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SMU English @smuenglish.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

We’re proud to sponsor the 2026 Atlantic Book Awards. At SMU English, we study how stories shape culture, identity, and public life—and there’s no better place to see that in action than here. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing why storytelling matters now more than ever. Stay with us.

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 17/03/2026

Inside English @ SMU: Join @smuenglish.bsky.social for an interactive celebration of creativity and community! Print your own custom bookmarks, enjoy readings by creative writing contest winners and meet with faculty, students and a career counsellor. March 27, 11 am–2 pm in MM 201: loom.ly/Tff8YNE

A poster to promote the event "Inside English @ SMU", coming up on March 27, 11 am to 2 pm in MM 201. The event will feature winners of the department's annual Creative Writing Competitions, with an award ceremony and readings.

For the full event program, visit https://www.smu.ca/english/newsandeventsentries/inside-english--smu-.html

The poster includes 17 small photos showing highlights from various events held by the department.

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 15/02/2026

🌹 A timely Valentine's weekend update on Dr. Goran Stanivukovic of @smuenglish.bsky.social. “The Romance and Wonder in the Age of Shakespeare” is his current research project as a #CRRS Fellow with U of T's Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies. More info: crrs.ca/about_us/people/fellows

A photo of Dr. Goran Stanivukovic in his office in the Department of English Language and Literature at Saint Mary's University in Halifax. He is standing next to a bookshelf.

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 01/02/2026

Due by Feb. 20: Submit your #shortstory entries for the 2026 Margó Takacs Marshall Prize for Excellence in Short Story Writing! 🏆 Presented by @smuenglish.bsky.social, the annual contest is open to all currently enrolled students across SMU. Learn more: loom.ly/nNjWVMg. #SMUEnglish #CreativeWriting

A poster promoting the annual short story writing contest. An abstract illustration shows a colourful typewriter with a jumble of letters floating upward from it.

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 31/01/2026

Due by Feb. 20: Submit your #poetry and #spokenword entries for the 2026 Joyce Marshall Hsia Memorial Poetry Prize! 🏆 Presented by @smuenglish.bsky.social, the annual contest is open to all currently enrolled students across SMU. Learn more: loom.ly/nNjWVMg. #SMUEnglish #CreativeWriting

Poster advertising the annual poetry prize. An abstract illustration shows a fountain pen dipping into an ink pot.

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 15/01/2026

Carbon Arc Cinema's #NovaScotia Retro Film Festo is coming up soon! Dr. Jennifer VanderBurgh of @smuenglish.bsky.social will host a Q&A with short films by pioneering film director #MargaretPerry, at the Nova Scotian Vintage Shorts event Feb. 1 at 1 pm. www.carbonarc.ca/events/nova-... #SMUEnglish

carbonarc.ca

Nova Scotian Vintage Shorts (NSRFF) — Carbon Arc

Screening times: Sunday, February 1, 1:00 PM - special guest attending! Various directors | Canada | Various Years This collection of vintage shorts from Nova Scotia is screening as part of the...

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

📣 #ArtsForEveryone returns this winter with 4 free courses, including one online offering: Introduction to Composition (ENGL 1100) starts Jan. 7 with Dr. Seán Kennedy. 📚 It runs Mondays + Wednesdays, 10–11:15 am. Register here: smucc.brightspace.com/course/21/co... @smuenglish.bsky.social #A4E

ENGL 1100 course poster, with a partial image of the book cover for Future Howl, by Sue Goyette.

Text:
Arts for Everyone presents ...
Introduction to Composition (ENGL 1100)
Winter 2026
Mondays + Wednesdays online!
10-11:15 a.m.
with Dr. Seán Kennedy

Course description:
The course teaches us how to write by teaching us how to think. The wager is that to write well means to think well. If you want to write critically you must think critically. The course text will be 'Future Howl', the latest book by local visionary Sue Goyette MA’21.

"'Future Howl' is a complex, exacting achievement," says Dr. Kennedy. "It is traumatic and traumatized, but also resistant and resilient. It rewards careful thought and patient consideration. To unravel its secrets, we will study aesthetics, poetics, psychoanalysis, liberal colonialism, ecocide, humanism, posthuman feminism, Alice Munro, and wolves."

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

Unforgetting and the Politics of Representation: Voices from Contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina | The Forgotten Children of War Association hosted a #Sarajevo book launch in November for Dr. Tatjana Takševa, Chair of @smuenglish.bsky.social. Read more: loom.ly/HIdWkHo. #SMUEnglish #artswithimpact

An image of the book cover for 'Unforgetting and the Politics of Representation: Voices from Contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina' (Routledge, 2025). Along with the book's title and author, the cover includes an abstract artwork in shades of turquoise and greenish gold.

While overseas for her book launch, Dr. Tatjana Takševa of Saint Mary's University also delivered guest lectures at the University of Sarajevo and International Burch University.

Her talks opened space for interdisciplinary dialogue on traumatic experiences, collective identity in post-conflict settings, and the role of dialogue in peacebuilding processes. Special focus was devoted to the experiences of children born of war, specifically those born as a result of wartime sexual violence.

"The discussions with local faculty and students were deeply meaningful, reaffirming the importance of creating environments where young people and community members can critically reflect on issues shaping contemporary civil society," said Dr. Takševa.

A book launch photo with Dr. Takševa at left, reading from her new book. On the right is Ajna Jusić, President of Zaboravljena djeca rata / Forgotten Children of War Association.

Also in attendance were research participants whose first-person narratives appear in the book, as well as other survivors, activists, students and scholars.

“Their involvement underscored the profound collaborative nature of the project and highlighted the courage of survivors who chose to share their lived experiences,” said Dr. Takševa.

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 21/11/2025

How AI is shaped by fiction: Check out @halifaxexaminer.ca for @timbousquet.bsky.social's video interview with Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social. #SMUEnglish #artswithimpact

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 12/11/2025

The #SMUReadingSeries presents "An evening with Kate Cayley" on November 27. Winner of the Trillium Award, O. Henry Prize and Mitchell Prize for Poetry, Cayley will read from her new novel Property, published by @coachhousebooks.bsky.social. 7 pm in SB 255: loom.ly/bnvuCYY @smuenglish.bsky.social

An event poster with a black-and-white photo of writer Kate Cayley on the left, and a colour image of the cover of her new novel, Property just above her shoulder. The book cover shows an illustration of waves.

Text:
The SMU Reading Series presents ... An evening with Kate Cayley
Winner of the Trillium Award, the O. Henry Prize and the Mitchell Prize for Poetry
Cayley will read from her new novel, Property.
Thursday, November 27, 2025
7:00 p.m. | Sobey Building, room 255
Admission free | All welcome

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

Apply by Nov. 30: The Edna and Velma Thomas Kane Writers Award supports SMU students of African Nova Scotian and Black/African descent in the next steps toward their #writing aspirations. Graduating with a BA or BES in 2026? Learn more: loom.ly/lo5R-k0 #KaneWritersAward #SMUAlumni #artswithimpact

loom.ly

Kane Writers Award: Apply by November 30 | SMU News and Events

The  Edna and Velma Thomas Kane Writers Award  supports aspiring writers of African Nova Scotian and Black/African descent. Valued at $30,000, the award will be pres...

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 20/10/2025

"Resist the AI hype and question the uncritical adoption of this technology," Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social warns in her latest commentary piece for @halifaxexaminer.ca. #SMUEnglish #OpEd #ArtificialIntelligence #AI

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 24/09/2025

Call for applications! The Amadeus Choir seeks poets and composers from across #Canada to take part in its next Choral Creation Lab. Dr. Luke Hathaway of @smuenglish.bsky.social is a poet mentor this year! Learn more and apply soon: amadeuschoir.com/CCL/ #amadeuschoir #choralmusic #poets #composers

Amadeus Choir's call for applications for its 2025-26 Choral Creation Lab, and announcement of its team of mentor poets and composers. Learn more and apply at https://amadeuschoir.com/CCL/.

White and pink text against an orange background, with an outline of a partial maple leaf.

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 03/09/2025

Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social spoke recently with #CBC #Mainstreethfx. "The modern road less travelled might be reading a book without help from AI: We learn from Dr. Heffernan about the consequences of using #AI to do your reading for you." www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...

A photo of SMU professor Dr. Teresa Heffernan, taken in the outdoor courtyard at Good Robot on Robie Street in Halifax. She is seated at a table, with a futuristic blue and yellow mural on the brick wall behind her. She spoke with Jeff Douglas at CBC Mainstreet on August 21.

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 01/07/2025

Queer Lives & Letters: a new @smuenglish.bsky.social course aims to empower students at a scary time. Launched by Dr. Luke Hathaway in the Winter 2025 term, the course was featured in a recent @signalhfx.bsky.social story by Laura Flight. Read more: signalhfx.ca/queer-litera... #PrideMonth2025

A photo of Dr. Luke Hathaway in his office. Surrounded by books, he is wearing a black t-shirt and black baseball cap.

Photo by Laura Flight of The Signal, a student publication of the University of King's College School of Journalism in Kjipuktuk/ Halifax.

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

Some cautionary new commentary from Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social, in an open letter to Evan Solomon, Canada's new Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation. #AI #artificialintelligence #artswithimpact

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

In case you missed it: Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social was featured in the first episode of the Humanities at Large podcast from @jhievents.bsky.social. Her topic was "Absence of Intelligence: The Science and Fiction of AI". Well worth a listen! uoft.me/jhi-podcast #AI

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

Congratulations to Dr. Annick MacAskill on 2 #poetry award nominations for 'Votive' (@gaspereaupress.bsky.social, 2024): #1 - J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award; the June 5 @atlanticbookawards.bsky.social gala is at #HalifaxCentral Library and online. #2 - see below. 🏆🏆 Happy #NationalPoetryMonth!

A graphic showing five nominees for the 2025 J. M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award, with headshots of each poet right above the covers of their nominated books. For complete details, visit https://atlanticbookawards.ca/.

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 01/04/2025

'Votive' by Dr. Annick MacAskill is also nominated for the Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award! The #NovaScotia Book Awards ceremony is June 2 in #Dartmouth, hosted by Prof. Raymond Sewell of @smuenglish.bsky.social. @thisisannick.bsky.social @writersfedofns.bsky.social #SMUFrench #artswithimpact

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SMU English @smuenglish.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

WRITE TO READ 2025: Come and celebrate new voices from SMU! Hear poetry, fiction, and performance works by students in our senior creative writing workshops. 🗓️Thursday, April 10, 7 pm 📍Atrium 101 (SMU campus) All welcome | Admission free | Scent-free event

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Thanks to @thecoast.ca for this wonderful feature on @katebeaton.bsky.social! The #CapeBreton comic artist spoke with education reporter Lauren Phillips on the links between art, industry and community, ahead of her Cyril Byrne Memorial Lecture March 21 in Halifax. www.thecoast.ca/news-opinion...

thecoast.ca

Hark! A Kate Beaton

Award-winning cartoonist and author gives lecture on labour, class and art on Friday

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Kate Beaton had a great conversation on CBC Information Morning with Preston Mulligan. The radio broadcast aired March 21 in advance of her lecture. Sponsored by @unsettlingirish.bsky.social, the event drew a full house! www.cbc.ca/listen/live-... @katebeaton.bsky.social @smuenglish.bsky.social

cbc.ca

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

"We Were Always Working and Making Art: Rethinking the Economics and Value of Creativity". Join us March 21 for an inspiring evening with @katebeaton.bsky.social, as she delivers the 2025 Cyril J. Byrne Memorial Lecture. Info: loom.ly/sZWX7BY @smuenglish.bsky.social @unsettlingirish.bsky.social

An event poster with a photo of comic artist Kate Beaton, who is seated and clasping her hands.

Text: The Cyril Byrne Lecture Returns!
"We Were Always Working and Making Art: Rethinking the Economics and Value of Creativity," an evening with Kate Beaton
New York Times Bestselling Comic Artist
Winner of Canada Reads for "Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands"

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Faculty of Arts at Saint Mary's University @smuarts.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Join us for the second annual Arts Student Societies Gala! It's at The Gorsebrook Lounge on Thursday, March 27, 7-11 pm with dancing, a raffle, hot/cold snacks and a cash bar. Pre-order tickets for $20: loom.ly/1hAruCk; $25 at the door. #students #artswithimpact

A poster to promote the 2025 Arts Student Societies Gala. White text appears on a navy blue background with white stars, bubbles and a wave of gold sparkles.

The event is on Thursday, March 27, 7-11 pm at The Gorsebrook Lounge at Saint Mary's University.

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SMU English @smuenglish.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

The SMU Reading Series and Arts with Impact present a public reading by our Saint Mary’s University 2025 Writer in Residence Souvankham Thammavongsa Winner of the Giller Prize 🕖Thursday, 6 March 2025 | 7 pm | 📍Atrium 101 (SMU Campus)

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