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Paul Kerschen (Ph.D. ‘10) Publishes First Book!

On November 1, a month before the announced release date, and because they were too excited to wait, Foxhead Books released The Drowned Library, Paul Kerschen’s first collection of short stories. I had the distinct pleasure recently of talking with Paul about The Drowned Library, and about writing in general, which he calls, “the least oppressive labor I have ever performed.”

YARN Wins Innovations in Reading Prize from National Book Foundation

Congratulations to the Young Adult Review Network (YARN), which has recently been awarded an Innovations in Reading Prize from the National Book Foundation. YARN was founded in 2010 as an independent online journal to publish fiction, poetry, and essays by teen-aged writers alongside the work of established and emerging adult contributors. Read full post…

Alumnus Takes Over California Beat

Berkeley English alumnus Ashley Dunn has been named California editor for the Los Angeles Times. Dunn is a veteran reporter and editor, having worked at the New York Times, the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, the Danbury News-Times in Connecticut, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Most recently, he has worked as Washington editor for the Times.

Remembering Flo Gibson

Audiobook pioneer and Berkeley alumna Flo Gibson died in January at the age of 86. Gibson founded Audio Book Contractors in 1983 and personally recorded over one-thousand titles, including works by Jane Austen, George Eliot, Henry James, and Leo Tolstoy. Born in San Francisco in 1924, Gibson studied dramatic literature at Berkeley, going on to New York’s Neighborhood Playhouse and a successful acting career, before beginning to record books for the Library of Congress in the 1970s. Her full obituary is available on-line at The New York Times.

Alumnus Follows Love of Literature to new Shakespeare Board Game

that is the questionWhat follows is an account of the way one alumnus, Peter Garland, who received his BA in English in 1977, has continually found new ways to investigate and enjoy literature, the latest being a new board game on Shakespeare, “That is the Question.” Read full post…

English Major Follows Interests to Dublin, Law School

In what follows, Kali Peterson (pictured below) describes the circuitous path she has taken from her BA in English from Berkeley to her decision to study and practice law.Read full post…

Restauranteur Leverages His English Education For Success

webIn what follows, Professor Nadia Ellis describes the singular role the English Department at Berkeley has played for alumnus Charlie Hallowell (pictured right, with his daughter Matilda) who owns two successful artisanal pizza restaurants in Oakland.Read full post…

Recent Alum Spends a Year at the Kennedy Center

In what follows, recent alumna Anna Inhofe describes the year she spent as an intern at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. She describes the myriad tasks that an intern must take on and offers a glimpse into the glamorous Kennedy Center Honors event which she helped to facilitate. [Read full post...]

Notes from Postdoctoral Purgatory: A Recent PhD Reports

In what follows, Tiffany Tsao, who received her PhD in English this past Spring, reports on her life as a postdoctoral fellow at Georgia Tech. She begins with an epigraph from Dante which, she feels, encapsulates her experience so far.

…what I sing will be that second kingdom,

in which the human soul is cleansed of sin,

becoming worthy of ascent to Heaven.

(Purgatorio, Canto I.4-6)[Read full post...]

English Major Links Theory and Practice in Service Trip

What follows is a redaction of a report which recent English major graduate Caitlin O’Donnell wrote describing her experiences working on poverty issues in the Caribbean. Caitlin addresses the relationship between the “theoretical” study of literature and the “praxis” of the fight against global poverty.


Caitlin with two participants of the Barbados YWCA day camp

Caitlin with two participants of the Barbados YWCA day camp

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As an English major with a minor in Global Poverty and Practices, I am on a quest to achieve the kind of praxis emphasized in my study of Global Poverty and Practices in conjunction with the study of English literature. I know that the longer I study and practice the two together, the more linkages I will be able to make and the closer I will [...]