Rachel Azima’s article, “Whose Space Is it Really? Design Considerations for Writing Center Spaces,” appeared in vol. 19, no. 2 of Praxis: A Writing Center Journal. Her co-authored article (with Kelsey Hixson-Bowles and Neil Simpkins), “‘Starting from Square One’: Results from the Racial Climate Survey of Writing Center Professional Gatherings,” was published in vol. 40, no. 1 of the Writing Center Journal.

Katie Marya’s debut poetry collection, Sugar Work, was published on June 7th by Alice James Books and was featured in The New York Times’ “Sunday Book Review”. To celebrate the book’s release, Marya was invited to curate a playlist for the literature and music website largehearted boy. The Kiechel Fine Art Gallery hosted a launch party earlier this summer and there was cake. (Photo credit: Jess Poli)

Uche Okonkwo’s short story, “Burning,” was published in the May/June 2022 issue of Kenyon Review.

Ashlyn Stewart presented “Walt Whitman’s Archives,” a paper she co-wrote with Matt Cohen, at the American Literature Association’s annual conference in Chicago over Memorial Day weekend.

Jeff Hill’s short story, “Neighbors Texting,” was published in Theme of Absence.

Kasey Peters’ essay, “Captive Bolt Stunner,” appeared in Issue 45 of Blue Mesa Review.

Timothy J. Cook delivered a paper (online) on June 24, 2022, during the 29th Ezra Pound International Conference—originally schedule to take place in Kyoto, Japan. As part of the panel “Pound among the Philosophers: Ascetic, Nihilistic, and Asemic EP,” Cook shared his work, “Pound, Heidegger, and Arendt: Ascetic Origins of The Pisan Cantos.”

In June, Melissa Homestead presented to the Women Writing Women’s Lives Seminar sponsored by the Leon Levy Center for Biography at the City University of New York Graduate Center. The title of her talk was “Confessions of an Accidental Biographer: Or, How I Backed into Writing a Dual Biography of Willa Cather and Edith Lewis.” In July, she took a class on Scholarly Editing: Principles & Practices at the Rare Book School at the University of Virginia.

Amelia ML Montes is on the Board of The Macondo Writers Workshop (founded by Sandra Cisneros). Board Members include Olivia Mena, Norma Cantú, and Charles Rice-Gonzalez. The board worked hard throughout the 2021/2022 year to facilitate another successful online summer workshopm July 22 - July 30. Workshop leaders this year were Dorothy Allison (memoir/non-fiction), Sandra Cisneros (YA), Ruth Behar (YA), Nelly Rosario (fiction), Kristen Iversen (non-fiction), and Urayoán Noel (poetry). Amelia was also instrumental in helping to move Macondo to Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas. Trinity University will now be Macondo’s new home for the next five years. Next summer’s workshop will be in person at Trinity. Consider applying: Macondo is open to all writers!

Mũchiri organized a 2-day digital humanities round table in Nairobi, Kenya. The event was held in partnership with the African Digital Heritage Foundation. The discussions engaged DH practitioners on best practices regarding funding, curating DH projects, and mentorship. This event also served as a prelude to a 2022-2023 ACLS-funded project that Mũchiri will pursue with co-PI Dr. Adrian Wisnicki. The DH roundtable was supported by UNL’s CDRH, as well as funding by the Layman Foundation.

Uche Okonkwo was awarded a Tin House Workshop scholarship for summer 2022.

Marco Abel was interviewed by German film critic Rüdiger Suchsland. Their conversation was released as an hour-long, two-episode sequence of the “What We Want—What We Need!” podcast of the Frankfurt International Lichter Filmfest (episode 10 & episode 11). The podcast hosts German-language conversations with German filmmakers, film industry representatives, film critics, and academics about the future of German cinema.

Caterina Bernardini was interviewed by the Fondazione Cesare Pavese about her book, Transnational Modernity and the Italian Reinvention of Walt Whitman, 1870–1945, the last chapter of which focuses on Whitman and Pavese. The interview is available both in English and Italian.

Flatwater Shakespeare Company presents Julius Caesar in a production directed by new Executive Artistic Director Marshall Carby. Performances take place at Wyuka Stables, 3600 “O” Street in Lincoln, Thursdays through Sundays, August 25 through September 11. Steve Buhler and Classics colleague Mike Lippman are dramaturgs. Tickets available now.

Ashlyn Stewart was recently named a student fellow at UNL’s Nebraska Governance and Technology Center (NGTC) for the 2022-23 academic year. The fellows form a diverse and interdisciplinary group, representing colleges and specializations across UNL, that shares a common interest in exploring the pressing issues technology creates within society.