The Words: October 2020
Grad Schools Across the Pond
Dalton Greene ’22
An English degree from Macalester can take graduates to any number of places, including, for some, to other countries entirely. I caught up with Mac English alumnae and former Wordswriters Zeena Fuleihan ’18 and Miriam Moore-Keish ’19, both of whom recently earned master’s degrees in England, via email to discuss their experiences.
Zeena Fuleihan ’18 completed an MA in Contemporary Literature, Culture, and Theory at King’s College London earlier this year and is now a PhD student in Literature at Duke University.
Miriam Moore-Keish ‘19 spent the past year studying for an MPhil in Critical Approaches to Children’s Literature at Girton College, University of Cambridge.
English Department Welcomes New Visiting Assistant Professor Melissa Merte
Alice Asch ’22
If it’s been your life’s dream to read a 19th century sensation novel about fraudulent marriages, you’re in luck! Melissa Merte has joined the English Department faculty as a visiting assistant professor this semester, and she is currently guiding her “Novel: Madness and Anger as Transgression” class through the thrills of Lady Audley’s Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Read more about Professor Merte…
Book Talks Create Community Space
Teddy Holt ’22
Community building is the name of the game this semester at Macalester. It’s hard to create informal relationships between students, or students and professors, when we aren’t in physical space together! One way the English Department is looking to create those bonds is by holding space in the Lounge for various “book talks” hosted by bookstores, journals, and universities online. We want to support English majors and other students in finding books and topics that excite them—just because there’s a pandemic doesn’t mean that we can’t gather together to enjoy and think about writing. Read more about future programming…
Wordplay
Malcolm Cooke ’21
With the dawn of a new month and our first full issue, The Words is thrilled to present this semester’s first edition of Wordplay, featuring the writing of Zoelle Collins ’21. Hailing from Salem, Oregon, she is majoring in Religious Studies and English Literature. Currently taking her Creative Writing Capstone with Marlon James, she is trying to explore the idea of conflict avoidance, and the havoc it wreaks in personal relationships. Today she is bringing us “Ace Hardware: An Essay,” which she wrote for Salley Franson’s Narrative Non-Fiction course about the local hardware store of the Mac-Groveland area. Ruminating on the space, it explores ideas of tangibility, deadlines, and permanence. Read her essay…