Events Archive

EGSA held their fall colloquim, "Rebellious Agencies: Gender, Politics, and Transformation," on October 30th from 2-5pm in the Grace Allen Room of the Library (4th floor). Readers included Megan Adams, “What about Bessie?: The Limitations of Violent Revolution in Richard Wright’s Native Son”; Kurt Fawver, title TBA; Angela Eward-Mangione, “Écriture Feminine for a Global Emergency Philosophizing and Writing Our Way through a Global Crisis: Helene Cixous as a Medusa Mutant, Militant, and Feminist Literary Philosopher”; Dan Richards, “Taking Back Control: The Deconstruction and Reconstruction of Female Religious Self-Representation in Satrapi’s Persepolis”; and Virginia Wilkerson, “Dali’s Quixote,” “Fruit-Flesh and Pulp,” and “Whitewashing.”

Featured readers included: John Fleming, Alicia Thompson, Karen Brown, Hunt Hawkins. This year the MFA program at the University of South Florida hosted Writers' Harvest, a reading that aimed to raise money and canned foods for America's Second Harvest of Tampa Bay. The reading took place at the Karma Bar and Cafe in Downtown Tampa. There was a raffle, book signings, and door prizes. Donations of $3 dollars at the door OR 3 canned goods were solicited. 700 lbs. of food was collected, and $365 raised!

The benefit this year took place in downtown Tampa at the Karma Bar & Cafe, on Friday evening from 6-9pm. The event featured music, raffles, book giveaways. Featured readers included Peter Meinke, Silvia Curbelo, and Ira Sukrungruang.

Poet Frank Gaspar visited USF on Friday, October 2 at the USF GraphicStudio. Frank X. Gaspar is the author of four collections of poetry: The Night of a Thousand Blossoms, The Holyoke, Mass for the Grace of a Happy Death, and A Field Guide to the Heavens (winner of the Brittingham Prize for Poetry), and a novel, Leaving Pico, which won the Barnes and Noble Discover Award and the California Book Award for First Fiction. His work has been anthologized in Best American Poetry 1996 and 2000, among others. His many honors and awards include a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, a Pushcart Prize, the Edgar Stanley Award and a Readers' Choice Award (both from Prairie Schooner). Born in Provincetown, MA, he now lives in southern California.

On Tuesday, September 22, 2009 The USF Department of English in conjunction with Saw Palm: florida literature and art welcomed author Christine Hale. A long-time resident of Tampa, Ms. Hale taught writing at the University of Tampa from 1996 to 2006. She will read from her new book, Basils Dream, and hold a question-and-answer session, followed by book signing. Basils Dream is Ms. Hales first novel. Her short fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared in many journals, including Arts & Letters, Apalachee Review, Natural Bridge, and The Sun. A fellow of the MacDowell, Ucross, Hedgebrook, and Hambidge colonies and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, Ms. Hale teaches in the Murray State University Low-Residency MFA Program in Murray, Kentucky. She earned her own MFA in the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers in Asheville, N.C. Event Location: University of South Florida Tampa campus. 4202 E. Fowler Ave., CHE 217, Tampa, Fl 33620. September 22, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.

Fiction writer John Henry Fleming gave a reading and discussion on September 18th at the USF GraphicStudio. Fleming is the author of The Legend of the Barefoot Mailman and the just published Fearsome Creatures of Florida. His short stories have appeared in journals such as McSweeney’s, The North American Review, Mississippi Review, Rosebud, and Georgetown Review. His work has been anthologized in 100% Pure Florida Fiction, and he was a contributor to The Future Dictionary of America. He has won several awards for his fiction, including, most recently, a Literature Fellowship from the State of Florida. He has a Ph.D. in Creative Writing from The University of Louisiana-Lafayette, an M.A. in Creative Writing from The University of Southern Mississippi, and a B.A. in Psychology from The University of Virginia.

The English Graduate Student Association hosted its annual picnic at Riverfront Park on Friday, September 11th. Students, faculty, and families joined in the fun!

Erica Bernheim and Robin Schiff shared their poetry in the Grace Allen Room at 3:00pm.

USF graduate students and faculty members shared their fiction and poetry. Readers included: J'aime' Sanders, USF Visiting Instructor; Jim Miller, MFA Fiction Writer; Lauren Oetinger, MFA Fiction Writer; and Jared White, MFA Poet. Location: Rincon Catracho Restaurant, 5901 N. Florida Avenue, Seminole Heights, 813-232-7825. Questions about this event? Please contact Erin Trauth at etrauth@mail.usf.edu or Brandon Pettit at bpettit@mail.usf.edu.

On April 17-18, 2009, USF hosted their first Writing Center Conference. For conference information, please visit the conference Web site.

The English Department's Spring Awards Assembly was held on Friday, April 17, 2008 from 3:00 - 5:00 in the CIS Atrium.

Kimberly Johnson gave a poetry lecture/discussion at 6:30pm in CPR 459.

Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society sponsored an Undergraduate Symposium held in the Grace Allen Room at the Library on Friday, April 10 from 3:00-5:00 p.m.

Dana Levin presented her poetry in the Teco Room at 6:30pm.

The English Graduate Student Association hosted its spring colloquium on April 3rd at 3:30pm in the Grace Allen room of the library.

Kay Ryan, 16th Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry, appeared on Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 7 p.m. in Gibbons Alumni Center, Traditions Hall. This event was sponsored by the Humanities Institute.

Janet Burroway gave a reading here the evening of March 24.

Fiction writer Kalia Yang gave a reading on Wednesday, February 25, at 7:00pm in the USF Graphicstudio. This event was sponsored by the Florida Literary Arts Coalition.

The English Graduate Student Association hosted its first national, interdisciplinary, graduate conference. EGSA settled on a theme of sex, sexuality, and gender with the hope that this very broad topic would encourage an exploration of current issues in society or scholarship related to sex, sexuality, and gender.For conference details, please check out our website: http://sites.google.com/site/anythingbutsafe/.

The USF Department of English and the Creative Writing Program--along with the USF College of Arts and Sciences and La Quinta Inns and Suites--held The First Annual University of South Florida Symposium on Poetry and Poetics. Full event information is available at http://english.usf.edu/data/USFPoetrySymposium.pdf.

A fundraiser was held at Skipper's Smokehouse in support of the USF English Graduate Student Association's first international/interdisciplinary conference, "Anything But Safe: Sex, Sexuality, and Gender." The fundraiser featured the following performances: Diocious --- Fiction reading by Professor John Fleming (USF) --- Poetry reading by Kendra Nicole Bryant --- Creative Non-Fiction reading by Shawn Alff --- Creative reading by Professor Hunt Hawkins (Chair of the USF English Department) --- Maybe Foreign --- And many more acts! For conference details, please check out our website: http://sites.google.com/site/anythingbutsafe/.

The English Graduate Student Association held their Fall Colloquium, Popular Culture and PoliTICKS: Gender, Race, and Rhetoric, on November 21 in the Grace Allen Room of the library.

Author E. L. Doctorow visited USF and gave a talk on the evening of November 13th. Edgar Lawrence Doctorow is widely recognized as one of America's great masters of the historical novel. His novel, The March, is a fictional account of General William Tecumseh Sherman's infamous military rampage from the burned-out ruins of Atlanta to the Atlantic ocean, and north into the Carolinas, leaving a path of destruction that affected the South for generations. The March recently received the 2006 PEN/Faulkner Award and the 2005 National Book Critics Circle Award and was a finalist for the 2005 National Book Award. This event was co-sponsored by the English Department, the Humanities Institute with generous support from private donors.

A joint English/History Department panel convened on November 10th to discuss the relation(s) between literature and history. The panelists were Professors Elizabeth Hirsh, Regina Hewitt, Shirley Toland-Dix (all from English) and Professors Scott Perry and Tamara Zwick (from History). Department Chairs Fraser Ottanelli (History) and Hunt Hawkins (English) moderated. This event was co-sponsored by the English Department and the Humanities Institute with generous support from private donors.

The International Students Group of the Department of English held an informal discussion group to engage in a cultural exchange between non-American students and their American friends beyond academic theories and programs. The discussion took place on Friday, October 24th from 3:00-4:00pm in CPR 343.

USF creative writing professor Ira Sukrungruang and MFA poet Brandon Pettit read their work on Thursday, October 23rd at Rincon Catracho Restaurant (5901 N Florida Ave).

Professor Phillip Sipiora gave a lecture about E. L. Doctorow's novel The March on October 23rd. A reception was held at 6:30 with the talk following at 7:00 in Traditions Hall of the Alumni Center. This event was co-sponsored by the English Department and the Humanities Institute with generous support from private donors.

Rita Ciresi, professor of English, gave a fiction reading at the University of Tampa, Plant Hall Music Room, on Tuesday, October 21, 8:00 p.m.

Poet James Brock, of Florida Gulf Coast University, gave a poetry reading and discussed Florida poets and poetry on October 15th. This event was co-sponsored by the Humanities Institute.

The Humanities Institute presented the Fall 2008 Professor Emeriti Research Panel with Drs. Larry Broer (English) and Kwasi Wiredu (Philosophy). Dr. Broer discussed his research on Hemingway and Vonnegut, while Dr. Wiredu presented research on Morality and African Religions.

Poet Brian Turner gave a poetry reading on October 6th at USF Graphicstudio. Brian Turner earned an MFA from the University of Oregon and lived abroad in South Korea for a year before serving for seven years in the US Army. He received a 2007 NEA Literature Fellowship in Poetry. This event was co-sponsored by the English Department and the Florida Literary Arts Coalition.

The USF English Graduate Student Association and FYC hosted their annual picnic on Friday, September 26 at USF Riverfront Park.

USF MFA students Liz Kicak and Bryan Rice read their poetry at Rincon Catracho restaurant.

Michael Berube, Paterno Professor at Penn State University, visited USF on Tuesday, Sept. 23 and gave a talk on “The Aesthetics of Cultural Studies” at 3:00—4:30 in the Grace Allen Room (4th floor) in the library.

On Thursday, September 18th, the Humanities Institute presented its first event for the Fall semester: a “New Faculty” Research Panel. Shirley Toland-Dix (English) spoke about her research on how Caribbean women novelists represented history in their fiction and Antoinette Jackson (Anthropology) spoke on the interdependence between Africans and Europeans on former rice plantations off the coast of Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

The USF English Graduate Student Association held their year-end picnic on Friday, May 2nd from 3:30-6:30pm at USF Riverfront Park (6200 E. Fletcher Ave., Tampa, FL 33637).

The English Department sponsored a spotlight reading on creative writing, featuring fiction and poetry written by department faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students.

The English Department's annual spring awards ceremony was held on Friday, April 18th in the CIS Atrium. Recipients of the creative writing, graduate and undergraduate awards were recognized, as well as faculty members with recent publications.

The English Graduate Student Association held its Spring Colloquium on March 21st.

USF graduate students Salvador Torres and James Miller gave fiction and poetry reading..

The USF Department of English presented "Writing About the Workplace," a lecture and reading with novelists Ad Hudler and Rita Ciresi.

Poet Mark Jarman gave a reading on February 21, 2008, at 7:00 p.m. in the USF Graphicstudio.

Dr. Laura Runge gave a Research in the Humanities Lecture. The title of her talk was “Doing Humanities Research in Digital Archives: 18th-Century Women’s Poetry Manuscripts."

The Mailer Review, an international journal dedicated to the life and work of Norman Mailer. The Mailer Review published its innaugural edition. For more information consult the editor, Dr. Phillip Sipiora, or the Mailer Review web page.

Susan Mooney won an Outstanding Undergraduate Teaching Award and Jay Hopler won an Outstanding Research Achievement Award. These are both competitive university awards and mark our success as a department as well the success of these individuals. Congratulations to both of them.

USF graduate students Kendra Bryant and Andrea Dennin read their poetry and fiction at Rincon Catracho restaurant.

Michael Waters, Professor of poetry at Salisbury University, read his poetry in the Grace Allen Room, fourth floor of the USF Library.

Meredith Walters read her poetry on November 5, at 7:00 p.m. in the USF Graphicstudio.

The English Graduate Student Association's Fall Colloquium, "Dramatic Happenings: Theatre and Drama from Marlowe to Flava Flav," was held on Friday, 2 November in the Grace Allen Room of the USF Library.

USF graduate students Daniel Purificato and Erin Trauth read their poetry and fiction at Rincon Catracho restaurant.

Distinguished Professor of English and Marlowe scholar, Sara Deats, presented on "The Faust Myth in Drama and Film: From the Damned Doctor to Damn Yankees," in the Grace Allen Room on the 4th floor of the Library.

Monday, October 15, author Enid Shomer read from her fiction, at 7:00 p.m. in the USF Graphicstudio. This event was sponsored by the Florida Literary Arts Coalition.

UNDER THE ROCK UMBRELLA POETRY READING--The following poets read to celebrate the publication of the poetry anthology Under the Rock Umbrella: Contemporary American Poets from 1951-1977: Reginald Shepherd, Allison Eir Jenks, Erin Belieu and William Walsh.