Department of English, University of Calgary

Department of English, University of Calgary English is for students who want more than textbook learning. It develops speech and writing, and re

Studying the language in which we live—and its uses, from poetry to politics to the hidden metaphors of everyday life—offers a strong centre from which to explore the world within and beyond the university. Students in this program have opportunities for creativity and intellectual challenge, through broad and intensive reading, through writing, and through discussion with professors and fellow students. This is a program for students who cannot be satisfied by textbook learning: it demands, develops, and rewards intellectual curiosity, articulate speech and writing, and critical thinking.

What we’re reading (PT 2)…Our summer reading recommendations continue with Dr. Karen Bourrier, a scholar of 19th-century...
07/03/2026

What we’re reading (PT 2)…

Our summer reading recommendations continue with Dr. Karen Bourrier, a scholar of 19th-century literature and culture. Karen also teaches a popular Austen course —Jane Austen: from Book to Film—which will be offered again next year (Winter 2027). At writing, there are just 2 seats available! Karen decided to go for a Canadian connections theme with her recommendations. More from Professor Bourrier on her ‘must reads’ below:

Ann Foster. Rebel of the Regency: The Scandalous Saga of Caroline of Brunswick, Britain's Queen without a Crown (2026). I read this as a treat at the end of the semester. It was so much fun. Irreverent (Foster calls the Prince Regent by his nickname "Prinny" throughout) but completely historically accurate. And the author, who hosts the popular Ann Foster (Vulgar History podcast), wrote it totally from Saskatchewan!

Patricia Finn. The Golden Boy (2026) This was a page turner about an ex-philosphy PhD turned TV executive set in Hawaii and Kingston, Ontario. I was at Queen's the year that the backstory is set in Kingston, so I had a lot of fun remembering the city. And, Finn is a debut novelist from BC in her seventies who has made a big splash!

Julie Sedivy. Linguaphile: A Life of Language Love (2024). I'd been meaning to read this one since it came out a couple of years ago. It's a lyric memoir that pairs the trajectory of Sedivy's life with what we know about language acquisition and loss. Sedivy is a linguist who taught at Brown before moving here, to Calgary! I'll be honest, I cried when I read the part about sexism in the academy.

Students from Professor Rebecca Sullivan’s ENGL 388 course on Lucy Maud Montgomery helped launched Kindred Spirits: The ...
06/19/2026

Students from Professor Rebecca Sullivan’s ENGL 388 course on Lucy Maud Montgomery helped launched Kindred Spirits: The Lucy Maud Montgomery Legacy Book Arts Exhibition at the Central Library on June 8. Professor Sullivan—along with students Michael, Kaela, and Jade—shared their experience reading Montgomery and constructing handmade, historical scrap books that might have been devised by some of Montgomery’s fictional characters. Congratulations to Professor Sullivan and her students on their exemplary work keeping the books of Montgomery alive: “It’s delightful when your imaginations come true, isn’t it?” The Kindred Spirits exhibition is at the Central Library until June 30th. Thanks to English Department friends, the Calgary Chapter of CBBAG, for the stab stitching tutorial!

English students in the spring session of the Book Arts Workshop are busy assembling their handmade books. They have spe...
06/05/2026

English students in the spring session of the Book Arts Workshop are busy assembling their handmade books. They have spent the spring session in our Book Arts Lab with Professor Zytaruk learning to make paper, set type, print, and bind books.

Applications for ENGL 520: Community Engagement Through Literature, are still being accepted for Fall 2023 and Winter 20...
08/16/2023

Applications for ENGL 520: Community Engagement Through Literature, are still being accepted for Fall 2023 and Winter 2024 terms.

This unique course combines classroom and community-based learning in collaboration with the Calgary Public Library, “Creative Writing Club” for school-aged children. Contact [email protected] to apply!

FALL 2023 CREATIVE WRITING COURSEENGL 436.01 Popular Genre Writing (TR 12:30-13:45)Poetry: Short Forms, with Dr. Anna Ve...
07/20/2023

FALL 2023 CREATIVE WRITING COURSE

ENGL 436.01 Popular Genre Writing (TR 12:30-13:45)
Poetry: Short Forms, with Dr. Anna Veprinska

This course aims to inspire, develop, and refine your own poetic voice alongside your peers. In particular, we will focus on writing and reading a range of short form poetry from historical forms like the haiku and the sonnet to contemporary forms like the visual poem and the Instagram poem. Our course places special emphasis on contemporary poets as a way of understanding where your voice fits in the poetic conversations taking place today. We will closely and critically read short form poems by published poets, compose our own poems, workshop our poems, and revise our poems based on feedback. Part of our course will include attending a poetry reading.

Are you looking for a course to add to your Fall 2023 schedule?ENGL 517 Advanced Topics: Theoretical and Cultural Studie...
07/20/2023

Are you looking for a course to add to your Fall 2023 schedule?

ENGL 517 Advanced Topics: Theoretical and Cultural Studies
Postcolonial Studies with Dr. Clara A.B. Joseph (MW 15:30-16:45)

Immerse yourself in a transformative exploration of colonial, postcolonial, and decolonial theories alongside the captivating voices of literary and cultural texts. Join us for a ground-breaking journey where narratives boldly challenge and “talk back” to prevailing ideologies!

As TIA House wraps up its final year, we invite you to join us for a discussion of the project’s impact on our community...
03/27/2023

As TIA House wraps up its final year, we invite you to join us for a discussion of the project’s impact on our community. TIA House, run by Dr. Larissa Lai, has been dedicated to exploring the interactions of social justice, futurity, and innovative aesthetics in creative writing. For the past three years, the project’s graduate students have produced a podcast series, TIA House Talks, interviewing some of Canada’s most innovative writers.

Dr. Larissa Lai will offer reflections on the project and graduate students will discuss memorable interviews. Come celebrate nine years of creative writing community building at TIA House!

More information on the event: https://events.ucalgary.ca/arts/english/event/433240-tia-house-talks-a-celebration-of-9-years-at-the

Shirley Anne Tate, Professor and Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in Feminism and Intersectionality, Department of Sociology...
03/09/2023

Shirley Anne Tate, Professor and Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in Feminism and Intersectionality, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, will give a talk titled, “White feminist supremacy: The impossibility of Black feminist allyship” via Zoom on March 17 from 10.30 a.m. to 12 p.m. The online event is hosted by the Research Committee, the Department of English, University of Calgary.
https://events.ucalgary.ca/arts/english/event/432165-white-feminist-supremacy-the-impossibility-of

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