Dean Family Speaker Series

The Department of English at Wake Forest University is proud to host the Dean Family Speaker Series. This series has been endowed by a generous gift from the Dean Family, and brings national authors and scholars to our campus. It encourages critical conversations and dialogue related to the study of literature. All talks are open to the public, and everyone is invited to attend. Our recent speakers have included Nancy Armstrong, Lauren Berlant, Wai Chee Dimock, Robert Levine, Jean Marcus, Fred Moten, Marjorie Perloff, Michelle Stephens, Ivy Wilson, Shannon Winnubst, and more.

Events

• The Dean Family Speaker Series – Imaginiary Amendments in American Science Fiction – Dr. Isiah Lavender III – January 24, 2024December 15, 2023
  The Sterling Goodman Professor of English at the University of Georgia, Dr. Isiah Lavender III, is the author of six books in science fiction.  He will join us in the Z. Smith Reynolds Library at 5:00 pm on Wednesday, January 24 to discuss his work, a reception will follow.  This event is free and open […]
• Dillon Johnston Writers Reading Series Hosts Horror with Stephen Graham Jones February 20, 2024December 15, 2023
  Stephen Graham Jones will join us at 6:00 pm on Tuesday February 20, 2024 in the Byrum Welcome Center.  The event is free and open to the public Stephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author of nearly thirty novels and collections, and there’s some novellas and comic books in there as well. Stephen’s been […]
• Poet-Trees: A Reading of Work by Wake Forest University Poet-ScholarsOctober 12, 2023
  Thursday, November 2, 5pm, The Autumn Room, Reyholda Hall. Sponsored by the William R Kenan, Jr Professorship in the Humanities
• The Dean Family Speaker Series presents Christopher Freeburg and Michael Snediker – “What Aesthetics Matter” – October 18, 2023September 26, 2023
• Poetry Reading with Michael D Snediker and Cole Swensen – October 19, 2023September 22, 2023
  ZSR auditorium (404)  October 19th 5 pm FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
• Scholars Christopher Freeburg and Michael D. Snediker to give Dean Family Series talks on October 18September 13, 2023
  The Dean Family Speaker Series has invited American literature scholars Christopher Freeburg and Michael D. Snediker to visit Wake Forest University on October 18 & 19, 2023. On October 18, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. in the ZSR Library Auditorium (ZSR 404), Freeburg and Snediker will each give a public talk about their work followed by […]
• Eric G. Wilson “Point Blank” Film Screening & Book TalkSeptember 6, 2023
  On Tuesday, October 3, 2023, at 6 pm in Scales 102, the Department of English will host a film screening and discussion in celebration of Thomas H. Pritchard Professor of English Eric G. Wilson’s study of John Boorman’s Point Blank for the British Film Institute’s distinguished BFI Classics Series. A reception and book signing […]
• Dillon Johnston Writers Reading Series hosts Fred Moten & friends for Poets’ Theatre & Reading Sept. 13-14August 18, 2023
  Cultural theorist and poet Fred Moten will be a featured guest of The Dillon Johnston Writers Reading Series  and the Wake Forest University Interdisciplinary Arts Center this fall for two special events: a Poets’ Theatre presentation on Wednesday, September 13, and a night of Poetry Readings & Performances on Thursday, September 14. Both events […]
• Announcing the 22-23 D.A. Brown Essay Award WinnersAugust 3, 2023
  Each year, English faculty nominate the top essays from their lower- and upper-level literature courses for the department’s D.A. Brown Essay Awards. This summer, three students were recognized for exemplary essays written in the 2022-2023 academic year. The 22-23 D.A. Brown Essay Award for Literary Scholarship: Ellie Grubbs ’23, for her ENG 339 essay “Race […]
• Class of 2023 contributes books to the Sigma Tau Delta shelf in Ammons LoungeApril 25, 2023
  The 2023 seniors from Wake Forest’s Sigma Omega chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, the international English honor society, will be the fifth class to add their favorite books to the organization’s permanent collection in Ammons Lounge in Tribble Hall. Each senior selected a book that they studied at Wake Forest that was personally significant to […]