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PEN America @penamerica.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

🧵 Nearly 12,000 (11,982) books were banned in public schools during the 2025-2026 school year, according to PEN America’s newly updated Index of School Book Bans. #BannedBooks #BannedBooksWeek

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

On World Teachers' Day, cheers for Professor Andrew Scheil, who won CLA's 2026 Motley Exemplary Teaching Award, and Senior Lecturer Melissa Licht, who won the U's 2026 Distinguished Teachers Morse-Alumni Award!

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

BA alum (and novelist) Peter Geye remembers the impact of taking a class with Prof (and memoirist) Patricia Hampl:

minnesotaalumni.org

Peter Geye Sees The Light

A moment at Split Rock State Park inspired his latest novel

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Prof @sugi.bsky.social who won the Women's Prize for Fiction in 2024 will serve as a judge and mentor in this new @womensprize.bsky.social program (free to enter):

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Next week: Dr. Deborah Mutnick is visiting to discuss her new book No Race, No Country: The Politics and Poetics of Richard Wright, with a special focus in this talk on Wright's writing about fascism in relation to nationalism, colonization, and capitalism:

cla.umn.edu

Richard Wright's Antifascist Blueprint: Or How Mamdani Won New York

Deborah Mutnick, Long Island University-Brooklyn Professor, discusses her new book on Wright's poetics and politics

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Sorry for the fuzzy photo but it was sure fun to hang with George Saunders, Prof Julie Schumacher, and 2000 other people last night! Thanks to Saunders for sharing insights and jokes--and for appreciating Minnesota.

Prof and novelist Julie Schumacher looks on as fiction writer George Saunders speaks into a handheld mic and gestures. Both seated on chairs onstage at Northrop.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

Thanks for attending! Such a wonderful event with George Saunders--and a great audience.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Fiction writer George Saunders discussed craft with our undergrad and grad students today: "Stories have a mind of their own," he said. "If you have an agenda, they don't like that." Public reading and conversation tonight at 7:30pm at Northrop! z.umn.edu/saunders26

George Saunders seated at classroom table, gesturing; on left heads of two students seen from behind

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Congratulations to Prof Tosin Gbogi, whose book Nigerian Hip-Hop: Race, Knowledge, and the Poetics of Resistance (Oxford UP) is the winner of the 2026 Best Book Prize of the African Studies Association of the UK. Cheers!

Prof Tosin Gbogi and book cover of Nigerian Hip-Hop, which features a hand holding a microphone

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

"The kind of very private thing that happens to you when you're reading a book is not small, you know? I mean, you're sitting in your house, you read a book, and something happens to you" An interview with George Saunders in @mspmag.bsky.social by @deardara.bsky.social before our event next Tues:

mspmag.com

George Saunders Is Very Impressed with Minnesota

At Northrop, the author joins novelist Julie Schumacher for a conversation between two of America’s greatest living writers.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

A few (free) tickets left for our George Saunders event in Minneapolis next Tuesday! He'll be reading from the #1 NYT bestseller VIGIL, and be in conversation with Prof Julie Schumacher (another fiction writer, of course, so craft tips on the agenda). Co-sponsored by @loftliterarycenter.bsky.social

northrop.umn.edu

Esther Freier Lecture With George Saunders — UMN Conversations at Northrop

The Esther Freier Lectures in Literature Series presents New York Times bestselling author George Saunders in conversation with Professor Julie Schumacher on Sept. 22, 2026 in Minneapolis.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Hear Prof Megan Giddings on the craft of short fiction and what it takes to publish a story collection compared to her three novels! (Her latest novel Meet Me at the Crossroads was one of 2025's NPR’s Books We Love and the Washington Post’s Best Science Fiction/Speculative Novels.)

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

First year? Transfer? Already taking ENGL and ENGW classes? Pick up bagels, swag, and info this Wednesday at our undergrad open house! The Learning Abroad Center, FUSE, Tower, and our undergrad advisor will be there to answer Qs.... 10 am-12 pm Sept 16, in Pillsbury Hall room 114.

Face of stone building engraved with columns, flowers, checkered squares, and text Pillsbury Hall. Two blue overlaid rectangles with text: Welcome (back)! Open House Wed Sept 16 10am-12pm

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

American Occupation is co-edited by MFA alum Su Hwang w/ an afterword by Prof Douglas Kearney--plus contributions by Profs V. V. Ganeshananthan and Charles Baxter and alums Victoria Blanco, Ed Bok Lee, Jim Moore, and chaun webster, and current MFA student Zeke Caligiuri--among other writers. Jan 26!

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Welcome to fall semester, UMN students! Best wishes getting settled into your English and Creative Writing classes this week. If you need assistance, stop by room 112, or email englmaj@umn.edu FYI, there's no access to Pillsbury via those grand steps--see the ground floor doors....

Stone building with archway over stone staircase, and turret. Blooming hostas in foreground and blue sky in background.

Face of stone building with two archways over ground floor doors; two rows of windows above reflecting blue sky. Text engraved in stone: Pillsbury Hall

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Reposted by UMN English

Megan Giddings @megiddings.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

hello, today the final story in my collection, "How to Be a Black Writer" is in @literaryhub.bsky.social: lithub.com/how-to-be-a-... the story is in stylistic conversation with Lorrie Moore's "how to become a writer" and Kiese Laymon's "you are the second person"

From the screenshotted excerpt: "You chose this program based on money and because you never had a Black person of any gender teach you anything about writing or reading. You learned math and Black Studies and the safest way to blow and push life into another person from other Black people, but none of them had taught you how to tell a story.

There is a family legend about how you learned how to read, that one day you were sitting at a kitchen table, four years old, beads in your hair because you were fresh back from a visit to your Mom-Mom’s, and you said something like, “Good morning. I hate Mondays. Lasagna,” and your parents realized you were reading a comic aloud to yourself. Reading came to you like a sudden burst into fruit brought forth by unseen winds.

You wanted a lineage. Sometimes, creating one doesn’t take generations upon generations. It can be established, at least in the arts, with the right, thoughtful conversation or idea passed around a table in two hours and forty-five minutes on a rainy Tuesday afternoon.

I want to tell you that you’ll make it through this year. But did you?

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Prof @megiddings.bsky.social today publishes her debut story collection Black Arts (Amistad), with a launch 7pm tonight at Magers & Quinn—congratulations! "High marks for this ebullient, ideas-driven collection" - Publishers Weekly. Giddings is the author most recently of Meet Me at the Crossroads:

harpercollins.com

Black Arts

The very first story collection from the critically acclaimed, visionary author of the novels Lakewood, The Women Could Fly, and Meet Me at the Crossroads O...

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 02/09/2026

Poet Jennifer Chang will be reading here Nov 19! She is the author of An Authentic Life, which won the Kingsley Tufts Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry. Join us in Pillsbury Hall, on the Minneapolis campus; free and no tickets necessary.

cla.umn.edu

Jennifer Chang Reading

The Edelstein-Keller Visiting Writer is the author of An Authentic Life, a Pulitzer Prize finalist in poetry.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Prof Andrew Scheil won CLA's Motley Teaching Award: "My ideal goal is to cultivate a certain sort of temperament in my students: one that is deliberate, not hasty; sensitive, not obtuse; aware of depth, not superficial; to be able to apprehend and understand things of beauty and of ugliness" Cheers!

cla.umn.edu

Andrew Scheil Wins CLA 2026 Arthur “Red” Motley Exemplary Teaching Award

Dr. Scheil (English) earns recognition for inspiring, inclusive teaching and lasting impact on students across disciplines.

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Megan Giddings @megiddings.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

hello! next week my short story collection, Black Arts, will finally come out. The audiobook is read by Brittany Bradford (a beautiful genius who was the narrator of Meet Me at the Crossroads) and Angel Pean (a beautiful genius who was the narrator of The Women Could Fly): libro.fm/audiobooks/9...

libro.fm

Black Arts Audiobook on Libro.fm

Narrated by Brittany Bradford and Angel PeanThe very first story collection from the critically acclaimed, visionary author of the novels Lakewood, The Women Could Fly, and Meet Me at the CrossroadsOv...

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

More of our free fall events! Ling Ma will read Oct 28. She is the author of the collection Bliss Montage and the novel Severance, of which The Cut noted: “Ma’s extraordinary debut might just be the first and only coming-of-age, immigrant experience, anti-capitalist zombie novel you’ll ever need”

cla.umn.edu

Ling Ma Reading

The Edelstein-Keller Visiting Writer is the author of the novel Severance.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

On September 18, a webinar on the gap between need and care, and how changing conditions reshape healthcare access and organizational responsibility:

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

On Oct 19, we're collaborating with @umnanth.bsky.social for a reading and conversation with author Danilyn Rutherford about Beautiful Mystery: Living in a Wordless World--a deeply personal book, and a major contribution to disability studies, anthropology, and the ethics of relation:

cla.umn.edu

Beautiful Mystery

Join professor Erin L. Durban and author Danilyn Rutherford for a conversation and reading about Danilyn's book Beautiful Mystery

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

More free fall literary events! Excited to hear from @dazeher.bsky.social with her new book Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth. Monday October 12, here in Pillsbury Hall on the UMN campus:

cla.umn.edu

Daisy Hernández Reading

The Edelstein-Keller Visiting Writer is the author of Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Collaborating with @loftliterarycenter.bsky.social on a Sept 30 celebration of the short story! Three of our profs, all novelists, are publishing story collections this summer: Aamina Ahmad, @megiddings.bsky.social and Julie Schumacher will read and discuss short story craft. Free w/ registration:

cla.umn.edu

Short Story Summit

Professors Aamina Ahmad, Megan Giddings, and Julie Schumacher read from their new story collections.

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Andrea Mann @andreamann.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

"By writing, you are literally firing up your brain and therefore stirring up your conscious thoughts and something new emerges. You are not, or at least not always, transcribing something already present in your conscious thoughts.“ LOVE this piece. www.historians.org/perspectives...

historians.org

How Writing Leads to Thinking (and Not the Other Way Around) – AHA

Writing is stressful. Sitting in my computer chair my neck and shoulder muscles almost immediately tense up as I dig around in my brain for the best phrase or even any coherent string of words.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Book drive: At Magers & Quinn during these last couple weeks of August, you can purchase a book at the register to donate to the Women's Prison Book Project!

Selection of books on shelves with accompanying text: August 2026 Events from Magers & Quinn August Book Drive for Women's Prison Book Project Purchase a book to donate at the register: 8/1-8/31

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Matthew L Reznicek @drreznicek.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Congrats to @umnenglish.bsky.social's PhD student Morgan Coleman on this fantastic article

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

Counting down the days to the FREE Midwest Black Book Fair Sat Aug 22. Black Garnet Books presents authors, books, food, and workshops 12-5 pm at the U's Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center:

eventbrite.com

Midwest Black Book Fair

Honoring stories of the resistance and uplifting intersectional narratives of Blackness.

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Reposted by UMN English

Mercedes Sheldon @mercedessheldon.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Excited to open the latest @vpreditors.bsky.social and see an article by my fellow @umnenglish.bsky.social grad student, Morgan Coleman!

A woman’s hand holds open an academic journal, showing the first page of an article by Morgan Tanith Coleman. The title is “Cholera Anxiety and the Judgement of God: Moral Attitudes toward Disease in Victorian Family Magazines from the 1860s to 1880s”

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

MFA alum Emily Bright reads from her latest poetry collection This Ground Beneath Our Feet for the Loft Connect Live! Showcase next Tues the 19th, along with Anika Fajardo and Ty Chapman: loft.org/events/loft-...

Black and white photos of three authors with images from their book covers behind them. Text: Aug 19 the Loft connect live!

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

This Friday to Sunday is the Minneapolis Indie Bookstore Romance Day crawl! Visit all eight participating stores: Big Hill, Birchbark, Comma, Inkwell, Magers & Quinn, Moon Palace, Wild Rumpus, and of course Tropes & Trifles:

tropesandtrifles.com

Minneapolis Bookstore Romance Day 2026 | Tropes & Trifles

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 06/08/2026

After Harry Belafonte scored the first million-selling LP, "what did he do with his resulting wealth and fame? The short and simple answer to that is bankroll the Civil Rights movement, in a not incidental way" -- Joshua Jelly-Schapiro talks w/ Prof @sugi.bsky.social about his new bio of Belafonte:

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 05/08/2026

"The Twin Cities Metro is just lousy with libraries" And kids can read with dogs there. And you can check out LP records and watch films at home through Kanopy and make copies of your documents for free. Etc.! Cheers for this @racketmn.com story:

racketmn.com

Libraries!!! What Can’t They Do? - Racket

You can check out books, sure. But you can also listen to LPs, get seeds for your garden, or even use a 3D printer at your local library now.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Congrats to MFA alum and current associate faculty member chaun webster, who won a 2026 McKnight Fellowship for Writers, Loft Awards in Poetry/Spoken Word! webster this summer published his third book, Without Terminus. loft.org/awards/mckni...

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Cool free TruArtSpeaks event this Saturday at the Capri: "2 Cuba w/Love: A Global Impact Anniversary Celebration" with hip-hop/spoken word-related performances, film, story-telling

eventbrite.com

2 Cuba w/Love: A Global Impact Anniversary Celebration

Free food, panel discussion, performances, a gallery exhibition, resources to support Cuban artists, and more!

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

Next Tues August 4 @reentrylab.org (a recent community partner through the Liberal Arts Engagement Hub residencies) hosts a "Better Things" series discussion and open mic at @moonpalacebooks.bsky.social in Minneapolis:

moonpalacebooks.com

Better Things August | Moon Palace Books

Your neighborhood independent bookstore located in south Minneapolis. Selling new and used books since 2012.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

"I'm essentially studying what three strange writers of Victorian Britain have to say about what ‘consciousness’ is" PhD candidate Kayla Carden's dissertation is on the theories of mind of poet-philosopher Constance Naden, philologist Alexander John Ellis, and physicist John Tyndall z.umn.edu/Carden

Victorian poet-philosopher Constance Naden

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

It's been wonderful hosting College of Liberal Arts First Year Orientation in Pillsbury Hall this summer! Welcome #classof2030 (Sculpture by Seitu Jones and Soyini Guyton in the background)

Table with maroon and gold tablecloth with trademark M and text: Department of English University of Minnesota. English promotional items on tabletop. Wood wall sculpture behind (artists: Seitu Jones and Soyini Guyton) and stone wall, in Pillsbury Hall

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

Feeling like joining a book club? Moon Palace, Next Chapter, Once Upon a Crime, Comma, Tropes & Trifles, and other Twin Cities indie bookstores host a variety, as do libraries. AND...CLA runs an alum book club:

cla.umn.edu

College of Liberal Arts Alumni Book Club

Join the CLA online book club to connect with fellow Gophers!

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Reposted by UMN English

Ann @anngcb.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

So grateful that Professor Freier left such a generous and meaningful gift!

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

What are some signature moments of 25 years of our Freier visiting author series? Rita Dove dancing on stage? Denis Johnson joking that Train Dreams was so short, even his friends read it? Read how MedTech Prof Esther Freier's gift continues to inspire: www.minnesotaalumni.org/stories/up-front-22

R.F. Kuang onstage as part of the Esther Freier visiting writer series

David Mitchell at podium as part of the Esther Freier visiting writer series

Ocean Vuong onstage as part of the Esther Freier visiting writer series

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

"odd and reclusive / known for her use of / quirky little dashes — / a little intrusive" A professor recommended this reel on Emily Dickinson from alum @ellecordova.bsky.social Amaze!

facebook.com

1M views · 54K reactions | A rhyme about Emily Dickinson #poetry #rap #emilydickinson | Elle Cordova

A rhyme about Emily Dickinson #poetry #rap #emilydickinson

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

Congrats to @megiddings.bsky.social who has been officially promoted to the rank of associate professor! She was also awarded a UMN McKnight Presidential Fellowship this year. The author of three novels, Giddings will publish her first collection of short stories, Black Arts, on Sept 8.

Book cover of Black Arts: Stories with person with purple skin and black hair reclining in shiny blue fabric

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 14/07/2026

In two weeks, join Twin Cities writer Sun Yung Shin (who has taught here!) for the launch of new book Heart Eater: A Memoir of Immigration, Belonging, and How We Find Ourselves in Language. Guests include MFA alums Kristin Collier and Rachel Moritz plus another former lecturer, Michael Kleber-Diggs

moonpalacebooks.com

Book Launch: Heart Eater | Moon Palace Books

Your neighborhood independent bookstore located in south Minneapolis. Selling new and used books since 2012.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Cool poetry reading at the Walker 6 pm next Thurs, curated by writer, performer, and d/Deaf cultural consultant Cindi Martin. Drum circle, followed by readings from Shinana S., Trey P’orantes, Rodolfo Nieto, Obsidian James, and Martin:

walkerart.org

Green Roof Poetry: Curated by Cindi Martin

Curated by local poet and d/Deaf cultural consultant Cindi Martin, this literary evening showcases a range of styles and performances.

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UMN English @umnenglish.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Hyped to bring George Saunders to UMN and Minneapolis Sept 22! The author of LINCOLN IN THE BARDO and many extraordinary short stories will be reading from his #1 New York Times bestseller VIGIL and conversing with Regents Prof (and novelist) Julie Schumacher. Get your FREE tickets today!

cla.umn.edu

An Evening with George Saunders

The "genius" short story writer and novelist reads from his new book as part of the 25th anniversary Freier Series celebration.

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