JMU English

10/08/2026

10/06/2026

Did you miss WMRA’s Books & Brews last month?

Then you should attend a Reading & Conversation about “Life’s a Wander: Martha Woodroof in Her Own Words,” this Thursday! The event will feature co-editors Erica Cavanagh & Jack Greer!
 
Thurs. October 8th | 5:30pm
Parentheses Books
76 W. Gay St.
Harrisonburg, VA
 

09/30/2026

Last week, students in Dr. Courtney Murray Ross’s Early Black Press course visited the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.!

They had the opportunity to view historical newspapers from various eras of the Black press and were given a presentation by two Library of Congress reference librarians.

Click the link in our below to read more 📰

https://www.jmu.edu/news/english/2026/9-30-library-of-congress.shtml

09/24/2026

Congrats to Dr. Matthew Rebhorn, Professor of English, who has been selected as the editor of Herman Melville’s shorter fiction to be published by W.W. Norton & Company!

This Norton Library Edition will contain five stories—“Bartleby, the Scrivener,” “The Paradise of Bachelors and the Tartarus of Maids,” “The Bell-Tower,” “Benito Cereno”, and “Billy Budd”—and will be available next year.
 

09/22/2026

THIS FRIDAY: Come out for the 1st Nibbles & Narratives event of the year! We cannot wait to hear all of your poetry, excerpts, and prose!

Everybody is welcome and encouraged to break out of their comfort zones by empowering ourselves as writers! Join other English and Creative Writing students in sharing your writing or simply enjoying the event - and snacks!

Fri. September 25th | 5-6pm
Parentheses Books
76 W. Gay St.
Harrisonburg, VA 22802

&Narratives

09/17/2026

Yesterday, Erica Cavanagh’s African American Poetry class visited the Furious Flower Poetry Center in the newly renovated Carrier Library!

During their visit, students were able to view broadsides from the Furious Flower collection and participate in a writing prompt 📝

09/15/2026

Last semester, we had the pleasure of hosting JMU English alumna and New York Times bestselling author, Virginia Evans!

English and Creative Writing students had the opportunity to hear directly from Evans about her writing journey at JMU. Swipe to the end to see a quote that she shared with our students 💜

09/08/2026

Congrats to Dr. Mary Thompson, Professor of English & Coordinator of the Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program, who recently published her book titled, “Ordinary Abortion: Reproductive Choice in Twenty-First Century Women’s Writing.”

The book was published by The Ohio State University Press.

09/03/2026

In July, two of our professors presented at the Dickens Society Symposium which took place at Aarhus University in Denmark!

Dr. Heidi Pennington, Director of Undergraduate Studies & Associate Professor of English, gave a presentation titled, “Second Thoughts: Ethel Kate Dickens’ Great Adaptations.”

Dr. Annette Federico, Professor of English, gave a presentation titled, “On Not Getting It.”

09/01/2026

Over the summer, Charles-Nicolas Owen, Second-Year Graduate Student, attended the LABRC’s Sacred Arts 2026 Conference at the University of Oxford, UK!

There he gave a presentation titled, “The phantom pain: Imperial anxieties of uprootedness as alchemical knowing in Arthur Machen’s ‘The Great God Pan.’”