Author alum wins MacArthur ‘genius grant’
Ling Ma, MFA ’16, has earned raves for her fiction; a Cornell Tech prof also received one of the coveted fellowships.
Read more
Welcome! Literatures in English as a department teaches students how to read and write about literary cultures. Supported by excellent libraries and in connection with a number of interdisciplinary programs at Cornell, Literatures in English invites students and scholars to engage in conversations about global cultures as they develop skills for the future.
Upcoming Events
Oct
04
Friday
10:00 AM
Books and Bugs: a symposium
Kroch Library
2B48
Oct
07
Monday
05:00 PM
Writing in a Time of War: Conversation with Shahla Ujayli, Award-Winning Syrian Novelist
A. D. White House
Guerlac Room
Oct
08
Tuesday
04:30 PM
Critical Race Lecture by Ariana E. Vigil: "Loss and Remembrance in Contemporary Latinx Literature"
Goldwin Smith Hall
258, Literatures in English Lounge
Oct
16
Wednesday
10:30 AM
BIOphelia: A Performance-Infused Scholarship Symposium
Schwartz Center for Performing Arts
Film Forum
Oct
16
Wednesday
01:00 PM
The Right on, Write In Workshop
Rockefeller Hall
190
Oct
17
Thursday
05:00 PM
Reading by Rowan Ricardo Phillips
Rhodes-Rawling Auditorium
Klarman Hall KG70
Oct
17
Thursday
07:00 PM
Oct
18
Friday
12:30 PM
Chile ’73: Fifty Years Later
A.D White House
Recent Highlights from the Department
Novelist Ling Ma, MFA ’16, among 2024 MacArthur recipients
Novelist Ling Ma, MFA ’16, and Nicola Dell, associate professor at the Jacobs Technion-Cornell Institute at Cornell Tech, have been awarded 2024 “genius grants.”
Read more
FGSS Graduate Minor Spotlight: Oona Cullen
Oona Cullen, a doctoral candidate in English language and literature with minors in feminist, gender, and sexuality studies and media studies, studies questions of embodiment, narrative, and form as they relate to experiences of race and gender.
Read more
Student spotlight: Susannah Sharpless
Susannah Sharpless, a doctoral candidate in English language and literature, studies 19th century American literature with a focus on women writers and the sea.
Read more
Professor’s feature-length documentary film debuts at Cornell Cinema
“Possible Landscapes,” a new feature-length documentary film exploring the lived experience of landscapes and environments in the Caribbean islands of Trinidad and Tobago, will have its debut screening on Sept. 25 at Cornell Cinema.
Read more
Donor’s Annual Prize Shows Appreciation for Teaching Assistants
The Deanne Gebell Gitner ’66 and Family Annual Prize for Teaching Assistants was created to put TAs in the spotlight, celebrating and recognizing them for their contributions to education at Cornell.
Read more
Black print history, community featured in exhibit
The exhibit reveals how newspapers served as a powerful vehicle for literature, culture and community-building.
Read more
Freund Prize winners to read Sept. 26
The work of the four winning writers – Andrew Boryga, Aisha Abdel Gawad, C. Michelle Lindley and Amanda Moore – spans a wide range of forms and topics.
Read moreLiteratures in English Destinations
Recent Books by Department of Literatures in English Faculty
Department faculty continually publish important works of criticism, fiction, poetry, and essays. Visit Literatures in English Faculty: Recent Books to learn more.
Land Acknowledgment
Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' dispossession, and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' people, past and present, to these lands and waters.
This land acknowledgment has been reviewed and approved by the traditional Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' leadership.
Statement from the Department of Literatures in English
We, the faculty and staff of the Cornell Literatures in English department, pledge to support and do our utmost to protect members of our community who are discriminated against, unjustly treated, or otherwise targeted because of race, religion, gender identification, sexuality, immigration status, ability, and other forms of difference.
Recognizing that words and symbols can be manipulated into violence, we renew our commitment to direct the force of language toward large and small acts of learning, alliance, imagination, and justice.