English Matters: from UTC English

This time, I’m chatting with recent UTC English graduate Erin Hicks about how she helped me design my Taylor Swift course, how she wanted to integrate the pop superstar into her studies her senior year, and how her degree set her up for success as a coordinator for the Make-a-Wish Foundation!    

Theme music, “Storybook,” generously provided by Scott Holmes (scottholmesmusic.com)

Join us for a conversation with UTC English alum Mark Brooks as he talks about his time in Chattanooga, what happens when the plot surprises the author, and his new novel Laying Autumn’s Dust, available now!
To learn more about Mark and his novel, visit his website here.
Theme music, “Storybook,” generously provided by Scott Holmes (scottholmesmusic.com)

Senior Lecturer Andrew Najberg returns to tell us all about his most recent publications in horror and looking forward to writing in the fantasy genre. Like English professors are wont to do, we discuss our ever-expanding TBR lists, what we’re looking forward to in horror offerings, etc. We also discuss his upcoming Japanese women authors literature course.

Find Andrew Najberg’s books wherever books are sold. For more information about English at UTC, visit https://www.utc.edu/arts-and-sciences/english

Theme music, “Storybook,” generously provided by Scott Holmes (scottholmesmusic.com)

We’re joined this time by Dominik Heinrici, long-time UTC English faculty member and student. Dominik tells us about how he came to be at UTC, and shares with us his exciting work developing his popular class on medieval monsters! We talk about misconceptions about the medieval period, the role social media takes in creating panics, and the myth of the “digital native” along the way.

We’re joined this time by Dr. Karen Babine, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing. In a wide-ranging conversation, Dr. Babine shares intimate stories about the inspiration for her award-winning memoir, All the Wild Hungers (2019 Milkweed Editions). She tells us about her exciting course offerings in food writing and true crime at UTC, and also about her experiences managing UTC’s literary journal, The Sequoyah Review and her work with Assay: A Journal of Nonfiction Studies.

You can find out more about Assay at https://www.assayjournal.com/

We’re joined this time by Marcia Noe, Professor of English and Women’s and Gender Studies at UTC, as she tells us about her new project, Three Midwestern Playwrights: How Floyd Dell, George Cram Cook, and Susan Glaspell Transformed American Theater, now out from Indiana University Press (link below). Dr. Noe tells us about her decades-long research process for this text, as well as the significance of the artistic community that grew from the collaboration of these three unique and influential creators.

Pick up Dr. Noe's book at Indiana University Press.


For more information about English at UTC, visit https://www.utc.edu/arts-and-sciences/english

Theme music, “Storybook,” generously provided by Scott Holmes (scottholmesmusic.com)

This episode, we’re pleased to talk to Associate Lecturer Catherine Meeks Quinlan about her work developing and implementing our exciting new interdisciplinary Environmental Studies minor. For more information about the minor and how to enroll in these fascinating classes, please head to https://www.utc.edu/arts-and-sciences/departments/environmental-studies or reach out to Catherine at Catherine-Meeks at utc dot edu.

We're joined this time by senior lecturer Russell Helms as he talks with us about his love of French Realism and its significance to his own creative process. Russell also talks to us about his new novella, Sympathy, and how he came to the unique idea at its core.

You can find Helms' Sympathy at Solstice Publishing: https://solsticeempire.com/products.aspx?categoryid=521

For more information about English at UTC, visit https://www.utc.edu/arts-and-sciences/english

Theme music, “Storybook,” generously provided by Scott Holmes (scottholmesmusic.com)

Andrew Najberg is back on English Matters to discuss his interest in Japanese literature, how it has inflected his teaching and his own writing, and his upcoming course offerings in the subject.

Be sure to keep an eye out for Andrew's newest work, Gollitok, coming soon from Cactus Moon Press!

Check out more about the English Department at UTC at https://www.utc.edu/arts-and-sciences/english

We have a special cross-over this time while lecturers Josh Parks and Mike Jaynes talk on the DarkSky Podcast about their upcoming outdoor adventure book club, CampFire!

More info here: https://campfirebookclub.wordpress.com/