Fall 2015 Welcome from the Chair

Dear English Students,

On behalf of the English faculty, welcome back for an exciting new year!  As many of you know, 2015-16 will be our last on the quarter system.  We will switch to semesters in Fall 2016.  Currently I am working with the dean's office on Individual Action Plans (IAPs) for all English majors.  These will let transitional students know exactly what courses they need to complete in order to graduate as soon as is reasonably possible.  If you have any questions about how the quarter-to-semester transition will affect you, please don't hesitate to come see me or your faculty advisor.

For those of you who will be graduating before we make the switch, don't feel left out!  We will be more than happy to discuss career plans with you or direct you toward exciting graduate and professional programs.

Good luck!

Andy Troup

English Department Security Guard

Even the wildlife want to pursue CSUB English degrees!

(Photo courtesy of Emerson Case)

Our Summer 2015 Reading List

The summer months provide a window for the English Department Faculty to read those books that have been sitting on the bookshelf reprimanding us with "Crack my spine, you dolt!  What kind of person are you, having not read me?"

We hear you, books.

Brooke Hughes hopes to finally get to Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing; however, realistically, she'll be reading Mr. Popper's Penguins.

Marit MacArthur plans on reading Ange Mlinko's Shoulder Season, Karl Ove Knausgaard's My Struggle, Book 4, and Elena Ferrante's Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay.

Rebecca Hewett plans on reading The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve, Think Like a Freak by Levitt & Dubner, The Dirty Life by Kristin Kimball, Hay Fever by Angela Miller, and Punching In by Alex Frankel; if she's really feeling deep, she's going to finally tackle The Challenge of Affluence by Avner Offer.

Carol Dell'Amico plans on reading Per Petterson's I Refuse.

Greg Miller plans on reading Tove Jansson's The Woman Who Borrowed Memories, Roberto Calasso's Ardor, and Kamel Daoud's The Meursault Investigation.

Matthew Woodman plans on reading László Krasznahorkai's Seiobo There Below, César Aira's The Musical Brain: And Other Stories, and Kirstin Valdez Quade's Night at the Fiestas.

Our Working Summer

For the tireless CSUB English Department, "summer break" provides the time and space for sharpening our minds on the grindstone.  Here is what we'll be studying, contemplating, meditating, and enjoying during the summer of 2015.

Monica Ayuso will be attending an NEH Summer Institute for College and University Faculty called "What Is Gained in Translation" at Kent State University, Ohio, June 7-27.

Steve Frye will complete editing The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of the American West and writing Understanding Larry McMurtry (University of South Carolina Press), both due out in 2015.

Share Your Words!

Each month as part of Bakersfield's First Fridays, Dagny's Coffee and Kern Poetry host an open poetry reading.  Come out and share your words!

The 2015 Betty Creative Writing Award Winners

Supported through the tremendous generosity of Dr. Stafford Betty since 2010, The Betty Creative Writing Awards are presented annually to honor the creative work of students at the undergraduate and graduate levels at California State University, Bakersfield and California State University, Bakersfield – Antelope Valley Campus. Awards are given in three categories – Poetry, Short Story, and Drama.

Congratulations to the 2015 winners!

Poetry

First Place - $500

Robyn Rowley

"Saw this morning; Seven; The Leap"

Second Place (tie) - $300

Mateo Lara

"America’s Hum" 

Second Place (tie) - $300

Kara McDonald

"Road From Grief: A Collection of Poems"

Third Place (tie) - $200

M’Alyssa Bundy

"Bzzzz" 

Third Place (tie) - $200

Ashley Rae Fischer

"Proofs Hurt"

Short Story

First Place - $500

Kristen Watts

"Steps"

Second Place - $300

Marlin Morales

"Punch"

Third Place - $200

Nona Linnea Stone

"The Blue Dot"

Drama

First Place - $500

Kristen Watts

"Trust Me"

Second Place - $300

Anthony Jauregui

"Michigan"

2015 Sigma Tau Delta Inductees

Congratulations to all the students who were inducted into Sigma Tau Delta during the Fourteenth Annual Induction and Awards Ceremony on April 23, 2015:

Kelly Aragon, Donald Burke, Kaylynn Clark, Kristen Flores, Ashley Fischer,
Cody Ganger, Kevin Goodwin, Rebecca Grant, Tracie Grimes, Anthony Huffaker,
Joy Hughes, Briar Keeler, Kaitlyn Kretsinger, Emily Lentini, Kasey Lewis,
Shawn McQuilliams, Richard Miller, and Tiffany Wong

Congratulations to the newly elected Sigma Tau Delta Executive Board members:

President:                           Nancy Vera
Vice President:                 Keith Kirouac
Secretary:                           Briar Keeler
Treasurer:                           Milissa Ackerley
Public Relations Officer:   Kelly Aragon
Historian:                           Kristen Mercer