Faculty/Colloquia News
Monthly Colloquia Series 2022-2023
Professor Caroline Hayduk is published!
Professor Hayduk's Night Bones, "A sheath we wear when we're too young to know what it is to settle", refuses to do exactly that: settle. Hayduk's playful form and unique voice offer a tangible unrest. Bouncing between persona and narrative "I", there is a speaker that wants, aches, burns, and disrupts the very core of the body and its journey in and out of the darkness of "night", how shame can harden us but also release-and where we can land in all the chaos and joy on our way there.
Henry G. Stanton, publisher/editor UnCollected Press
Copies can be purchased using this
May 1, 2024
Monthly Colloquia Series 2022-2023
The Studio Theatre was once again the setting for our last colloquia of the year. We were so proud to have one of our own English Majors, Josh Vituszynski-Sigma Tau Delta President, share with us his Slattery Fellowship work on William Faulkner. His presentation entitled, "Faulkner's Frankfurtian Voices: Navigating the "Bullshit" Narration of Absalom, Absalom!" was attended by faculty and students.
April 18, 2023
Students gathered for our next colloquia which was held in Brennan Hall room 500. Dr. Michael Friedman gave a presentation titled, "Enter Burbage: The Origin Story of an Acting Superhero in graig Pearce's Will".
February 23, 2023
November 30, in our Studio Theatre located in the McDade building, was the setting for our Departmental "Happening". Students gathered to hear poems shared by their peers and while listening, asking themselves a few questions...
What do writing and poetry do?, Do they make anything happen?, How are they "way[s] of happening"?, Does writing change things? And if not, why do it?
Nov. 30, 2022
The Studio Theatre in the McDade Building, Oct. 26, was the setting for our second dept. colloquia. We like to call it our "Dim Sum Colloquia Series". Faculty talk about their upcoming classes and all the exciting things they will be doing.
Oct. 26, 2022
We kicked off our 2022-2023 Department Colloquia Series with a presentation from Dr. Madeline Gangnes about her trip to Scotland or, "What I Did on My Summer Vacation."
Pictures of The National Library of Scotland.
Sept. 14, 2022
Monthly Colloquia Series 2019-20
On October 22 in McDade Studio Theatre, a gathering of faculty and students was held at 5:30 p.m. to talk about and introduce the upcoming Spring 2020 courses. Faculty talked as well as performed various elements of what is being offered in the Department of English, Theatre & Writing.
Oct. 22, 2019
Our 2019-2020 Monthly Colloquia was kicked off with a presentation by Dr. Rebecca Beal. The presentation titled "Speeches and Serpents" was held on October 3, 2019 in McDade, CLP 225 and was attended by both faculty and students.
Oct. 2019
Monthly Colloquia Series 2018-19
Dr. Billie Tadros led our final gathering for the academic year's Monthly Colloquia with a talk titled " A (Gendered) Poetics of Athletics and Injury: One Woman Poet-scholar-runner's Response to Macrotrauma". The Colloquia was held in the McDade Center, CLP 223 at 5:30 with light refreshments provided. Students, staff and faculty were in attendance. Looking forward to what's instore for next year.
June 11, 2019
The DeNaples Center, room 405, was the setting for Dr. Leonard Gougeon colloquia presentation titled, " Culture and Conflict: How Transcendentalism Shaped Your World". Our event started at 11:30 with faculty and students in attendance. Stay tuned for more to come...
November 14, 2018
We kicked off our 2018-2019 Department Colloquia Series on October 4, 2018 with Dr. Michael Friedman's presentation titled, "Remember the True Faith": TNT's Will. The event began at 11:30 in The McDade building, CLP 225 and was attended by faculty and students.
November 14, 2018
Monthly Colloquia Series 2017-2018
On April 26, 2018, Dr. Joe Kraus read his most recent fiction for the last monthly department colloquia of the 2017-2018 academic year. His two short stories were well-received by audience members. Dr. Kraus will be back from sabbatical in the Fall 2018 semester, when he will take over as Department chair. Stay tuned for announcements about monthly colloquia for the upcoming academic year.
June 6, 2018
Dr. Leonard Gougeon continued the Department of English & Theatre's informal gathering with his talk titled "Culture & Conflict; New England, Old England & The Civil War", on Thursday, March 8, 2018 in CLP 223. The presentation was attended by faculty and students who were entertained and educated. Next month's colloquia will be hosted by Dr. Joe Kraus, April 26, 2018 at 11:30 a.m. in CLP 223. Title forthcoming.
Date: March 12, 2018
Dr. Hank Willenbrink continued the Department of English & Theatre's monthly colloquia series with his talk entitled, "Merrit's Musical Memoir", on Thursday, November 2, 2017 in CLP 225. Faculty and students in attendance were entertained and educated. Look for this colloquia series in the Spring, when Dr. Rebecca Beal will start the semester with her talk in February 2018. Date, time, and topic to be announced in the future.
Date: November 8, 2017
Dr. Michael Friedman continued the Department of English & Theatre's monthly colloquia series with his talk entitled, "Brush up your Shakespeare:" Coriolanus in Performance on Thursday, October 5, 2017 in TDC 405. Faculty and students were in attendance, and an educational good time was had by all. Stay tuned for next month, when Dr. Hank Willenbrink will continue this series.
Date: October 10, 2017
Writing for the Law class
Prof. Diana Collins' Writing for the Law class had a few visitors on Wednesday, November 7, 2017. A panel of attorneys pictured below from right Brittany Quinn, Esq., Prof. Diana Collins, Esq., John Novak, Esq., and Ted Casey, Esq., spoke about legal careers including Family Law, Personal Injury Law, Criminal Law and more. They also gave students advise about getting into Law school.
Date: November 13, 2017
Prof. Archer’s Book Named Runner-Up for Significant Nonfiction Award
We’re delighted to pass along the news that adjunct Prof. Amye Archer’s book, Fat Girl, Skinny Girl, due out next month, has already started making waves. Red Hen Press has just named it a runner-up for its Nonfiction Manuscript Award.
Check out news of the award .
Check out Amye’s work .
Congratulations to her from the whole department.
Date: January 21, 2016
What's In a Name?
What's In a Name, you ask?
On Wednesday, February 17, Dr. Susan Mendez led a discussion of the cultural, historical, and political differences behind the identity labels of Spanish, Hispanic, Latino/a, Chicano/a and Tejano/a. The event was held in LSC 238 (The Forum) and was attended by students, faculty and staff members interested in knowing and understanding the background of these labels. Dr. Mendez is a member of the Department of English and Theatre and Interim Program Director of Latin American Studies.
Date: February 18, 2016
Boasting about our Lecturer Francisco Tutella's Writing Promise
Francisco Tutella is new to our department — where he’s teaching writing classes — but he’s been making his mark in the region for a while now. As a graduate of the Wilkes University MFA program (suddenly famous thanks to its alum Marion James winning the prestigious Man-Booker Prize ), he has been a part of the area’s creative writing community for the last few years, and he’s at work on a novel in the speculative fiction vein. He is also the subject of a recent Wilkes-Barre Times-Leader profile.
As the article puts it:
Tutella is currently working on the eighth revision of his novel, which began as the creative aspect of his MFA, and he’ll be seeking a publisher in the future. The work, as he describes it, is a speculative fiction about a love story that occurs during a partisan movement in Italy after the dissolution of the European Union and a financial takeover by Germany.
In addition to working on his novel, Tutella teaches an intensive writing course at The 草榴社区 and conducts a weekly workshop at Wilkes called “Beginning the Novel.”
To read the rest of the article, check out the following
Date: February 19, 2016
Prof. Dawn D'Aries-Zera finalist for 2016 PENN/Bellwether Award for Socially Engaged Fiction
Congratulations! Adjunct faculty member, Professor Dawn D'Aries Zera, is a finalist for the 2016 PENN/Bellwether Award for Socially Engaged Fiction for her unpublished novel "Earth Teach Me". We wish her the best of luck!
The Bellwether Prize, which was established in 2000 by Barbara Kingsolver and is funded entirely by her, was created to promote fiction that addresses issues of social justice and the impact of culture and politics on human relationships. The $25,000 prize is awarded biennially to the author of a previously unpublished novel of high literary caliber that exemplifies the prize’s founding principles. The winner also receives a publishing contract with Algonquin Books.
For more details, see
The 2016 winner will be announced March 1, 2016.
Date: February 22, 2016
Writing center coordinator nominated for Pulitzer Prize
A big CONGRATULATIONS to our very own Writing Center Coordinator, Amye Archer. The author of "Fat Girl, Skinny", was recently nominated for the memoir/ non-fiction Pulitzer Prize. To read more about Amye's memoir pick up a copy of her book and the University's paper, The Aquinas. Again, CONGRATULATIONS Amye!
Date: April 8, 2016
草榴社区 English Professor Published
Congratulations Dr. G.!!
Dr. Len Gougeon's essay, "Culture and Conflict; Thoreau, Great Britain, and the Civil War," has recently been published in a collection celebrating Henry David Thoreau's 200th birthday. The volume, Thoreau at Two-Hundred: Essays and Reassessments, eds. Kevin Van Anglen and Kristen Case (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2016), can be previewed at
In October, Dr. Gougeon will be travelling to Concord, Massachusetts, Thoreau's hometown, for the official book launch. The affair will include presentations from contributors on Thoreau's work and his continuing influence in the modern world.
Professor Diana Collins, Esq. - Writing for the Law
On Friday, November 4, 2016, students from Writing for the Law visited the William J. Nealon Federal Courthouse. They met with Federal District Judge Malachy E. Mannion (University Alumn '76) and learned about the federal court system and federal court jurisdiction. They also met with U.S. Marshal Marty Pane and were treated to a tour of the building and Marshals facilities.
Date: November 10, 2016
Back in February of 2016, I announced that my article, "The Shakespeare Cinemacast: Coriolanus," had been accepted for publication in Shakespeare Quarterly, the top journal in my field. The issue including my article has finally appeared in print (Volume 67.4, Winter 2016). If one accesses the , the illustrations are printed in color.