Our New Lit Lovers Have Arrived: Three English Department Babies

  Everybody’s been joking that there’s something in the water: Heather McAlpine, Ceilidh Hart, and Michelle Superle are all on maternity leave with new babies. We’re happy to announce that moms and babes are all healthy, happy, and at home catching up on their reading. Georgina May McAlpine Wetmore arrived on June 20th, 2015. Her […]

Lest We Forget: Four Great War Commemorative Events

  There’s a long literary history associated with World War I, so it’s no surprise the English department is involved in commemorating its centenary. Prabhjot Parmar is our departmental Great War superstar. After researching the topic for years, in 2015 she’s bringing it to life here at UFV. You can catch the final event this […]

UFV Creative Writing Students “Emerge” at the Reach on October 2nd

  English 405, Seminar in Creative Writing, ran for the first time in Winter 2015. Nobody was surprised that Creative Writing prof extraordinaire John Carroll nurtured some astounding talent there. And thank goodness they’re not hiding their little lights but letting them shine: Some of the former 405 gang are going public–sharing their writing with […]

What We Did This Summer: Grassroots Literary Culture

  Former UFV Cascade editor and ESA President Katie Stobbart remained immersed in literary culture all summer . . .   Student guest post by Katie Stobbart In one branch of possibility, I spent my summer pressed to the ground, lying on the beach or in the park with a book in hand, or a […]

What We Did This Summer: Exactly What You’d Expect!

  UFV Creative Writing faculty were busy doing their writerly work all summer—that is, reading and writing. Surprise! But what we lack in unexpectedness we make up for in productivity. There was a lot going on . . . John Carroll reports that he continued to work on his novel(s). Immersed in the lifelong learning […]

What We Did This Summer: Knee Deep in the Archives

By Miriam Nichols Have you ever wondered how biographies get written? Where the material comes from before somebody writes a Wikipedia entry? I have been working on a biography of the poet Robin Blaser for a good two years–longer if you count the summons I’ve received from his various friends and colleagues, instructing me to […]

What We Did This Summer: Student View on Early Literacy

  Student guest post by Nikita Griffioen It is a truth universally acknowledged that, when working with children, there is nothing a caretaker is more in want of than some peace and quiet. Don’t get me wrong—working with children is a joy. This summer I had the privilege to oversee a class of seventeen kindergartners […]

What We Did this Summer: Indigenizing the English Department

  What do baby mountain goats, Aboriginal students, and UFV English professors have in common? Wide open, far-seeing eyes, according to Shirley Hardman—our Senior Advisor on Indigenous Affairs. After a long summer spent working on individual creative, scholarly, and professional development projects, members of the English Department came together on September 2nd to pursue a […]

After English–One Grad’s Journey to Writing and . . . Poker?!

  By Heather McAlpine If you’re looking for proof that an English degree can open the door to a multitude of fascinating career options, look no further than Lane Anderson: he graduated from UFV in 2014 with an Honours BA in English literature, and is now the manager of Canada’s largest poker news website. As […]