The English Suite podcast

Widener students, alumni, and faculty read creative writing by themselves and others. The event was held on Zoom in October 2022. 

Join us for a conversation with Professors Jayne Thompson and Andrea Zittlau, who talk about their work on collaborative community writing workshops and publishing projects in schools and prisons.

We celebrate National Poetry Month by sharing some original poetry and favorite poems, presented by members of the Widener University community. 

Is the English major worth it? Are any of the myths about studying English and Creative Writing true? Widener undergraduate student Gabby Norris hosts. We hear stories and insights from alumnae Taylor Blum and Josh Schneider, current student Ashley Serrano, and professor Christine Woody. 

Jim interviews members of Smart Barker: Mark Graybill and Dan Robinson, a band with numerous ties to Widener University. They talk about their newest album All the Rivers in Hades (released for streaming in October 2021).

We talk about Romantic period magazine culture with Dr. Christine Woody and Widener students Jattu Fahnbulleh, Cloë Di Flumeri, Stefan Cozza, and Seth Glickman. Together, they worked on a textual scholarship project about the 19th century periodical Blackwood's Edinburgh magazine and its running series Noctes Ambrosianae. We discover some striking parallels between magazine culture then and modern-day digital publishing. To learn more about textual scholarship courses at Widener, you can contact Dr. Woody at cmwoody@widener.edu. 

Matthew Lomas (class of 2021) asks some Widener alumni about their post-grad writing experiences. 

We recap a busy month of April for Widener English and Creative Writing. The episode also features original poems by Jessica Guzman, Courtney Bambrick, Jayne Thompson, Ken Pobo, and Jim Esch. 

Hear how Widener's undergraduate literary print journal came back from the dead after Covid19 shut it down, thanks to the efforts of advisor Dr. Jessica Guzman, Editor-in-Chief Ciana Bowers, technical advisor Jeannine Mcknight, and the Widener Ink staff. You'll also hear some of the creative work published in the magazine, read by students Ciana Bowers, Luke Curran, Naquawna Letman, Gabby Norris, and Aimee Schwartz. 

Widener University English professor Mark Graybill discusses the literary allure of baseball, reads baseball-themed literature by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gary Soto, and Don DeLillo, and shares his prognostications about the upcoming 2021 MLB season. 

Host Jim Esch talks with Widener English major Emma Irving. In three short years since graduating, Emma is already blazing a trail in publishing, creative writing, and literary community-building. A coordinator of workshops for the Widener Writers group on Facebook, Emma's creative writing (featured on this podcast) appears in the inaugural issue of Millennial Pulp Literary Magazine. For more information, see https://www.millennialpulp.com 

Undergraduate students Cloë di Flumeri and Christina Giska talk with Dr. Stephanie Schechner, Professor of French at Widener University, about her translation of Camille in October by Mireille Best, published by Seagull Books & distributed by University of Chicago Press. For more information, see https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/C/bo46675959.html 

We talk with author Jane Rosenberg LaForge about her novel Sisterhood of the Infamous (New Meridian Arts) and poetry collection Medusa's Daughter (Animal Heart Press) -- both of which launched in February 2021. Learn more about Jane's work at 

https://www.janerosenberglaforge.com/

https://www.newmeridianarts.com/

https://animalheartpress.net/

Poet Ruben Quesada was Widener's visiting writer in February 2021. In this episode, you'll hear student Matt Lomas' interview with Ruben about his writing life. Widener professor Jessica Guzman introduces us to Ruben's work and reports on his classroom visits. You'll also hear a couple of Ruben's poems, delivered at the public reading he gave over Zoom in mid February. For more information about Ruben Quesada, visit his website at https://www.rubenquesada.com/

A celebration of African-American literature, presented by Widener students, alumni, and faculty. Thanks so much to readers Ciana Bowers, Rohan Suriyage, Jayne Thompson, Emma Irving, Shpresa Ymeraj, Kim Roberts, Mark Graybill, Josh Schneider, Christina Giska, Ken Pobo, and Gabby Norris. 

Jon-Michael Frank has carved a niche in the comics world by merging primitive, childlike line drawings with dark humor, self-awareness, and caustic irony. In this freewheeling interview, we talk about his creative path and practice. Widener alumnus Victoria Giansante offers additional commentary on Jon-Michael's work. For more information about Jon-Michael Frank, check out his website https://jonmichaelfrank.com/ or follow him on instagram @jonmichaelfrank.  

What is flash? What is the creative potential of the genre? Jim talks with Dr. Michael Cocchiarale and student Shrpresa Ymeraj about flash fiction and creative nonfiction. Both Michael and Shpresa read some of their creative work, giving you a sense of what makes this such a hot commodity in the publishing world. To learn more about Michael Cocchiarale's publications, see https://michaelcocchiarale.wordpress.com/

In our inaugural podcast, the chair of Widener University's English and Creative Writing department Janine Utell talks about her experiences reading, studying, writing about, and teaching James Joyce's 20th century modernist novel Ulysses.