University at Buffalo Department of English

We are delighted to share that English PhD candidate Bianca Rae Messinger has won a Lambda literary award, in the category of Le***an Poetry, for her book 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 (Nightboat 2025). Congratulations, Bianca!

2026 Winners Congratulations 2026 Lammy Award Winners

English Professor Dave Alff was featured by News 4 WIVB Buffalo in its coverage of Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, during its visit to Buffalo. Professor Alff is the author of 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘊𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘰𝘳 (University of Chicago Press, 2024).

World’s largest operating steam locomotive visiting Buffalo BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — The world’s largest operating steam locomotive is coming to Buffalo. Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014, in honor of America’s 250th celebration, is emb…

A review of Department of English Professor Tanya Shilina-Conte's (Tanya SC's) book 𝘉𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘚𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴, 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘴 appears in the spring 2026 issue of 𝘑𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘊𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘢 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘔𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘶𝘥𝘪𝘦𝘴.

Just a moment...

Caroline Attardo Genco, provost and senior vice president at Tufts University, has been named ’s 16th president, becoming the first woman and Buffalo native to lead the university. Her appointment was approved by the SUNY Board of Trustees Tuesday following an international search.

Genco will join the UB community on August 10, 2026. Learn more ➡️ http://ms.spr.ly/6180vb2V4

Congratulations to graduating Ciah Courtney, who was awarded the Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creativity Award for the University at Buffalo College of Arts and Sciences!

This award recognizes outstanding Student Showcase projects that achieve superiority in presentation, content and scope, and which therefore merit acknowledgement as efforts worthy of university-wide distinction.

Her project, "Representing Displacement: A Critical Discourse Analysis of US Media Narratives on Refugees and Forced Migrants in 2025," was advised by Professor Dimitri Anastasopoulos.

A great profile of Department of English faculty Diane Christian and Bruce Jackson—both SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professors.

No plans to retire for UB’s longest-serving faculty couple Bruce Jackson and Diane Christian are still going strong, their shared legacy reaching across classrooms, scholarship and Buffalo’s cultural life.

Two UB alumni have won 2026 Pulitzer Prizes.

Sara DiNatale shares the explanatory reporting award with two of her colleagues at the 𝘚𝘢𝘯 𝘍𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘰 𝘊𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘤𝘭𝘦 and Juliana Spahr, professor of English at Mills College, is this year’s winner for poetry.

Two UB English department alumni win 2026 Pulitzers Sara DiNatale shares the explanatory reporting award and Juliana Spahr is this year’s winner for poetry.

Way to go, Sara! 🤘 grad and former UB Spectrum writer Sara DiNatale (third from left) has won a 2026 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting! 💙 She and San Francisco Chronicle colleagues won journalism's top honors for “Burned,” a series exposing how insurance algorithms failed California wildfire survivors.

BIG LOVE to Juliana Spahr on receiving the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry!

Juliana co-founded the literary journal Chain right here in Buffalo and received her PhD in Poetics from the University at Buffalo in 1996.

LIT CITY Buffalo is lit up with pride today! ✨

Congratulations to English faculty members Jay Barber, Andrew Burgess, and Paul Feigenbaum, who are among the co-authors of "Move Slow and Build Community; or, Only Communities of Practice Can Save Us," which has just been published in the journal 𝘗𝘦𝘥𝘢𝘨𝘰𝘨𝘺.

Move Slow and Build Community; or, Only Communities of Practice Can Save Us | Pedagogy | Duke University Press Paul Feigenbaum is associate professor of English and director of the Academic and Professional Writing Program at the University at Buffalo. His research, teaching, and engagement interests include community literacy, prison education, restorative justice, and the scholarship of teaching and learni...