Department of Language and Literature

Fairmont State’s Department of Language and Literature will host this year’s West Virginia Undergraduate Literary Symposium on February 29, according to Nathan Myers, Associate Professor of English and one of the organizers of this year’s symposium.  

Four students were inducted into the Omega Delta chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the national English honorary on Sunday, September 8th, according the Dr. James Matthews, the faculty advisor to the local chapter. 

The students included Lishea G. Eddy, Bailey D. McInturff, Melissa L. Nichols, and Lily M. Peterson.  All four are seniors majoring in English. McInturff and Peterson are also members of the University’s Honors Program.

Nine students in the Department of Language and Literature have been named Summer Research Fellows this year, according to Dr. Angela Schwer, chair of the Department.  The prestigious fellowships support students for six weeks of literary research during the summer.

Fairmont State University’s Dr. J Robert Baker, senior level professor of English, was invited to present a lecture to faculty and students at the Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in Yangling, China.

Baker’s presentation entitled “Loneliness, Incomprehensibility, and Rage in Annie Dunne,” focused Sebastian Barry’s 2002 novel. Baker argued that Barry is emblematic of the rich and vigorous writing being done by Irish authors today. 

Six students were inducted into Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honorary, at the Folklife Center on Sunday, September 9 at 2 p.m., according to Dr. James Matthews, Professor of English.

Fairmont State University and the Department of Language and Literature welcome Chen Yi, as a visiting scholar from the Northwest Agriculture and Forestry University in Yangli in Xhaanxi Province, China.  Yi’s year-long residency began Wednesday, Oct. 4, according to Dr. Angela Schwer, chair of the Department of Language and Literature.

Three Fairmont State students will attend the Midwest Modern Language Association’s annual meeting Nov. 9-12, 2017, according to Dr. Elizabeth Savage, professor of English. 

Chelsie Latocha, Tina Nichols, and V. Grace Rine will present their research as part of the Midwest Modern Language Association’s Undergraduate Research Symposium.

Kestrel: A Journal of Literature and Art and the Fairmont State University Department of Language and Literature will host a two-day Celebration of Issue 36 featuring nine Kestrel writers on March 31 and April 1.

Events will be located in Jaynes Hall and the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center on the FSU campus and at the community coffeehouse, Joe ‘n Throw, 323 ½ Adams St., Fairmont.

On Friday, March 31, three day-time events are free and open to the public:

Two Fairmont State University Department of Language and Literature faculty members will read from their work from 3 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 17, at the Joe N’ Throw, 323 ½ Adams St., Fairmont.

Donna J. Long and Elizabeth Savage both serve as editors of FSU’s Kestrel literary journal.

Kestrel: A Journal of Literature and Art, the Fairmont State University Department of Language and Literature and the Frank and Jane Gabor West Virginia Folklife Center will host a two-day Celebration of Issue 35.

Ten Kestrel contributors will be on campus to participate in a panel discussion, as well as give readings from their own work.