Past Events

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UPCOMING EVENTS

Moby Dick at 175 with Hester Blum

Join Hester Blum, Lynne Cooper Harvey Distinguished Professor of English at WashU, and Brian Yothers is professor of English and chair of the Department of English at Saint Louis University for a conversation about Hermann Melville's "Moby Dick" on his 207th birthday and make his case as for the most important contemporary writer.
Leviathan Bookstore | 3211 South Grand Boulevard

RHINO 50th Anniversary Reading

English Department graduate students, alumni, and friends celebrate 50 years of poetry
Bel Air Social | 4630 Lindell Blvd St. Louis, MO 63108

Teagan Bradway Hurst Workshop - "How to Make Queer Kin"

Teagan Bradway is Professor of English at SUNY Cortland and a Society for the Humanities Fellow at Cornell University for 2025-26. In 2024, Bradway was a Hunt-Simes Visiting Junior Chair of Sexuality Studies with the Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre at the University of Sydney. She is the author of "Queer Experimental Literature: The Affective Politics of Bad Reading" (Palgrave, 2017) and she is currently completing a book on queer forms of engroupment and co-writing “Endless Love” with the late Elizabeth Freeman.
Hurst Lounge

Teagan Bradway Hurst Talk - "Bodies That Gather: How to Practice and Sustain Queer Kinship"

Teagan Bradway is Professor of English at SUNY Cortland and a Society for the Humanities Fellow at Cornell University for 2025-26. In 2024, Bradway was a Hunt-Simes Visiting Junior Chair of Sexuality Studies with the Social Sciences and Humanities Advanced Research Centre at the University of Sydney. She is the author of "Queer Experimental Literature: The Affective Politics of Bad Reading" (Palgrave, 2017) and she is currently completing a book on queer forms of engroupment and co-writing “Endless Love” with the late Elizabeth Freeman.
Hurst Lounge

Mary Ruefle Reading

The English department will host Mary Ruefle for a reading of her works!
Hurst Lounge

Mary Ruefle Recitation

The English department will host Mary Ruefle for a reading of her works!
Hurst Lounge

Eleanor Johnson Hurst Talk - "Writing Beyond the Discipline; Writing Beyond the University: How to take your Academic Training to the Public"

Eleanor Johnson is Professor of English at Columbia University. She has published three scholarly monographs on medieval literature, theology, and environmental history, all with University of Chicago: Practicing Literary Theory (2013), Staging Contemplation (2018), and the award-winning Waste and the Wasters (2023). Her newest work pivots to think about the history of women's rights and horror: her 2025 book Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (Simon and Schuster) analyzes the relationship between horror and women's liberation in the 1970s, and her forthcoming 2026 book Monstrous Bitch: A History of Terrifying Women (Princeton) analyzes the long history of the demonization of women in Western culture. Her current books in progress center on Dante's Inferno and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Hurst Lounge | Duncker Hall

Eleanor Johnson Hurst Talk - "Scream with Me: How Horror does Politics"

Eleanor Johnson is Professor of English at Columbia University. She has published three scholarly monographs on medieval literature, theology, and environmental history, all with University of Chicago: Practicing Literary Theory (2013), Staging Contemplation (2018), and the award-winning Waste and the Wasters (2023). Her newest work pivots to think about the history of women's rights and horror: her 2025 book Scream with Me: Horror Films and the Rise of American Feminism (Simon and Schuster) analyzes the relationship between horror and women's liberation in the 1970s, and her forthcoming 2026 book Monstrous Bitch: A History of Terrifying Women (Princeton) analyzes the long history of the demonization of women in Western culture. Her current books in progress center on Dante's Inferno and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
Hurst Lounge | Duncker Hall

Visiting Hurst Professor Hanif Abdurraqib Reading

Women's Formal Lounge

Visiting Hurst Professor Hanif Abdurraqib Craft Talk

Hurst Lounge

Visiting Hurst Professor Liz Howard Reading

Hurst Lounge

Visiting Hurst Professor Liz Howard Craft Talk

Hurst Lounge

Medieval / Early Modern Studies Lecture, Lee Manion (U of Missouri)

Hurst Lounge | Duncker Hall

Shannon Robinson & Katya Apekina Readings

Shannon Robinson & Katya Apekina, alumni of the WashU MFA program, host a one night reading.
Hurst Lounge

Panel Discussion: The Political Economy of Translation

A panel discussion with acclaimed translators Ena Selimović, AJ Javaheri, and Mona Kareem.
Hurst Lounge

Visiting Hurst Professor Joseph O'Neill Reading

Hurst Lounge

Visiting Hurst Professor Joseph O'Neill Craft Talk

Hurst Lounge

Expanding Employment Horizons For English PhDs Panel

Please join us for a panel on Expanding Employment Horizons for English PhDs. Both faculty and grad students welcome!
Hurst Lounge

Workshop on Applying to Writing Jobs

Please join us on November 14th from 12:30-2:30pm in Duncker 101 for a workshop to discuss the process of applying to a job to teach writing.
Duncker 101 | Lunch provided.

Visiting Hurst Professor Rosa Alcalá Reading

Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

English Department Showcase - Arts & Sciences WOWS Fall Series

Virtual | Zoom

Visiting Hurst Professor Rosa Alcalá Craft Lecture

Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

A Conversation on Religion and the Environment: Academia, Community, Activism

The planetary ecological crisis impacts every dimension of human life, not least the religious and spiritual. This event will feature flash-talks and panel discussion from six speakers whose academic research, environmental activism, and faith-based community building are informed in distinct ways by concern for life on our planet. Their backgrounds span the humanities and STEM, and blend community leadership inside and outside academia. This event seeks to speak across disciplines, and to build bridges between the university community and the broader public. All are welcome; food and drinks provided! 
Ann W. Olin Women's Building Formal Lounge  | Standing reception to follow

MFA in Writing Department Showcase - Arts & Sciences WOWS Fall Series

Virtual | Zoom

Workshop - Serious on All Sides: Working on a Creative-Critical Continuum

The English Department is hosting visiting Hurst Professor Rosamond S. King the week of October 27-31. Her schedule includes two public events, which all are welcome to attend. Please feel free to publicize or circulate this information as widely as you wish.
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Hurst Lecture - Good Uses for ‘Bad’ Literature: Genre and Criticism in Context

The English Department is hosting visiting Hurst Professor Rosamond S. King the week of October 27-31. Her schedule includes two public events, which all are welcome to attend.
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

CANCELLED- Visiting Writer Mary Ruefle Reading from Essays and Poetry

Due to unforeseen circumstances the event had to be canceled.
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

CANCELLED-Visiting Writer Mary Ruefle Recitation of Letters

Due to unforeseen circumstances the event had to be canceled.
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Philip Leventhal Event: Publishing with a University Press

Philip Leventhal is executive editor at Columbia University Press. He acquires books in film and media studies, literary studies, and journalism studies.
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Book Launch - Edward McPherson - "Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View"

Tuesday, October 21, 2025 - 6:00pm

Edward McPherson - Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View

Presented by Left Bank Books & the Left Bank Books Foundation

Join us to help celebrate St. Louis author Edward McPherson for the launch of his newest highly celebrated book Look Out: The Delight and Danger of Taking the Long View. Blending history, reporting, personal experience, and accounts of activists, programmers, spies, astronauts, artists, inventors, and dreamers, Edward McPherson reveals that to see is to control--and the stakes are high for everyone.
Left Bank Books, 399 N Euclid Ave, St Louis, MO 63108

Visiting Hurst Professor Kim Fu Reading

Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Visiting Hurst Professor Kim Fu Craft Lecture

Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Major-Minor Fair

Each fall, the College holds a Major-Minor Fair, where students can talk to faculty members and get more information on many majors and minors at one time and in one place. For 2025, the Major-Minor Fair will be held at WashU's Athletic Complex on Monday, October 13 from 3 to 4:30 p.m.
Athletic Complex

Visiting Writer Aaron Coleman Reading

Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Visiting Hurst Professor Paul Lisicky Reading

Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Anna Kornbluh - Good Enough Art: A Few Theses on Middling Mediations

Anna Kornbluh is Professor and Associate Head of English at the University of Illinois, Chicago
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Visiting Hurst Professor Paul Lisicky Craft Lecture

Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Katherine Fama - Craft as Research Method: Critical-Creative Practice in the Workshop and Classroom

Katherine Fama is a faculty member in English, Drama, Film and Creative Writing at University College Dublin.
Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Mary Jo Bang in conversation with Matthias Göritz

Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

Department of English Open House

Hurst Lounge, Duncker Hall

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