A classroom in Goldwin Smith Hall with the Arts Quad reflected in a window

A history of critical and methodological openness

Welcome to Literatures in English

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.

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Recent Highlights from the Department

Person sitting on a bench under a tree, reading a book

Your May 2025 reads

This month’s featured titles include essays on womanhood by A&S alumna Nicole Graev Lipson ’98.

View of a city (Berlin) from above: river and red-roofed buildings

Two A&S professors awarded the Berlin Prize

The highly competitive Berlin Prize is awarded annually to U.S.-based scholars, writers, composers and artists from the United States who represent the highest standards of excellence in their fields

Pink flowering tree and a stone colonade with people on the steps

Outstanding faculty win 2025 teaching and advising awards

Among those being recognized for exceptional teaching and mentorship this year are faculty members Begüm Adalet, Claudia Verhoeven, and Marcelo Aguiar.

People cluster together in an outdoor shelter, looking at papers and flowers

Cornell writers inspire kids’ poetry at Ithaca Children’s Garden

A crew of Cornell creative writers lent their time and experience to guide young poets during Nature Poetry in the Garden, an event held May 3 at the Ithaca Children’s Garden.

'My thesis analyzes both ancient and contemporary literature'

Sarah Stephenson is majoring in English and classics.

'When my friends and I put on a show, it is everything to us.'

Tess Lovell is majoring in English and performing and media arts.

'I now think intersubjectivity is the most important part of the human condition'

S. Gottfried is a Robert S. Harrison College Scholar who is also majoring in philosophy & English.

'I’ve realized that activism takes many forms'

Parker Piccolo Hill is majoring in English and Italian.

See more news from Literatures in English

Literatures in English Destinations

Creative Writing Undergraduate Study Graduate Study Faculty Give to Literatures in English

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.