CSU Department of English

Congratulations to our 2026–27 “Words for the Earth” award recipients — Doug Cloud, Joanna Doxey, Ashley Davies, and Cindy O’Donnell-Allen with collaborators Jessica Jackson and Josh Zaffos — whose work is bringing environmental storytelling to life in powerful, creative ways! 🌎

Faculty and staff earn “Words for the Earth” awards for diverse environmental projects - English | Colorado State University The Department of English is proud to name the 2026–2027 "Words for the Earth" award recipients.

We’re celebrating the incredible Mary Ellen Sanger as she retires after a decade at CSU and a career spanning publishing, tourism, nonprofit work, and literacy leadership!⁠
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We are so grateful for the kindness, creativity, and deep respect for collective work Mary Ellen brought to CSU. ⁠

Congratulations on your retirement, MES—and thank you for everything you’ve given to our programs and people! 💚📚

Carrying Community Forward: Mary Ellen Sanger reflects as she retires from CSU - English | Colorado State University Across her roles at the Community Literacy Center and Department of English, Mary Ellen Sanger brought kindness, creativity, and a deep respect for collective work.

From first drafts to final papers & all the words in between, you did it!!✨📖🎓

Endlessly proud of the Department of English Class of 2026! 💚

Last month at the All-College Awards Ceremony, our outstanding English faculty and staff were honored by CSU College of Liberal Arts! 👏⁠
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✨ Tobi Jacobi, named a John N. Stern Distinguished Professor—one of the college’s highest honors—for her decades of transformative, community-engaged scholarship⁠
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✨ Andrew Altschul, recipient of the Ann Gill Faculty Development Award (Creative Arts), supporting his latest novel exploring grief, faith, art, techno-capitalism, and conspiracy⁠
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✨ Ashleigh Foster, a two-time award recipient this year, for her meaningful contributions to the department and broader CLA community⁠
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We’re proud to see their excellence in community engagement, creative artistry, and service making an impact across the college and beyond. 💛

This Teacher Appreciation Week, we’re celebrating educators who inspire us—starting with Associate Professor of English Ricki Ginsberg!

On the “Liberal Arts Impact” podcast by CSU College of Liberal Arts, Ginsberg dives into YA literature, identity, and book censorship, and explores why what we read as young adults matters so much to our empathy and critical understanding of the world.

Tune in on Spotify: col.st/6gqj8 🎧

Join us at Bas Bleu Theatre Company on Saturday, May 2, 5–7 p.m. for an evening of poetry and community as we mark the release of new books by Guggenheim Fellows Camille Dungy and Dan Beachy-Quick!

Hosted by the CSU Creative Writing Program, the Department of English, and Wesleyan University Press, with Old Firehouse Books on site selling the authors’ new and past collections.

Come listen, gather, and celebrate the work of our faculty as we close out National Poetry Month together. 📖✨

There’s no better time to celebrate two of CSU’s most accomplished poets than during National Poetry Month!

In this week’s episode of The Next 150, President Amy Parsons sat down with CSU University Distinguished Professor Camille Dungy and CSU University Distinguished Teaching Scholar Dan Beachy-Quick — both Guggenheim Fellows and treasured members of the CSU Department of English.

The conversation explores their path to poetry, what makes the art form uniquely powerful and what CSU’s Creative Writing program — now celebrating its 40th anniversary — means to the literary world. They also reflect on mentoring the next generation of poets and offer advice for students looking to find their creative voice.

Listen to the full episode 🎧 https://col.st/o8ow7

Our TEFL/TESL grad students and faculty presented eight sessions at the International Symposium on Languages for Specific Purposes (ISLSP) this spring, including a collaborative panel with the Department of Languages and Global Studies! 🌍 ⁠
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We're so proud of this incredible, interdisciplinary group & the global conversations you’re shaping!

Join the Creative Writing Reading Series for a special evening with the Center for Literary Publishing! ⁠
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This reading features 2025 Colorado Prize for Poetry winner Asha Futterman and Mountain/West Poetry Series author Susan McCabe. All are welcome! ⁠
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🗓️Thursday, April 16 | 7:30 p.m. ⁠
📍LSC University Ballroom⁠
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Learn more about our writers:⁠
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Asha Futterman is a poet and actor from Chicago. Her debut collection, SONG OF GRAY, was awarded the 2025 Colorado Prize for Poetry and published by the Center for Literary Publishing. She holds an MFA in poetry from Washington University in St. Louis and teaches at an elementary school in Brooklyn.⁠
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Susan McCabe is professor of creative writing and poetry at the University of Southern California. Her third poetry collection, I WOKE A LAKE, was published in the Mountain/West Poetry Series by the Center for Literary Publishing. She is currently working on SISTER, MY SWEET FLEET SISTER, a memoir in verse.