LSU English

Please join us in congratulating the National Council of Teachers of English at Louisiana State University (NCTE LSU) for receiving a 2026 NCTE Student Affiliate Excellence Award. NCTE LSU is advised by Ashlynn Wittchow (Assistant Professor) and Paige Watts (Instructor), and led by Sarai Barmore (NCTE LSU President).

NCTE LSU will be honored with a certificate at the 2026 NCTE Annual Convention in Philadelphia in November. The National Council of Teachers of English is devoted to improving the teaching and learning of English and the language arts at all levels of education.

The Louisiana Shakespeare Company is producing one of Shakespeare's most well-known and often discussed plays -- Hamlet; Prince of Denmark. This production is the part of LSC's third season, their first tragedy, and is directed by Executive and Artistic Director, Jennifer Bouquet, who is an LSU graduate. Julie Roundtree, an Instructor of English, will be playing the role of Queen Gertrude, and the rest of the cast is made up of wonderful local actors, many of whom are educators or still in school. Education and making Shakespeare accessible to everyone is a big part of LSC's mission. Featured in the photograph are Louis Mangiaracina (Hamlet) and Devin Bureau (Horatio). Please follow the link to find more information on LSC, Hamlet, and to purchase tickets: https://www.lashakes.org/

Congratulations to Jessie Bourgeois and McKenzie Franklin, our summer undergraduate researchers, for presenting at @lsu_our SURF Day! Each has spent the last few weeks researching in the Reading Room and had the opportunity to talk about their findings in 2 minute lightning talks today. Great work, Jessie and McKenzie! McKenzie Franklin used the Reveille, oral histories, and the AP Tureaud, Jr. papers to investigate the history of LSU, with her project titled “The Integration of LSU and the Enduring Legacy of Maxine Crump.” Jessie Bourgeois presented on the portrayal of the South during the 19th century in her project entitled “From the Outside Looking In: New Orleans at the Turn of the Century.” She used the Grace King papers, travel writing, and ephemera to conduct her research.

Congratulations to the recent graduates of the LSU English PhD program!

Photo 1:
Denis Waswa, directed by Pallavi Rastogi
Krista Barrett, directed by Chris Rovee
Seohye Kwon, directed by Benjy Kahan
Anna McGill (in front), directed by Rick Godden and Chris Barrett
Avery Morrison, directed by Michael Bibler
Anna Bills, directed by Michael Bibler
Spencer Dodd, directed by Chris Rovee
Maye Al-Selwady, directed by Chris Rovee

Photo 2: The graduates with Dr. Bibler and Dr. Rastogi (featuring Mike the Tiger in his grad cap 🐅🥳)

We would like to extend a huge congratulations to one of our long time student employees, Rei! 🥳🎓 Rei has been with the English department for the last 4 years. They are graduating with two bachelor's degrees: English – Concentration in Literature and Language, and Liberal Arts – Concentration in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Rei plans to attend the master’s program at Columbia University and they aspire to obtain their PhD to become an English Professor.

Please join us in congratulating Professor Maurice Carlos Ruffin on being awarded a 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship!🥳 The Guggenheim fellowship is a prestigious award that is given to artists, scientists, and scholars who show exceptional promise in their work.

When asked how he felt when finding out that he had been awarded the fellowship, Professor Ruffin wrote that “it was a great feeling to know that my hard work, which would not have been possible without the support of the LSU scholarly community, was being rewarded.”

Professor Ruffin plans to use the fellowship to spend more time on his current project, “Liars Bouquet,” which is a contemporary satire set in New Orleans about “a family trying to navigate our amazing, but complex world.” He stated that he was inspired to start this project because he loves “to take what’s happening in our society and spin a story from it.”

When asked about the greatest accomplishments of his career, Professor Ruffin said, “I’m very happy that I’ve been able to write stories and books that highlight our unique Louisiana culture, especially my hometown of New Orleans.”

Professor Ruffin’s advice for aspiring Guggenheim Fellows, writers, and artists alike is to read as much as possible, question your assumptions, put your work out there, and have fun!

This semester, students from our graduate poetry writing workshop collaborated with art studio MFA students. This collaborative work will be shared at the River Center Branch of the Baton Rouge Library on Friday, April 30th at 6PM. Feel free to stop by and check out their work!

Today we would like to shine a spotlight on Sharon Andrews! Because of Ms. Andrews’ championing of the English Department’s efforts to collect donations for the 2026 SEC food fight, we have been awarded a trophy in the “Top Donating Campus Department” category, which she accepted at the Tiger Excellence Awards! Ms. Andrews serves as the Associate Director of the University Writing Program, and she teaches courses with an emphasis on service-learning. She continues to inspire and motivate all of us with her dedication and hard work! Thank you, Ms. Andrews, for all that you do!

Another one of our MFA graduates. Congrats, Caldwell!🥳

Everyone's favorite Pittsburgher is graduating!! 🍔

A third-year MFA candidate at LSU, Caldwell Holden is a writer, bartender, and social artist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He received his BA in Literature from Bennington College where he studied “Immersion Based Storytelling.” He has also studied in Siena, Italy, completed a writing residency in Oatmeal Creek, TX, and traveled the US living out of his jeep. His fiction has appeared in SHANTIH Journal and Atticus Review. His journalism has appeared in 90.5 WESA and Stylo24.

Round of applause for Caldwell! 👏