Cornell Department of Literatures in English

The Department of Literatures in English / Creative Writing Program proudly presents the 2026 MFA in Creative Writing Graduation Reading!

Join us on Friday, May 8 at 4:00 PM to hear from graduating poets and fiction writers!

This event will take place in Goldwin Smith Hall, G76 and is free and open to the public.

Reception to follow. More information can be found here: https://events.cornell.edu/event/mfa-in-creative-writing-2026-graduation-reading

Congrats to Alum, Susan Choi, for her book Flashlight being recognized as on of the six books that make up the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist!

Read the full article here:
https://womensprize.com/revealing-the-2026-womens-prize-for-fiction-shortlist/

"Revealing the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction Shortlist!

We are delighted to reveal the six books that make up the 2026 Women’s Prize for Fiction shortlist. A list that spotlights new literary voices – with four debut novels recognised – and showcases the unique and fresh perspectives coming from independent publishing today, with three publishers celebrating first-time shortlistings for the Prize."

Revealing the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction Shortlist - Women's Prize While this year’s shortlist spans an incredible breadth of themes, geographies, time periods, and literary styles, the six shortlisted novels each interrogate the wealth of roles women play in society, the power they hold, and the extent to which they choose, or are able, to wield it. Other shared...

JOIN US TOMORROW:
Gellman Lecture on Modern Literature: "On the Poetry of Walking" by Susan Stewart
Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET
Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall 132
Q&A to follow lecture

The Department of Literatures in English presents the Wendy Rosenthal Gellman Lecture on Modern Literature: On the Poetry of Walking, a talk considering "walking" poems by William Cowper and William Wordsworth, among others, in relation to thinking, time, distance, and the imagination.
Susan Stewart is a poet, critic, and translator and the Avalon Foundation University Professor in the Humanities, emerita, at Princeton University. Her new book of poems, Bramble, and her co-translation of Milo De Angelis's Last Stops of the Night Journey have just appeared. Her previous books include Columbarium, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, and Cinder: New and Selected Poems, as well as the prose works The Ruins Lesson, The Poet's Freedom, Poetry and the Fate of the Senses, and On Longing. She is a former Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, a MacArthur Fellow, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. Her Clarendon Lectures, Poetry's Nature, were published by Oxford University Press in 2024.
Q & A to follow lecture.
More information here: https://events.cornell.edu/.../gellman-lecture-on-modern...
The Gellman Lecture, featuring a distinguished scholar of modern literature, was established by a generous gift from Wendy Rosenthal Gellman ‘81, who majored in English at Cornell.

Gellman Lecture on Modern Literature: "On the Poetry of Walking" by Susan Stewart
Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET
Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall 132
Q&A to follow lecture

The Department of Literatures in English presents the Wendy Rosenthal Gellman Lecture on Modern Literature: On the Poetry of Walking, a talk considering "walking" poems by William Cowper and William Wordsworth, among others, in relation to thinking, time, distance, and the imagination.

Susan Stewart is a poet, critic, and translator and the Avalon Foundation University Professor in the Humanities, emerita, at Princeton University. Her new book of poems, Bramble, and her co-translation of Milo De Angelis's Last Stops of the Night Journey have just appeared. Her previous books include Columbarium, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, and Cinder: New and Selected Poems, as well as the prose works The Ruins Lesson, The Poet's Freedom, Poetry and the Fate of the Senses, and On Longing. She is a former Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, a MacArthur Fellow, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. Her Clarendon Lectures, Poetry's Nature, were published by Oxford University Press in 2024.

Q & A to follow lecture.

More information here: https://events.cornell.edu/event/gellman-lecture-on-modern-literature-on-the-poetry-of-walking-by-susan-stewart

The Gellman Lecture, featuring a distinguished scholar of modern literature, was established by a generous gift from Wendy Rosenthal Gellman ‘81, who majored in English at Cornell.

Join us for Coffee & Chat with A&S Career Development! A panel of recent English alumni will chat about their journeys through the worlds of publishing, screenwriting, teaching, and climate activism. Jen Maclaughlin from Arts & Sciences Career Development will also offer a presentation about resources and how to leverage your English degree.

Tuesday, April 28 @ 4:30p.m. in the English Lounge (258 Goldwin Smith Hall)
Open to Cornell undergraduates
Event details here: https://events.cornell.edu/event/coffee-chat-career-development-for-english-majors-2026

Join us for The Ammons Reading: Featuring undergraduate poetry & fiction
Thursday, April 30, 5:00 PM
Groos Family Atrium, Klarman Hall
This event is free and open to the public. More information can be found in our bio!

The Ammons Reading Series, supported by a gift from Beverly Tanenhaus (BA '70), honors the legacy of the late A.R. Ammons, the Goldwin Smith Professor of Poetry, by showcasing the work of Cornell's undergraduate creative writing community.

more info here: https://events.cornell.edu/event/spring-2026-ammons-reading

Join us Tomorrow!

The Spring 2026 Zalaznick Reading Series continues with a reading by author Danzy Senna.
Thursday, April 16, 5pm
Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, Klarman Hall KG70

more info: https://events.cornell.edu/event/zalaznick-reading-by-danzy-senna

The Spring 2026 Zalaznick Reading Series concludes with a reading by poet Susan Strewart
Thursday, April 23, 5pm
Rhodes-Rawlings Auditorium, Klarman Hall KG70

Susan Stewart is a poet, critic, and translator and the Avalon Foundation University Professor in the Humanities, emerita, at Princeton University. Her new book of poems, Bramble, and her co-translation of Milo De Angelis's Last Stops of the Night Journey have just appeared. Her previous books include Columbarium, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, and Cinder: New and Selected Poems, as well as the prose works The Ruins Lesson, The Poet's Freedom, Poetry and the Fate of the Senses, and On Longing. She is a former Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, a MacArthur Fellow, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. Her Clarendon Lectures, Poetry's Nature, were published by Oxford University Press in 2024.

Books will be available for purchase thanks to Ithaca's local non-profit independent bookstore Buffalo Street Books, and a book signing and reception will follow the reading.
more info here: https://events.cornell.edu/event/zalaznick-reading-by-susan-stewart

Gellman Lecture on Modern Literature: "On the Poetry of Walking" by Susan Stewart
Wednesday, April 22, 2026, 5:00 p.m. ET
Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall 132
Q&A to follow lecture

The Department of Literatures in English presents the Wendy Rosenthal Gellman Lecture on Modern Literature: On the Poetry of Walking, a talk considering "walking" poems by William Cowper and William Wordsworth, among others, in relation to thinking, time, distance, and the imagination.

Susan Stewart is a poet, critic, and translator and the Avalon Foundation University Professor in the Humanities, emerita, at Princeton University. Her new book of poems, Bramble, and her co-translation of Milo De Angelis's Last Stops of the Night Journey have just appeared. Her previous books include Columbarium, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award in Poetry, and Cinder: New and Selected Poems, as well as the prose works The Ruins Lesson, The Poet's Freedom, Poetry and the Fate of the Senses, and On Longing. She is a former Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets, a MacArthur Fellow, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. Her Clarendon Lectures, Poetry's Nature, were published by Oxford University Press in 2024.

Q & A to follow lecture.

More information here: https://events.cornell.edu/event/gellman-lecture-on-modern-literature-on-the-poetry-of-walking-by-susan-stewart

The Gellman Lecture, featuring a distinguished scholar of modern literature, was established by a generous gift from Wendy Rosenthal Gellman ‘81, who majored in English at Cornell.