Prizes, Prizes, Prizes at MSVU Academic Awards 2024!

At this year’s MSVU Academic Awards Social, which took place Tuesday, 9 April, the following students were recognized for their achievements in English:

Ariel MacKinnon was awarded the Sister Marie Agnes Prize, which is awarded by the Mount Saint Vincent Alumni Association to the graduating English major with the highest academic average.

Redford Ingram was awarded the Beryl Rowland Book Prize, awarded annually to the student who achieves the highest average in English.

Elizabeth MacKay and Georgia Wachter were co-recipients of the Literary Prize, established by the Halifax-Dartmouth City Council of Beta Sigma Phi in memory of Mrs. Agnes Macdonald, alumna and past member of the Board of Governors of Mount Saint Vincent University. 

Congratulations to all of you on your successes! 

MSVU English Students Soar at AAUEC 2024

Two weeks ago, on 22-24 March, six MSVU students participated in the Annual Atlantic Undergraduate English Conference (AAUEC), which took place at Université de Moncton in New Brunswick this year. Students from over a dozen universities, including the Mount, presented on various topics and on texts ranging from the medieval period to the present. The six MSVU English Department representatives, once again, did a fantastic job with their contributions, presenting well-argued and sophisticated academic essays and well-crafted and poignant creative works: 

Academic  

• Natalie Freeman: Bodies, Bodies, Bodies: Sexualized Mummies and British Futurity in Grant Allen’s “My New Year’s Eve Among the Mummies” 
• Michael Gillis: Masculinity, Militarization, and Machismo in a Porous Translation of “The Battle of Maldon” 
• Emma Henderson: Inventing Desire: Deleuzian Becomings in Nicole Brossard’s Mauve Desert 
• Jenna Ryall: Turning Back the Feet of Time: Time as a Threat to Empire in “The Mummy’s Foot” 

Creative 

• Elizabeth MacKay: Stroking Midnight 
• Georgia Wachter: Philips Mountain  

Our presenters also handled themselves exceptionally well in the question periods, providing answers with poise and asking thoughtful and perceptive questions of their colleagues.  

Congratulations to all six students, and thank you for helping to showcase the talent at the Mount! 

English Honours Colloquium 2024

Want to hear our Honours students present their fascinating research? Are you an English student wondering whether Honours is right for you and want to see what it’s all about? Or do you just want to hang out with amazing people on a Wednesday afternoon? Join us for the Honours Colloquium!

Thanks to the English Society and ALL our amazing students for their support during the MSVUFA strike!

As we settle back into our teaching and research duties after more than three weeks of job action, the MSVU English faculty would like to express our deep and abiding gratitude to all our students for their tireless support on the picket line, all over the MSVU campus, and throughout the wider community. We are particularly grateful to the English Society, which, alongside several other departmental student societies, spear-headed an array of impressive and effective campaigns to encourage the BoG to bring negotiations to a fair and equitable conclusion. Your support lifted our spirits, but — more than that — it was instrumental in compelling the employer to recognise the strength of student-faculty solidarity, which ultimately contributed to the successful resolution of the strike. Words are not enough to express our thanks!

Prof. Krista Collier Jarvis featured on CBC

Aspiring writers, take note! In the wake of her recent longlisting for the 2023 Nonfiction Prize, Prof. Collier Jarvis’s advice about writing from personal experience was just featured on CBC.

Click here for more information.

Improve your Scientific Writing Skills in COMM/WRIT 3512!

Have you ever wished you could express difficult concepts more clearly to a range of different audiences? This class will show you how. Remember that this is a cross-listed COMM and WRIT course, so it can count towards the Writing Minor.

Prof. Krista Collier-Jarvis longlisted for 2023 CBC Nonfiction Prize!

Krista Collier-Jarvis, assistant professor (and former BA student!) in the MSVU English department, was recently longlisted for the prestigious CBC Nonfiction Prize. Her book, A Micmac Memoir, was one of only 38 entries out of more than 2000 to reach this stage. Congratulations to Prof. Collier-Jarvis on this amazing achievement!

Click here for more information.

MSVU English alumna Michelle Russell wins gold at the 2023 Pan Am Games

Congratulations to Michelle Russell (B.A. Hons English 2020) on her success in the women’s K-1 500m at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago. Michelle demonstrated admirable team spirit after her victory, exclaiming “I’m excited to be the first one done — more time to cheer for everyone else!”

Photographs from the 2023 Canadian Olympic Committee (olympic.ca)

Professor Roby talks medieval Icelandic sagas

The opening of Njáls saga in the fourteenth-century manuscript Möðruvallabók (handrit.is)

MSVU English professor Matthew Roby recently sat down to discuss the medieval Icelandic sagas with literary podcaster Charles Pignal. Their conversation focuses in particular on the longest and most famous saga, Brennu-Njáls saga (The Saga of Burnt Njáll), a story of legal schemes and blood feuds from the thirteenth century. Check out the interview here: https://podtail.com/en/podcast/lit-with-charles/matthew-roby-professor-on-icelandic-sagas/. (Also available on ApplePodcasts, Spotify, and a range of other outlets.)

Convocation 2023

Congratulations to Fall 2023 English Honours graduate Sophia Godsoe, who was also selected as the Valedictorian and gave an outstanding farewell address that moved everyone in attendance. It was great to see several current students and recent graduates there to cheer Sophia on. All the best to Sophia as she takes the next steps of her journey!