News
Our newsletter celebrates the latest publications, presentations, awards, teaching highlights, activities, and more of English faculty, graduate students, alumni, staff, and undergraduates.
Summer 2025
Publications, Exhibits, & Acceptances
Lauren Westerfield’s debut collection of experimental essays, Depth Control, was published on April 15, 2025. Recent press includes a review in The Los Angeles Review and a feature and interview in REVOLUTE.
Grant Maierhofer’s novel Traumnovelle was reissued April 16th by Erratum Press. His book about art and marriage and familyhood, Maintenance Art, came out May 2 by Sublunary Editions.
Grant Maierhofer signed a contract with Bloomsbury, New York to write a book for their Timecodes series on “Synecdoche.”
Cameron McGill has a poem from his new manuscript forthcoming in Virginia Commonwealth University’s journal Blackbird.
Bibhushana Poudyal published her book Gendering South Asia: Rhetorical Non-Phallic Bodies in the Global Capital with Routledge.
DJ Lee published the article “Emergent” in Romantic Circles, a refereed scholarly journal and website devoted to the study of Romantic-period literature and culture. The article appears in the special issue Romanticism and Antislavery Literatures: Pedagogies and Contexts edited by Joselyn M. Almedia and Amelia Worsley.
Conferences, Readings, Workshops, Performances, & Presentations
Lauren Westerfield organized “Finding a Home for your Creative Writing: A Literary Publishing Panel,” a celebration of Creative Writing and Honors College faculty authors, which took place on April 17 at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art. The event was sponsored by the WSU Honors College and featured panelists Peter Chilson, Buddy Levy, Annie Lampman, Jeff Jones, Cameron McGill, Grant Maierhofer, and moderator Colin Criss.
Finding a Home for your Creative Writing: A Literary Publishing Panel
Lauren Westerfield and Grant Maierhofer held a co-launch of their new books, Depth Control and Traumnovelle, at Brused Books in Pullman on April 25th. Guest readers included Peter Chilson and Colin Criss.
Cameron McGill invited Lauren Westerfield to read as an opening act (alongside Moscow poets Oscar Oswald and Mike McGriff) at his latest performance as The Widow Cameron at Moscow Contemporary Art Gallery on April 26th. The show was also a benefit for Alternative to Violence on the Palouse.
Bibhushana Poudyal presented “Remixing the Writing Classroom for Social-Global Justice” at the Conference on College Composition and Communication in Baltimore, MA., April 2025.
Grant Maierhofer participated in a Crimson Reads event on a panel focused on writer’s block on Thursday, March 27, in the Library Atrium.
WSU hosted the 83rd College Language Association (CLA) Convention April 23-26, 2025. It was the first time that this organization had ventured to the West Coast. WSU English served as the host committee, which included Aaron Aforlea, Wendy Olson, Desiree Hellegers, Myra Henderson, Genoveva Vega, Allison Reichman–Bennett, Sara Brock, Sezin Zorlu, Valanci Villa, Christel Woods, and Thabiti Lewis.
The 83rd College Language Association (CLA) Convention, WSU Vancouver
Teaching Highlights, Activities, & Innovations
The Department of English warmly welcomed alumna and donor Grace Valeson (B.A. in English—Literary Studies, 2019) to campus on April 25 to present the Grace Valeson Literary Studies Award to our first recipient: Lexi Starcer. Grace also visited with students in Dr. LeeAnn Hunter’s ENGL 302 class for an inspiring discussion about how to navigate the job market with an English degree, with particular attention to the ways literary studies can inform and enhance professional life.
Hope Dela Cruz, 2025-2026 Campus Civic Poet, was featured in a WSU News article on June 5.
KPBX Poetry Moment featured Natalia Bhend and Liz Wesorick reading their own work and the work of others they selected on April 28 – May 2, at 9 a.m. each day. Both are terrific poets and regulars at Open Mic@Brused Books.
Colin Criss and Linda Russo presented “Vivaldi The Four Seasons: Literally Speaking,” a reading a collaborative poem translating Vivaldi’s “Four Season” poems to portray contemporary effects on seasonal cycles and climate realities on Tuesday, April 15 in Bryan Hall Theatre. They collaborated with School of Music professor Christiano Rodrigues and the WSU student orchestra. They also presented this collaboration on April 19 at the Terrel Library Atrium.
On Wednesday, April 16, Lauren Westerfield and Grant Maierhofer had a book launch at Brused Books in Downtown Pullman.
Also on April 17, Campus Civic Poets Joel Kemegue, Jada Rome participated in an Open Mic Poetry Bash.
The “Summer Series” Open Mic @Brused Books with MC Heather Taylor is being held on May 22, June 19, and July 24, from 6-7 p.m. The events are sponsored by the WSU Department of English and Cougs for Recovery.
WSU Open Mic@Brused Books
Awards, Honors, Prizes, Fellowships, & Grants
Lauren Westerfield’s second book, Woman House: Essays and Assemblages, was awarded the 2025 Juniper Prize in Creative Nonfiction and will be published in 2026 by the University of Massachusetts Press.
Kate Watts has been named UCORE Director for Washington State University and was featured in WSU News.
Gavin Doyle has been chosen as a 2025 Publicly Engaged Fellows cohort. The David G. Pollart Center for Arts and Humanities, with support from the WSU Graduate School and WSU Libraries, created with the assistance of a National Endowment for the Humanities NextGen grant work equitably with community partners and then offers those students opportunities to develop an independent, funded summer project of engaged scholarship. Gavin will create a working archive and special collection of UAW 4591 that chronicles the ongoing work of Academic Student Employees at Washington State University.
Linda Russo has been chosen as a 2025-2026 Faculty Fellow sponsored by the David G. Pollart Center for Arts and Humanities. Faculty Fellows represent a variety of disciplines in our arts and humanities community. Russo’s project is a Plant Companion Field Guide.
Rachel Sanchez and DJ Lee have been chosen as editors of the next issue of About Place Journal, a literary arts publication of the Black Earth Institute. The issue they are editing is called “On Freedom.”
Bibhushana Poudyal was awarded a Weiss 2025 Summer Fellow by the College of Liberal Arts at The Pennsylvania State University.
Bibhushana Poudyal was awarded a New Faculty Seed Grant for the project Digital Storytelling and Global South Solidarities: Justice-Driven Open Scholarship in Humanities from Washington State University, 2025-2026.
Bibhushana Poudyal was awarded Best Graduate Seminar of the Year Award for “ENG 548: Seminar in Critical Cultural Theory: Archives, Rhetoricity of Technologies, and Anti-Oppressive Interventions, voted by English Graduate Organization 2024-2025.
The 2025 WGSS Graduation and Awards Celebration took place on April 17 at Foundry. The 2025 WGSS endowed scholarships totaled $18,000 and WGSS awards totaled $6000.
WGSS Outstanding Senior was super smart Eva Baydo–Bravo, a double major in WGSS/POLS who plans to go to law school.
The WSU English Department awarded the following distinctions for the 2024-25 school year:
Anita and Richard McDonald English Excellence Endowment
Isabella Noe, Prakash Paudel, Jenna Powell, Nazua Idris, Daman Khalid
April Seehafer Scholarship Fund
Josephine Rushmer
Basil and Ella A. Jerard Endowment Fund
Clementine Austinson, Wyatt Blaszak, Ainsley Brown, Mallorey De Leon, Hope Dela Cruz, Oscar Dominguez, Kayleigh Elder, Olivia Hubbard, Piper Jeromsky, Silas Keifenheim, Kilee Landreau, Rebecca Lommers, Sarah Murphy, Makenna Portmann, Andrae Smith, Isabella Swenson, Griffin Terry, Marcy Tran, Christel Woods, Frances Woodward.
Bill and Alice Fitch Endowed Scholarship for English
Margot Mills, Alicia Morris, Jennifer Proefrock, Andrea Rodriguez, Summer Smith, Macy Thomas, Adrianna Torres, Clarence–Clyda–Claryda
Smith Excellence Endowment in English
Oscar Dominguez
Eva Feryl Peterson Fellowship
Isabella Franco, Wyatt Keith, Coty Marlin, Adrianna Torres, Eloy Turjillo
J. B. Lord Memorial Endowed Scholarship in English
Haley Dugan
Jennie Brown Rawlins Scholarship in Creative Writing
Elise Opheim
John W. Ehrstine Scholarship Endowment
Sara Brock
Kris A. Conde “For the Love of Literature” Scholarship
Alecia Noldner
Ruth Slonim Endowed Scholarship in English
Payton Kerns
Stanley P. Williams Memorial Scholarship
Alicia Morris
Avon Murphy Scholarship
Valanci Villa
Awarded to a PhD student who has demonstrated promise for future academic achievement, merit, leadership, creativity, and contributions to campus life and environment.
Avon Murphy Scholarship, awarded to a PhD student who has demonstrated promise for future academic achievement, merit, leadership, creativity, and contributions to campus life and environment.
Sezin Zorlu.
Summer Dissertation Fellowship
Prakash Paudel
Alexander Hammond Professional Achievement Award, presented to a student who has shown steady, consistent, and remarkable professional growth and achievement over the course of their PhD degree.
Prakash Paudel
Eva Peterson Fellowship, for outstanding work by a graduate student in the field of Native/Indigenous American studies.
Eloy Trujillo
Outstanding Seminar Paper, Ph.D. Level
Corita Fernando for “An Archive of Absence: No Body Remains in Memory of ‘Development,’” (Bibhushana Poudyal, English 548)
Outstanding Seminar Paper or Project, M.A. Level
Genoveva Vega for “Reviviendo Mi Lengua Mixteca (Ñuu Savi) y Reconectándome Con Mis Raíces Mixtecas: A Journey of Language, Culture, and Belonging,” (Bibhushana Poudyal, English 548)
Schleiner Award (for outstanding PhD qualifying exam)
Sara Brock, Chelsea Kopp, Prakash Paudel, Sumaiya Sharmin
Nancy Van Doren Dissertation and Defense Award
Elizabeth Forsythe, Rachael Wolney
Grace Valeson Literary Studies Award
Lexi Starcer
Sarah Weems Award for Creative Nonfiction
Rebecca Lommers
Weems Honorable Mention
Kate Bladek
Ruth B. Slonim Poetry Scholarship
Payton Kerns
Rawlins Award
Elise Opheim
Rawlins Family Poetry Award
Natalia Bhend, Darla Mae Dumo
Campus Civic Poet
Hope Dela Cruz
EGO Service Award
Sara Brock
Best Peer Mentor
Sezin Zorlu
Community Builder
Alli Riechman–Bennett
Most Collaborative
Sara Brock
Most Creative
Josie Cohen–Rodriguez
Most Supportive Faculty Member
Kate Watts
Excellence in Teaching—Graduate Teaching Assistant
Rachael Wolney
Excellence in Teaching—Non-tenure Track Faculty
Jacob Hughes
Excellence in Service—Non-tenure Track Faculty
Caroline Hall
Message from the Chair
As I read through this new issue of The Current, I am awestruck by the rich variety of activities completed by my colleagues: English faculty and students alike. From publications to public readings, conferences, and workshops; from pedagogical innovations that acknowledge our tremendous dedication to providing students with a transformative learning experience to the prizes and awards we’ve received honoring our commitments to the arts, to social justice, and to health and wellness – the English Department is a hive of creative-critical activity of which I am certainly proud to be a part. I encourage you to click on the links embedded here to explore further our considerable contributions to the broad, wonderfully interdisciplinary field of English Studies. Thank you.
Kirk
Professor and Chair