Adrian Blevins
Professor of English; Creative Writing Director
English
Students become keen analytical readers in the broadest sense, cogent writers, and versatile critical and creative thinkers.
Colby English majors read and write across analog and digital platforms. They are analyzers and makers.
About English
At Colby, you can major in English, major in English with a creative writing concentration, or major in English with a concentration in literature and the environment. You can also minor in English or in creative writing.
We are one of very few liberal arts colleges in America offering both a major concentration and a minor in creative writing. Students choose from classes in fiction, creative nonfiction, poetry, environmental writing, playwriting (through the Theater and Dance Department), documentary radio, performance poetry, and other forms.
In our innovative literature and the environment concentration, you’ll study global traditions of environmental literature and think about their connections to colonial and activist histories. You’ll acquire analytical and writing skills to prepare you for a wide variety of careers.
Literature classes treat a wide variety of subjects from Chaucer to science fiction, from Shakespeare to environmental humanities. Working closely with rare book librarians in Special Collections and with curators at the Colby Museum of Art students engage in hands-on activities. Our small classes encourage you to take on innovative projects. You can collaborate with faculty in senior seminars and honors theses.
Building upon these experiences, students go on to professional employment in law, medicine, government, teaching, and nonprofits and to graduate programs in many fields. We help you find the career path that is right for you.
Faculty and Staff
Learn more about the members of the department
Sarah Braunstein
Associate Professor of English (Creative Writing)
Johanna Clift
Administrative Assistant, English and Creative Writing Department
Megan Cook
Associate Professor of English; Co-Chair of English
Mary Ellis Gibson
Arthur Jeremiah Roberts Professor of Literature
Aaron Hanlon
Associate Professor of English
Melissa Heide
Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Grace McGowan
Visiting Assistant Professor of English
Sam Plasencia
Assistant Professor of English
Onnesha Roychoudhuri
Assistant Professor of English
Elizabeth Sagaser
Associate Professor of English
Matthew Schneider-Mayerson
Associate Professor of English
Mohammad Shabangu
Assistant Professor of English
Debra Spark
Zacamy Professor of English
Katherine Stubbs
Associate Professor of English; Co-Chair of English
Dyani Taff
Assistant Professor of English
Chris Walker
Assistant Professor of English
Arisa White
Associate Professor of English (Creative Writing)
- Michael D. Burke, M.A. ’09, M.F.A. (California at Berkeley, Massachusetts at Amherst), 1987-2023, Professor of English (Creative Writing), Emeritus
- Natalie B. Harris, Ph.D., 1978-1980, 1982-1985, 1986-2016, Associate Professor of English, Emerita
- Peter B. Harris, M.A. ’89, Ph.D.,1974-2016, Zacamy Professor of English, Emeritus
- Phyllis Mannocchi, M.A. ’96, Ph.D., 1977-2015, Professor of English, Emerita
- Elisa M. Narin van Court, Ph.D., 1996-2011, Associate Professor of English, Emerita
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- Anindyo Roy, Ph.D. (Delhi [India], Illinois, Texas at Arlington), 1995-2020, Associate Professor of English, Emeritus
- Jean Donovan Sanborn, M.A. ’97, Ph.D., 1984-2005, Professor of English, Emerita
- David B. Suchoff, M.A. ’02, Ph.D. (California at Berkeley), 1993-2022, Professor of English, Emeritus
- Linda Tatelbaum, M.A. ’04, Ph.D., 1982-2007, Professor of English, Emerita
- Laurie E. Osborne, M.A. ’03, Ph.D. (Yale, Syracuse), 1990-2022, Professor of English and Zacamy Chair in English, Emerita
- John R. Sweney, M.A. ’82, Ph.D., 1967-2004, NEH/Class of 1940 Distinguished Teaching Professor of Humanities, English, Emeritus
- Ira Sadoff, M.A. ’88, M.F.A., 1977-2015, Arthur Jeremiah Roberts Professor of Literature, Emeritus
Events
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