Department of English

The faculty, staff, and students welcome you to the USF English department. We offer broad study in literature, rhetoric and composition, and creative writing on both the undergraduate and graduate levels, with classes taught by our distinguished faculty. The links to the left will navigate you through this site.

Please take a moment to visit our new Department Calendar at the bottom of the page!

Department Highlights

Donnelly Publishes Second Book in Two Years

Establishing Creative Writing as an Academic Discipline

Professor Dianne Donnelly, a graduate of our Rhetoric and Composition program and Associate Director of FYC, has now published her second book in two years: Establishing Creative Writing Studies as an Academic Discipline. Dianne also has a third book that is being published in early 2012. We commend Dianne for her remarkable publishing accomplishments! A description and reviews of the book are available on Amazon.

Zoetewey Receives Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award

Professor Meredith Zoetewey received one of only fifteen university-wide Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Awards for the 2010-2011 academic year. Professor Zoetewey was made aware of the award by a surprise visit to her Visual Rhetoric and Technical Communication class. Professor Zoetewey, who has been with the department since 2007, teaches graduate and undergraduate courses in professional and technical writing, rhetoric, and new media. We congratulate Professor Zoetewey on this remarkable achievement!

Successful Latina/o Student Award Recipients

The Department of English congratulates undergraduate English literature major and English Honors student Cristina Solis (on the left) and graduate doctoral student Marisa Iglesias (on the right) on receiving USF's Successful Latina/o Student Award on 6 October 2011 at a formal ceremony with President Genshaft and Dr. Zalaquett at the annual Hispanic Heritage Celebration Kick-off event. This competitive award goes to USF Latina and Latino students who are meritorious and have made excellent achievements in the areas of academic research, service, and professional development. To receive this award the student must demonstrate high levels of both professional and ethical behavior. Dr. Mooney was proud to nominate Cristina and Marisa, and remarks, "They were outstanding among the awardees in coming from the English Department and the College of Arts and Sciences. ¡Felicitaciones!"

Marty Gould Publishes Book

Professor Marty Gould's first book Nineteenth Century Theatre and the Imperial Encounter has just been published by Routledge. Gould's book argues that as an active participant in the real-world drama of empire, the Victorian theatre produced popular images that reflected, interrogated, and reinforced imperial policy: through plays and spectacles the British public vicariously encountered the sights and sounds of the distant imperial periphery.

Karen Brown Wins Prairie Schooner Book Prize

Congratulations to Karen Brown (also known as Karen Gonzalez), instructor in creative writing and USF alumna, who has been awarded the 2011 Prairie Schooner Book Prize in Fiction for her collection Little Sinners and Other Stories. This marks the second time that Karen has won a prestigious national prize in fiction for a full-length manuscript. To read the announcement, please visit the Prairie Schooner Book Prize Series page. For more information on Karen Brown, please visit her author site.

Fundraising Challenge!

We are grateful to Stacy Parker DeRaps, USF alumna and former creative writing student, who has donated $2100 from The Brian G. DeRaps Memorial Foundation in memory of her husband. $100 of her donation is to be used now; the remaining $2000 will be placed in a USF Foundation account, where it will be used in years to come to help fund our Florida-themed literary magazine, Saw Palm. Stacy challenges anyone interested in supporting great writing in Florida to add to this donation. Any amount helps and will be greatly appreciated!