September falls on Mac with a torrent of raindrops. Outside may sometimes be a little bit humid and gloomy, but the sun will always peek through the soft clouds and stroke the verdant plants on campus. This fall, the English department gives our warmest welcome to the new faculty members Professors Michael Prior, Steve Woodward, Melissa Cundieff, and Adam Lewis. To kick off the season, The Words sat down with Professor Prior to learn more about him and his work… 

You might have missed it, but Marlon James is kind of a big deal. And I hear you asking, hypothetical reader, where might I find online content about this Macalester English Department superstar? Or perhaps a myriad of other posts relevant to all varieties of English Department goings-on? Look no further than our social media! Visit our Facebook (Macalester English Department) and Instagram (@macalesterenglish) for the most relevant articles, the most humorous of student worker photos, and a veritable content pipeline. All of this is curated for real people with an interest in Macalester English-related occurrences, instead of that dastardly algorithm giving you ads for socks using your stolen Facebook data. Read more about Macalester English's new social media...

“This is my first time writing to you for a book. Thank you for helping us remain connected to the outside world,” reads one letter, dated June 3, 2019. Another, from July 18, announces “my birthday is tomorrow, and I just want to say that hearing about APBP has made it a million times better.”

APBP—the Appalachian Prison Book Project—is no stranger to such enthusiastic responses, and this nonprofit organization based in Morgantown, West Virginia certainly deserves them. Since its founding in 2004 by West Virginia University Professor Katy Ryan, APBP has mailed over 30,000 free books to incarcerated people, led book clubs in men’s and women’s prisons, and has launched a new initiative to bring for-credit college courses into regional prisons. Serving six Appalachian states (West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio, and Maryland), APBP has given hundreds of inmates access to quality reading materials they otherwise would not have. Read more about Dalton’s summer experience…

With a new school year comes new first year students and with them a brand new batch of First Year Courses. These courses are specifically designed for first years and are intended to give them an introduction to college level coursework and the liberal arts education while providing them with connections to students with similar interests and an advisor with the professor of the course. In the English Department this fall, we have two exciting new FYCs: Introduction to Creative Writing taught by Professor Peter Bognanni and Studies in Literature: Ecstasy and Apocalypse, Literature of the Extreme taught by Professor Daylanne English. The Words sat down with Professor English to talk about her aims for the course, her motivation for teaching this subject, and what exactly literature of the extreme means...

Beginning-of-the-week bagels, Wednesday Treat Nights, and a smattering of monthly events like Coffee Houses, the annual Fall Luncheon and English Honors Society events provide opportunities to feel at home in a building that could otherwise feel unwelcome outside of class periods. Because we recently celebrated a new semester with the Fall Luncheon, featuring Thai Thai Street Food, The Words met with Department Coordinator Jan Beebe to learn about the inspiration behind the event...

With the beginning of each new school year, comes a new agenda for Alpha Rho Theta, Macalester’s chapter of the International English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta. In the past, these changes have culminated in the creation of a comprehensive calendar of Twin Cities literary events to share with students, Honor Society Coffee House nights, and free tickets and transportation to see some truly spectacular talks, plays, and works of art. For this issue, The Words sat down with the new 2019-2020 English Honor Society (EHS) Officers, Julia Joy ’20, Nora Stewart ’ 21, and Amy Vandervelde ’21, during the first meeting of the year to discuss their goals and motivations for the year to come...

The Words is pleased to announce that for our inaugural 2019-2020 issue, we will be showcasing the work of Jessi-Alex Brandon ’20. Jessi-Alex ’20 is a senior German Studies and International Studies double major and Linguistics minor. They were born in Germany but spent the majority of their life in small town Alabama (Roll Tide!) They’ve always loved writing and experimenting with putting common life experiences into poetic wording, and this year is the first time in a long time they found the courage to share their work with others. Their favorite book at the moment is “The Girl Who Can Move Sh*t with her Mind” by Jackson Frost (although they’ve yet to finish it), and their favorite poet is Alok Menon. Read Jessi-Alex's poetry...