Poem of the Day: Mark Doty’s “Ararat”
(Paris, AFP) All the world’s a stage but the irony is the rest of the globe often has an easier time understanding William Shakespeare than English speakers. Thanks to frequently updated translations that dispense with the archaic Renaissance language, foreign audiences often find the Bard easier to follow. Take “King Lear”, a new version…
Ghosts The first time I saw him he was standing in front of the Iranian embassy with his mother, or with whom I assumed was his mother. She wore a black bonnet like a black flower. He wore a black frock coat and a beige collar high under his chins. His linen was unimpeachable. His…
I first encountered Ogden Nash’s Giant Baby Panda poem settled like a gem in Marianne Moore’s 1944 essay “Feeling in Precision.” In the essay, Moore writes: “Voltaire objected to those who said in enigmas what others had said naturally, and we agree; yet we must have the courage of our peculiarities. What would become of…
Dear English Department community, Welcome back, and a special welcome to newly declared English majors just joining us for the first time! Given how isolated we all have been since covid-19 erupted this past winter, it feels especially good to reconnect this fall, albeit virtually. My work as the chair of the Department…
Toni Morrison at GWU, September 21, 2011 Nobel Laureate and Pulitzer Prize Winner Toni Morrison died August 5 at the age of 88. Professor Evelyn Schreiber, a specialist in Morrison’s work and former president of the Toni Morrison Society, was interviewed On August 8 on the Kojo Nnamdi show about Morrison’s legacy. You can…
Director of Graduate Studies Tara Wallace responds to (L to R) Farisa Khalid, Brian Dumm, Emily Lathrop On March 1st, 2019, the English Graduate Student Association (EGSA) hosted their annual symposium, where graduate students from GWU and other consortium schools gather to share their research with one another in a supportive and rigorous atmosphere. The…