News Archives - Department of English Language and Literature

In Memoriam: Collett Tracey (1963-2026)

Stephanie LeBlanc — Mon, 22 Jun 2026 17:08:12 +0000

In Memoriam: Collett Tracey (1963-2026)

Published on June 22, 2026

Time to read: 1 minutes

The Department of English mourns the loss of our colleague, Collett Tracey. We extend our sincere condolences to Collett’s family and friends, and to the many students who benefited from her passion for Canadian literature. An evening of poetry will be planned in Collett’s honour later this year.

Born on March 22, 1963, in Eastbourne, Sussex, England, Collett later made Canada her home. She pursued her academic passions with determination and curiosity, earning a B.A. from the University of Ottawa, an M.A. from �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, and a PhD from the Université de Montréal. She went on to become a tenured professor at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, where she shared her love of Canadian literature and poetry with generations of students. Her enthusiasm for teaching, learning, and meaningful conversation left a lasting impression on all who had the privilege of knowing her.

Read the full obituary .

Read Cameron Anstee’s blog post .

Read the Canadian Literature obituary here.

The post In Memoriam: Collett Tracey (1963-2026) appeared first on Department of English Language and Literature.

English Alum Sanita Fejzić longlisted for two awards with the League of Canadian Poets

Stephanie LeBlanc — Mon, 25 May 2026 19:09:23 +0000

English Alum Sanita Fejzić longlisted for two awards with the League of Canadian Poets

Published on June 22, 2026

Time to read: 1 minutes

News

��(BAH, Creative Writing, and MA), that her recent poetry collection, has been longlisted for two awards with the League of Canadian Poets: The Gerald Lampert Memorial Award and the The Raymond Souster Award: .
Sanita also recently published the script for her play .��

The post appeared first on Department of English Language and Literature.

English student Ayla Sully has written a new blog post, Rereading Women’s Liberation

Stephanie LeBlanc — Thu, 14 May 2026 19:23:42 +0000

English student Ayla Sully has written a new blog post, Rereading Women’s Liberation

Published on June 22, 2026

Time to read: 1 minutes

News

How can we understand history in relation to our current moment?

The work of students in Prof. Jennifer Henderson’s graduate English course Rereading Women’s Liberation does just this. Drawing on archival materials and media representations from the women’s liberation movement of the 1970s alongside recent scholarship, they work to untangle the complex legacies of the period.

Although the subject of study occurred over 50 years prior to 2026, there is much we can carry forward into the present. Henderson notes that “the course is very much about the feeling of the period’s discourses and styles of activism—very energetic and wildly ambitious about building collectivity. The course is about immersion in that feeling, reflection on what seems distant about it and maybe at the same time, what could be a resource, something to be drawn upon in our moment of rising right-wing politics.”

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English Alum Julian Hoffman featured in FASS News Story

Stephanie LeBlanc — Thu, 14 May 2026 17:35:36 +0000

English Alum Julian Hoffman featured in FASS News Story

Published on June 22, 2026

Time to read: 1 minutes

News

Throughout his life, has found himself at a crossroad.

Nearing the end of high school in the suburbs east of Toronto, he saw rock band guitarist as his career path but applied to university as a backup plan. Hoffman decided to study English at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University because devouring books and writing — song lyrics, science fiction, “dreadful poetry” — was his other creative love.

Years later, seeking direction at the Dalai Lama’s spiritual hub in the Himalayas, he literally came to a fork in the road while walking. One way led back to the classroom where he planned to continue his Buddhist teachings; the other way headed into the forest, where he had become entranced by all the exotic, vibrant birds spilling out of trees.

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Professor Jodie Medd and students featured in recent FASS News Story

Stephanie LeBlanc — Tue, 07 Apr 2026 18:07:52 +0000

Professor Jodie Medd and students featured in recent FASS News Story

Published on June 22, 2026

Time to read: 1 minutes

News

While we live in an age of information with fast facts and explainer videos just a tap away, certain histories and stories are becoming harder and harder to find.

This seemingly contradictory phenomenon is explored in “Ban this Book: Censorship, Sexuality, and Questions of Harm,” a unique graduate course offered at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University that encourages students to take direct, local action against censorship.

Throughout the course, students learn about the different laws, policies, trials, and practices used to target books, bookstores, libraries, and schools for representations of marginalized sexual and gender identities – and, more recently, racialized identities and information about racist and imperial histories.

Taught by English professor Jodie Medd, the goal of the course is to educate about this history of censorship and connect that history to the challenges we face today, such as to remove certain books from their libraries.

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Professor Barbara Leckie has won a �Ӱ�ԭ�� University Research Achievement Award

Stephanie LeBlanc — Tue, 31 Mar 2026 14:12:46 +0000

Professor Barbara Leckie has won a �Ӱ�ԭ�� University Research Achievement Award

Published on June 22, 2026

Time to read: 1 minutes

News

The post appeared first on Department of English Language and Literature.

Professor Jodie Medd has won a FASS Teaching Award

Stephanie LeBlanc — Mon, 30 Mar 2026 17:21:29 +0000

Professor Jodie Medd has won a FASS Teaching Award

Published on June 22, 2026

Time to read: 1 minutes

News

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English alum Sarah Waisvisz shortlisted for Lambda Literary Award

Stephanie LeBlanc — Thu, 19 Mar 2026 17:47:37 +0000

English alum Sarah Waisvisz shortlisted for Lambda Literary Award

Published on June 22, 2026

Time to read: 1 minutes

News

The shortlists for the 38th annual Lambda Literary Awards have been announced and we are over the moon to share that the debut play by is one of five finalists for the Lambda Award in LGBTQ+ Drama!

Heartlines imagines the extraordinary love, art, lives, and resistance of gender pioneers Claude Cahun and Marcel Moore.

A huge congratulations to Sarah! Check out the complete list of Lambda Literary Award finalists !

The post appeared first on Department of English Language and Literature.

English student Ayla Sully featured in FASS News Story

Stephanie LeBlanc — Mon, 02 Mar 2026 14:06:48 +0000

English student Ayla Sully featured in FASS News Story

Published on June 22, 2026

Time to read: 1 minutes

News

My name is Ayla, I’m an undergraduate English student at �Ӱ�ԭ�� University, and I’m currently finishing up my three-term Co-op experience. When I first began, I thought I would be working ‘English-specific’ jobs like technical editing or working as an intern at a publishing house. Now, towards the end, I’ve learned that the skills I’ve built during my degree have allowed me to contribute meaningfully in a variety of professional environments: the , and .

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Spotlight on Research: Professor Jody Mason has published a new book

Stephanie LeBlanc — Mon, 23 Feb 2026 15:33:07 +0000

Spotlight on Research: Professor Jody Mason has published a new book

Published on June 22, 2026

Time to read: 1 minutes

News

While books are often cast as axiomatically good, Professor Jody Mason’s new book Books for Development: Canada In the Late Twentieth-Century World, argues that this idea can be troubled by revisiting the history of development.��

, published this month by McGill-Queen’s University Press, considers how state and non-state actors used books within the late twentieth-century development paradigm between 1945 and the end of the 1970s or so. Doing so allows her to track the ways the book, which came to function as a key representative of settler exceptionalism, was used within the context of the development paradigm to express solidarity with newly decolonized nations; to argue for the importance of Canadian leadership in the new international order; and to consolidate settler liberal rule at home.

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