co-ordinating, as well as to Avni Sejpal, Najah Gray, Audrey Gibson (pictured below), and all the other students and faculty who stood up and read their favorite passages from Morrison's work or spoke about what her novels meant to them. It was a memorable event.

Call for Submissions: Laurel Moon literary magazine

Laurel Moon, Brandeis University's oldest literary magazine, is accepting submissions for its national issue. The editors are looking for original, unpublished work written in English and will consider up to five poems and three prose works from each author, as well as up to fifteen pages of content in another form. Additionally, they will accept ten pieces of artwork and photography per submission. The submissions deadline for the upcoming national issue is October 15, 2019.

Additionally, Laurel Moon will be offering one-on-one feedback to writers who wish to receive guidance on any creative writing piece that they present.

For over twenty years, Laurel Moon has published the best fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry that Brandeis students have to offer. From light-hearted and fun to bleak and desolate, the work from these students ranged widely so that everyone could relate to the meaning behind an undergraduate’s experience. Therefore, we thought that the best way to truly capture that meaning is to allow undergraduates from across the country to submit to our magazine, so we did just that. As of last year, Laurel Moon began accepting submissions from undergraduates enrolled at any accredited US college or university. To continue this budding tradition, we would appreciate if you would forward our call for submissions to students at your university who might be interested in submitting their work.


To see the full submission guidelines and instructions, please see the submissions page on the magazine's website.

Remembering Toni Morrison - September 11, 7.30pm, Idea Accelerator

Call for Submissions: Comparative Literature Undergraduate Journal

The Comparative Literature Undergraduate Journal is now accepting submissions for the Fall 2019 issue and would like to extend a call for papers to all interested undergraduates and recent graduates.

For eight years, CLUJ, based at the University of California, Berkeley, has been showcasing the best undergraduate research in comparative literature and media from universities all over the world. The editors are now inviting research papers from all those working in, around, or critically engaging with literary topics in a comparative nature. Papers in any language are welcome. Possible topics include but are not limited to:

• Papers comparing at least two authors or texts
• Interdisciplinary research engaging multiples disciplines within the humanities
• Research engaging with literary theory and schools of criticism

Authors whose papers are selected for publication will receive free copies of the issue in which they are published. For more information and full submission guidelines, or to view past issues of CLUJ, please visit our website’s submissions page.

Submissions for the Fall 2019 issue will be accepted until September 15th.

English Department Student Advisory Council 2019-20

Students on the Advisory Council serve as consultants for the English department and as advisors for new and prospective majors. This fall they will also be involved in the planning and organizing of a variety of special events aimed at promoting the major and building community. We have found the committee to be an invaluable departmental resource and would welcome your contribution to it. Please contact Dr. Joseph Drury (joseph.drury@villanova.edu) if you are interested in joining.

Pictured (from left to right): Nick Toth, Tim Warren, Jane Crager, Audrey Gibson, Reagan Wish, Hayley Jellison, Amanda Atkinson, and Dominic McDermott.
Members not pictured: Kelly Faenza, Amanda Gerstenfeld, and Valentina Lopez.

Amanda Atkinson (aatkins3@villanova.edu)

I am a junior English and Classical Studies double major currently planning on attending law school after my undergraduate education. I love to read all kinds of plays, from ancient Greek to Shakespeare to contemporary. Other than the English major, I’m involved in a variety of clubs on campus, including Villanova Student Musical Theatre, a capella (let’s go Havs!), NOVAdance, Pastorals, and Voices. If you have any questions about English at Villanova, feel free to contact me.

Jane Crager (jcrager@villanova.edu)

I am a senior English major. I am a self-proclaimed Swiss Army knife – resourceful, multifaceted, and sharp! I am interested in graphic design, animation, and web development. I am super approachable and so feel fee to email to say hi.

Kelly Faenza (kfaenza@villanova.edu)

I’m a senior English major passionate about the power of communication and its importance to the college experience. Some other things you should know about me are that I’m minoring in Business through the VSB academic year program, I’m on the Villanova Western Equestrian team, and I love spending my free time in the outdoors.

Amanda Gerstenfeld (agersten@villanova.edu)

I am an English major and History minor. I work at the Villanova Writing Center and am an editor for the Polis Literary Magazine on campus. I also studied abroad two summers ago in Ireland. I enjoy reading British literature in particular. My future plans involve a career in publishing or any type of editorial work, especially after interning at Sterling Publishing this past summer in New York City.

Audrey Gibson (agibson5@villanova.edu)

I am a senior English major with a minor in Political Science. This summer I interned at the Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia, and my goal is to attend law school after graduation. I am from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and I love spending time outdoors.

Hayley Jellison (hjelliso@villanova.edu)

I am a senior English major with a Spanish minor. My English major has inspired a love of modern fiction authors like Virginia Woolf. My junior year I studied abroad in Spain and took classes in Spanish and an English class about Ernest Hemingway. I work at the Writing Center and worked as a journalist intern over the summer.

Valentina Lopez (vlopez1@villanova.edu)

I am a junior English and Spanish double major. My goal is to attend law school after I graduate from Villanova and I am very confident that the analytical and critical thinking skills I have developed and continue to fine-tune here as an English major will help me get there. I am involved with the Pre-Law Society Society on campus as well as Nova Dance, Special Olympics, and the Hispanic National Honors Society, Sigma Delta Pi. I am currently interning with Villanova’s Charles Widger School of Law as a community interpreter and I plan on studying abroad in the spring semester.

Dominic McDermott (dmcder03@villanova.edu)

I am a senior English major from Philadelphia. I didn’t actually declare as an English major until halfway through my senior year, because I struggled at Villanova to find a perfect balance between a focus on the arts and practicality. After declaring, I knew I had found it. The courses, faculty, and students I encountered were in the English community were beyond exciting, and although I am still figuring out my plan for after graduation, I feel secure in my prospects for the future. I am proud to be a member of this community!

Nick Toth (ntoth@villanova.edu)

I am a senior English major with a secondary major in Cultural Studies. I plan on working in the publishing industry after graduation. My literary interests are primarily contained in 20th-century American literature. During the semester I volunteer at a non-profit that serves the Latinx community. I also serve as an editor for Polis Literary Magazine and Kickbox.

Tim Warren (twarren3@villanova.edu)

I’m a senior English, Honors, and Humanities major with minors in Creative Writing and History. I’ve studied abroad in Galway, Ireland and Belfast, Northern Ireland, in which I took creative writing and film classes. On campus I’m involved in intramural sports and Phi Sigma Pi. Ultimately, I plan on pursuing law school or an MFA.

Reagan Wish (rwish@villanova.edu)

I’m a senior English major. This will be my last year in the English department, which is bittersweet, but super exciting – this year I am writing my thesis on Harry Potter! I love to read, write, and travel . . . I actually got to visit Belfast with my creative writing class last year. If you want any advice on the English program (or just someone to geek out with over musicals/poetry etc.) shoot me an email!

Call for Submissions: The Foundationalist

The Foundationalist, an intercollegiate literature journal for undergraduates based at Bowdoin College, is currently accepting submissions for its fourth issue. We are looking for fiction, creative non-fiction, poetry, and critical essays (no page limits, no themes). Submission guidelines can be found at http://thefoundationalist.com and our previous issues can be accessed through http://bowdoin.academia.edu/TheFoundationalistJournal. The deadline is Sunday, October 27.