English Department News
Post-doctoral Fellow Jackson Connor Publishes Essay, “A Good Weapon”
News for 04-24-2013
Post-doctoral Fellow Jackson Connor Publishes Essay, "A Good Weapon" in the newest issue of the journal River Teeth. The essay simultaneously explores images of torture from the war in Afghanistan and issues of class, race, and prejudice in rural Pennsylvania and Athens, Ohio. Dinty W. Moore, Director of Creative Writing, calls Connor’s effort “a brave, honest, brutal, and quite beautiful essay.” The February 2013 issue of River Teeth can be purchased in paper form or for reading on a Kindle here. The essay is also available through Ohio University Library’s full-text OhioLINK database here.
Call for Papers: 16th Biennial Rhetoric Society of America Conference
News for 02-19-2013
San Antonio is an ideal city for thinking about borders. Not only has the city been positioned along different national borders, but it also exists at the interesting intersection of diverse cultures and histories. “Border Rhetorics” not only invites consideration of these kinds of geographic, political and cultural borders but also invites consideration of a wider range of borders: the borders between identities, between roles, between disciplines, between concepts, etc. The 2014 conference theme seeks to spur a broad conversation about the borders that unite and divide us, the ways in which these borders are constructed and deconstructed, confirmed and contested.
The theme of “Border Rhetorics” opens a space for numerous inquiries and conversations about the things that constitute our borders – politically, culturally, academically, etc. – as well as the ways in which those borders are constructed, crossed, challenged, circumvented, diminished and redrawn. The theme also encourages us not only to think about our borders but also to think across them in the hopes of opening spaces for dialogue and disagreement that may in turn alter our sense of these borders.
Interested parties are invited to submit abstracts for individual papers, proposals for panels, and ideas for special format events (roundtables, debates, etc.). Panels representing only one institution are strongly discouraged and a slight preference will be shown for panels representing not only different institutions but also different disciplinary fields (e.g., Composition and Communication Studies). Submissions that take advantage of off-site venues are also encouraged.
Submission Policies:
- All submissions must be submitted through the electronic submission platform available HERE.
- All submissions must be submitted by the deadline of July 1, 2013.
- Abstracts for individual paper submissions should be no more than 250 words and must include the name and affiliation of the author.
Panel proposals must include:
Proposals for special format (roundtables, debates, performances, etc.) should include:
- Rational of no more than 150 words;
- Name and affiliation of each presenter.
- Generally, no participant will be allowed to present more than two papers at the conference.
- Proposers will be notified of acceptance/rejection in early Fall.
Any questions concerning submission guidelines/policies can be directed to Kendall Phillips –
Faculty Member Dinty W. Moore Edits Nonfiction Bestseller
News for 01-02-2013
Dinty W. Moore, was listed as #6 in Small Press Distribution's top-ten list of bestselling nonfiction titles for 2012."OU English faculty member Eric LeMay is among the 26 distinguished writers represented in the craft of essay writing collection. Click here for the announcement.
Marsha Dutton’s Talks on Medieval Cistercian Writers
News for 12-25-2012
In August of 2012, Professor Marsha Dutton gave eight talks on medieval Cistercian writers at Our Lady of Guadalupe Trappist Abbey in Lafayette, Oregon.
Zakes Mda’s Memoir Included in List of “100 Notable Books of 2012”
News for 12-20-2012
Professor Zakes Mda's memoir Sometimes There is a Void is included on the New York Times Book Review's list of "100 Notable Books of 2012."
“Mda takes us deep into his country’s literal interior, those rural regions that, in most South African writing, are pushed to the margins,” writes Robert Nixon about Mda’s “Gregarious and transfixing memoir.” Find the full review, here
Professor Ayesha Hardison Presents at ACS Conference
News for 10-22-2012
In July, Professor Ayesha Hardison presented "From Native Daughter to International Ebony: The Life and Times of Era Bell Thomson" at the Crossroads in Cultural Studies conference, hosted this year at Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris. The conference is organized every other year by the Association for Cultural Studies.
Traci O. Connor’s Work Published by Sidebrow Press
News for 10-22-2012
Selections of Traci O. Connor's work were published in March of 2012 as part of a collaborative chapbook entitled White Horse, published by Sidebrow Press. According to the publisher's website, "White Horse threads the poetry and prose of 25 writers into an experimental narrative of the altered and its after effects." Those interested can click here to purchase copies of the book, or can preview the book here.
Lydia McDermott Contributes to Feminist Rhetorics Collection
News for 09-28-2012
Eric LeMay’s Multimedia Publications
News for 09-23-2012
Eric LeMay recently published several multimedia essays:
"Gaetan Dugas, A Personal History" has been published in issue 15 of the online literary magazine Drunken Boat;
"Taking Up Montaigne: The Essay in the Digital Age" appears in In Media Res, an online Media Commons project;
and "Of Studies" was published in the spring issue of New River Journal: A Journal of Digital Writing and Art.