Indiana University Northwest English Department

Thanks to all our participants, students, and peer mentors in the 2024 IUN Humanities Summer Bridge! We look forward to seeing you on campus this fall!

Bill Allegrezza leads a group of explorers into the Tolleston Dunes trail this week for the IU Northwest Summer Humanities Bridge. Including a dozen students who are interested in literature, history, and the arts, the Humanities Bridge invites them to reconsider humanity's relationship to and within the natural world. The Bridge also has groups working in STEM, business, the social sciences, and the health professions. It concludes with student presentations in the IUN Theater on Friday.

Check out this new novel by IUN alumna Amber Clement. She studied fiction in the English Department creative writing classes.

Fortune's Kiss by Amber Clement: 9781454950219 - Union Square & Co. Are you willing to risk everything for a chance to be kissed by fortune?Drink and let your soul be measured.Welcome to Fortune’s Kiss, where you can attain...

Our very own Professor Allegrezza . . . congratulations!

https://news.iu.edu/northwest/live/news/35861-iu-northwests-william-allegrezza-designated-chancellor?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR3Dmo6XGkwq2UxpK-p3rQZae-a8jwdd9n0nyLxHRK40zGjdNlXKGh19ays_aem_AeYhXwGAEYrI-MQKQrFsl-VNAQVhNVQJ3XUp1dVmp06Elv5pZBPY4hjoOBnJhlbl04OlcACLnLIQ1zYgQhXAimi5

IU Northwest’s William Allegrezza designated Chancellor’s Professor Indiana University Northwest recently designated William Allegrezza as Chancellor’s Professor, an academic title conferred on senior faculty members who “exhibit continued highly meritorious performance in teaching, research and service, and demonstrate commitment to the mission, vision and valu...

https://news.iu.edu/northwest/live/news/35847-collection-of-steel-town-stories-in-new-book

Collection of steel town stories in new book written by IU Northwest alumna Children of Steel provides the world a glimpse into Northwest Indiana life, and beyond

The editors of Spirits, IU Northwest's literary and arts journal, invite you to an online reading by writers from the new issue on Wed, May 29, at 6:30 PM CDT. We'll also feature a look at the art pieces included in the issue. Join us at

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The new issue of Spirits is coming soon! Check out the cover designed by Catheryn Markus, which includes a drawing by George Bodmer!

Our English faculty and some of our graduates!

A reminder for Indiana folks. Come join me and my geologist colleague Kris Huysken on a nature hike followed by a campfire with beer provided by Upland Brewing on June 15 at Lydick Bog (near South Bend). Lydick Bog is a sphagnum bog (filled with tamaracks) found among a series of kettle lakes. When I was there last weekend, I saw lot of beautiful plants but also a couple of sandhill cranes on the edge of the bog.

Campfires: Lydick Bog Nature Preserve (South Bend) Join us for a trek through the eastern portion of the Kankakee Watershed!

The recording of the reading last night for IUN's High School Creative Writing Award for 2024.

IUN High School Creative Writing Award Reading - Indiana University

Don't forget that we will be hosting a celebration and reading on Zoom for the winners of the IUN High School Creative Writing Contest tonight at 7:30. Here is the link:

Join our Cloud HD Video Meeting Zoom is the leader in modern enterprise video communications, with an easy, reliable cloud platform for video and audio conferencing, chat, and webinars across mobile, desktop, and room systems. Zoom Rooms is the original software-based conference room solution used around the world in board, confer...

Photos from last night's Dunes Literary Series reading!

Stephanie here too!

IUN’s Class of 2024: Earning a degree on your own time IUN’s Class of 2024: Earning a degree on your own time By: Indiana University Northwest Last Updated: April 24, 2024 facebook twitter linkedin email print Stephanie Garcia, a mother of four, earned two degrees in half the time There might not be too much Stephanie Garcia can put on her plate. The ...

Stephanie!

IUN’s Class of 2024: Earning a degree on your own time Stephanie Garcia, a mother of four, earned two degrees in half the time

Congratulations to all the winners of the 2024 Indiana University Northwest Creative Writing Award! On Monday, April 29th from 7:30-9:00 p.m., we will be having a celebration of the winners on Zoom. We are inviting all the winners to come read their pieces. Feel free to join at https://iu.zoom.us/j/89227178064 The overall winner, i.e. winner of a college scholarship, will be announced at the reading.

Poetry

1st Place: “I’ve Always Loved my Sister.” Kianah Levi King, Portage HS, Teacher: Rachel Calderone.
2nd Place: “Anchoring.” Olivia Hughes, Munster HS, Teacher: Ben Boruff
3rd Place: “Change.” Elise Byers, Wheeler HS, Teacher: Melissa Pearce

Runner Up: “Sound of Nature.” Caleb Bachman, Valparaiso HS, Teacher: Michelle Harris
Runner Up: “A Missing Presence.” Megan Vincent, Wheeler HS, Teacher: Melissa Pearce
Runner Up: “Museum,” Ash Rodriguez, Portage HS, Teacher: Jodi Newby

Creative Non-Fiction

1st Place:"The Man Who Stepped In." Robin Kerr, Valparaiso HS, Teacher: Michelle Harris
2nd Place: "Being Loved by My Gramdma." Mia Smith, Valparaiso HS, Teacher: Michelle Harris
3rd Place: "What If." Gaby Kajmakoski, Munster HS, Teacher: Ben. Boruff

Runner-Up: "200 Pounds of Dad." Gabriel Carpenter, Valparaiso HS, Teacher: Michelle Harris
Runner-Up: "Racing Catastrophe." Bailey Sechowski, Munster HS, Teacher: Ben Boruff

Fiction

1st Place: “Girlhood.” Olivia Magiera, Valparaiso HS, Teacher: Michelle Harris
2nd Place: “The Deaf Flu.” Paul Stobie, Valparaiso HS, Teacher: Michelle Harris
3rd Place: “The Whispers of the Submerged.” Atalissa Montague, Munster HS, Teacher: Ben Boruff

Runner-up: “Sunset to Summer,” Hannah Gossler, Munster HS, Teacher: Ben Boruff
Runner-up: “Home of Planet Cethea.” Jada Samuels, Valparaiso HS, Teacher: Michelle
Harris

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Dr. Villarruel presenting work at this year’s Celebration of Faculty Research!

If you are free tonight at 6:30 CT, come listen on the Zoom to Rachel Galvin and Kim Coleman Foote read as part of the Dunes Literary Series! We typically have the reading go for part of the time and have a discussion afterwards. Join us by signing up for free at the link below.

**Note: if you'd like to read next year, send me a note. We set it up by committee, but I could put you on the list.**

***Bring a drink if you want. It can be your own private happy hour reading be two awesome writers.***

IU Northwest English Department Events

Join us on Zoom for free this Wednesday at 6:30 (CT) for the Dunes Literary Series featuring March, Rachel Galvin and Kim Coleman Foote. Find out more information and sign up for the zoom link with with link below.

IU Northwest English Department Events

We have extended the deadline of the NWI High School Writing Contest to April 1! See the contest information below.

Join The Dunes Literary Series on Zoom for a reading by Rachel Galvin and Kim Coleman Foote. March 20th, 6:30 (CT). All are welcome. It's free. See the link below if you want more information or want to be sent a Zoom link.

IU Northwest English Department Events

The deadline for the High School Creative Writing Contest is coming up soon. If you are a high school student in NWI, send your poem, short story, or creative non-fiction piece to [email protected] soon! We give prizes at many levels including a college scholarship.

Mark Cuban argues for more English majors to save us in the future!

CUBAN: Don't go to school for finance — liberal arts is the future Billionaire investor Mark Cuban offered a perhaps bleak prediction on the future of jobs in an interview Friday.

Dr. Allegrezza's Writing Poetry students exploring the virtual world of poetry in the VR Lab on campus last week!

Recordings from the Dunes Literary Series. Twenty-five so far!

Dunes Literary Series - Indiana University Somewhere southeast of Chicago, and yet miles from Kalamazoo, the Dunes Literary Series invites regional writers to share new work with the Indiana University Northwest community.  Here, writers and listeners can extend their sense of the Gary lyric against the gentle, nearby rumble of I-80/94.  W...

IUN's Black Student Union and Spirits invite writers to share their work at an open mic reading on Wednesday, Feb 28, at 7 PM on campus in Bergland Auditorium. Register to read by Monday, Feb 26, through the QR code on the poster. We hope you can join us!

Come hear Aryanil Mukherjee and Lana Spendl read tonight as part of the Dunes Literary Series on the Zoom. Free at 6:30 Central Time. Sign up for a free link to be sent to you with the link below:

IU Northwest English Department Events

Wednesday, February 21st, 6:30 – 7:30 pm, Zoom
Free (Register Online Below to Receive Zoom Link)

The Dunes Literary Series is hosting a reading with the poet Aryanil Mukherjee and essayist Lana Spendl (opportunity for questions/discussion with the authors at the end of the session).

Aryanil Mukherjee (b. 1964) is a bilingual poet, translator, and editor who grew up in Kolkata, India, and later emigrated to the United States. He has authored ten books of poetry and essays in two languages. Widely published in both Indian (Bengali) and American poetry circles, his work has been featured in many anthologies, including the HarperCollins book of Indian Poetry in English (2011), the Indian poetry issue of TLR, Indivisible, an anthology of South Asian American poetry, and Pared de Agua, an anthology of contemporary Bengali poetry (Olifante Press, Madrid, Spain). He edits Kaurab, a much-celebrated Bangla literary magazine of experimental poetry and literature published since 1970. His poetry has been translated into Hindi and Spanish. A PhD in aerospace engineering, Aryanil works as an engineering mathematician and lives in Cincinnati.

Lana Spendl is the author of the chapbook of flash fiction We Cradled Each Other in the Air. Her work has appeared in World Literature Today, The Rumpus, The Greensboro Review, Notre Dame Review, New Ohio Review, Zone 3, and other journals. She is a refugee from the Bosnian War in the ’90s, and her childhood was divided between Bosnia and Spain prior to her family’s move to the States. She holds an MFA in fiction and an MA in Spanish literature from Indiana University Bloomington, where she served as the associate nonfiction editor to Indiana Review.

Those interested in attending this online reading can register for the event at:

IU Northwest English Department Events

Spirits, IU Northwest's campus literary journal, is welcoming submissions of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and visual art for this spring's issue. All writers and artists are invited to respond before submissions close on Fri, Mar 8. This spring's editors are Faith Smith and Lexi Seneczko. Send us your work!

On Wed, Feb 21, come listen to the next installment of IUN's Dunes Literary Series. We'll be hosting Aryanil Mukherjee and Lana Spendl. Free and on Zoom. Just register below to be sent your Zoom link.

IU Northwest English Department Events

The Department celebrates three decades of Spirits! Submit your creative and artistic work now at [email protected].

IU Northwest’s creative spirit The 30-plus-year legacy and influence of SPIRITS, the student-run art and literary magazine.