English

Student publication spotlights literary creativity

Members of the English Undergraduate Student Association took a hands-on approach to producing their latest publication assembling and stitching the pages, gluing buttons on the cover, and trimming them in a mass effort to ready them for distribution.

“We had a blast,” said Liz Hawkley, English student and the association’s treasurer, “and created a mosaic of buttons.”

Publishing course gives students the upper hand

UWindsor students have the upper hand among Canadian universities when it comes to the publishing process, thanks to a creative writing professor who involves them in his publishing company.

Black Moss Press founder Marty Gervais presents two manuscripts each year to the students in his editing practicum course. They have to go through the complete editing process, giving them a real feel for what the industry is like.

Gervais said it is the only course in Canada that allows students to work with real manuscripts they marshal through the entire publishing process.

City booster named Windsor’s poet laureate

Being named Windsor’s first poet laureate is a great honour, says Marty Gervais.

“I’m very proud of this community and I’m a great promoter of it and so for them to choose me to lead the way in this regard makes me feel great,” he said.

Windsor city council appointed Gervais, resident writing professional in the UWindsor English department and a publisher, columnist and poet, to the post November 28.

Councillor Percy Hatfield called him an outstanding choice.

Creative writing alumnus captures Governor General's Award for poetry

A University of Windsor graduate has won a coveted Governor General’s award for his latest collection of poetry.

Killdeer, a book of poems and essays by two-time UWindsor alumnus Phil Hall (BA 1976, MA creative writing 1978) won the 2011 Governor General’s Literary Award for poetry, the Canada Council for the Arts announced yesterday.

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Heroic traditions subject of presentation

In some ways, the Germanic epic Beowulf fits one definition of tragedy, says Lois Smedick: as a fight to the death in a narrow place against odds.

Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, with its interplay between the ridiculous and some deadly intentions, may speak more readily to our take, nowadays, on the world,” she says.

Keeping BookFest fresh a key priority for organizer

From a first meeting with Lenore Langs, you might get the mistaken impression she’s not a big fan of dub poetry or graphic novels.

Whether she’s an avid consumer of those genres, however, seems irrelevant. As a key organizer of BookFest Windsor, her interest is in promoting literature in all its forms, and keeping the three-day event fresh and current is her number one priority.

Alumnus shortlisted for poetry prize

Phil Hall published his first book of poetry while still an undergraduate studying drama and English at the University of Windsor.

The 1973 collection, Eighteen Poems, was printed in Mexico City, he recalls: “typeset by people who didn’t speak English. It was full of typos.”

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English professor elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada

Saying he loves university life, his students and teaching, English professor Tom Dilworth is glad to have been elected to the Royal Society of Canada but thinks it would be a mistake to think it means much.

The society named him to its academy of the arts and humanities in September; he will be inducted during a ceremony on Saturday, November 26, at the Ottawa Convention Centre.

“It just means that you have worked hard and published a lot,” says Dr. Dilworth. “What does make it important for me is that I was nominated by Byron Rourke.”