McGill English Department

03/27/2025

We are overjoyed to be welcoming curator, art historian, cultural critic and visual artist Didier Morelli for a talk on performance art in the city, Street Actions: Women Performing in Montreal and Toronto in the 1970s.

𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 and 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗘?

April 2, 2025, 2-4 pm
680 Sherbrooke West, Rm. 1041

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧?

𝗦𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗲𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀: 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗧𝗼𝗿𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 1970𝘀 examines how women performance artists moved in the city, imagining alternate modes of embodiment in Montréal and Toronto between 1970 and 1980. The short, ten-year timeframe accounts for the flourishing of Canadian conceptual and performance art in the 1970s, a period marked by artists moving outside of the established boundaries of their studios and white-walled galleries to adopt the streets as a primary site of experimentation and public presentation. Artists in question include Françoise Sullivan, Rita Letendre, Vera Frenkel, Johanna Householder, Elizabeth Chitty, and Marshalore amongst others. How did this unique convergence between the moving bodies of women performance artists, civic building projects and urban transformations, and the politics of the Canadian and Québécois Women’s Movement (1960-1985) engender an era of change?

𝗗𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗿 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶 is a curator, performance and art historian, cultural critic and visual artist. His Fonds de recherche du Québec—Société et culture (FRQSC) Postdoctoral Fellowship, which he holds at Concordia University and the CCA examines how second-wave feminist performances subverted urban functionalism by imagining alternate modes of embodiment in Montreal and Toronto during the 1970s. Previously the associate editor at Espace art actuel, his writing has also been published in Art Journal, CTR: Canadian Theatre Review, C Magazine, CBC Arts, Esse Arts + Opinions, RACAR, Spirale, and TDR: The Drama Review. Morelli will be the curator of the 2026 MANIF, the Quebec City Biennial, which is titled “Briser la glace / Splitting Ice.”

03/27/2025

McGill University's English Graduate Students’ Association is pleased to invite you to our annual graduate conference, 𝐃𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐲. The conference will be held Saturday, March 29th and Sunday, March 30th in the 3rd floor ballroom in Thomson House (3650 McTavish St.) at McGill University.

We are delighted to announce that our keynote speakers this year are Dr. Eli MacLaren, Associate Professor of English at McGill University, and Dr. Stephanie Bolster, Professor of English at Concordia University.

The conference's program can be found in images 1, 2, and 3.

We look forward to seeing you there!

This event is sponsored by the English Graduate Students' Association, the Student Engagement Fund, and the Post-Graduate Students' Society of McGill University.

https://www.mcgill.ca/english/

03/25/2025

It's TONIGHT at 6 pm!

We are hosting Whitney Museum Curator 𝐌𝐞𝐠 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐢 for the Reynolds Atelier Lecture, "𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐁𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐚𝐥."

𝐌𝐞𝐠 𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐢 is the Nancy and Fred Poses Curator at The Whitney Museum of American Art, New York. Onli has worked as the Andrea B. Laporte Associate Curator at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Philadelphia, as well as the director and curator of The Underground Museum, Los Angeles. She has curated such exhibitions as 𝘚𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩/𝘈𝘤𝘵𝘴 (2017), 𝘊𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘗𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘛𝘪𝘮𝘦: 𝘔𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘦 𝘍𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘘𝘶𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘢𝘯 𝘗𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘉𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘗𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 (2019), and 𝘜𝘭𝘺𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘑𝘦𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘴: 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘐𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 (2021) with Erin Christovale. She curated the 2024 Whitney Biennial alongside Chrissie Iles. Currently, she is curating a Roy Lichtenstein retrospective with the artist Alex Da Corte.

𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞: https://macm.org/en/activities/conferences-exhibition-curating-2025/

03/24/2025

Poetic Love, with Argentine poet Cecilia Pavon, is tonight!

Come and discover one of the great voices of contemporary Argentine poetry, Cecilia Pavon, co-founder of the legendary Belleza y Felicidad local in Buenos Aires, and director of Microcentro (oficina central de poesía), a space dedicated to writing workshops and poetry readings. Pavon is a writer, translator (her translations include Eileen Myles, Chris Kraus, Ariana Reines, Dorothea Lasky and Lorrie Moore) and a gardener of chaos.

This multilingual conference (via Zoom) will be moderated by poet and Richler Writer-in-Residence Daphné B. (Département de littératures de langue française) and poet Jay Ritchie (McGill English Department).

WHEN? March 24, 6pm to 8pm
WHERE? Arts 150

The conference, hosted by the Department of English and the Département des littératures de langue française, de traduction et de création, will take place in English, French and Spanish.

To RSVP please email 📩 [email protected]

03/17/2025

Please join Poetry Matters Thursday, March 20, 5-7 (Rocket Science Room, 170 rue Jean-Talon O) for a conversation with Liz Howard (Concordia) and Sarah Dowling (U Toronto) on being poets and critics in relation. Moderated by Carmen Faye Mathes (McGill), this event is at once a celebration of Dowling's new book, *Here is a Figure: Grounding Literary Form,* and an opportunity to reflect on the grounds of poetic making.

03/17/2025

Tomorrow, March 17, join New York Times bestselling author Paul Greenberg and Professor Alexander Manshel from the Department of English as they discuss Greenberg’s new allegory “A Third Term” at Librarie De Stiil Bookstore.

03/11/2025

The 13th event of the Montreal Poetry Prize series Fluid Vessels is coming up! Don't miss it!

Fluid Vessels 13 is just one week away!

Head to our website and hit the reading series tab for the Zoom link... We hope to see you there💌💌

02/20/2025

The Department of English is thrilled to invite you to the 2025 Faculty Colloquium, "Situation and Situatedness"!

This year, we have seven speakers who will share their research "situations" — from the inciting incident to the process and practice of developing new ideas.

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to learn all about the research that animates the Department of English at McGill!

WHEN: February 21, 2025, 10 am to 12:30 pm
WHERE: 3475 Peel Street, Rm. 101

SPEAKERS:

Ned Schantz
“The Situation of Procession”

Sandeep Banerjee
“Speaking to Clouds: Love and Longing in Rainy Bengal”

Amber Rose Johnson
“Tight Frame: Thinking with Gestures”

Maggie Kilgour
“Situating Milton’s Shakespeare”

Amanda Greer
“Look Again, Differently: Theorizing Watchfulness in Girlhood Cinemas”

Katie Zien
“Hearing Loss, Processing Nigamon/Tunai”

Catherine Bradley
“Fleeting and Permanent”

Coffee and pastries will be served!

Organized by Carmen Faye Mathes and Ara Osterweil

02/18/2025

The 2025 Spector Lecture is tonight! We still have a few seats left. RSVP here: https://forms.office.com/r/An4trMgU4e

The 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 is thrilled to welcome our 2025 Spector Lecturer: Phanuel Antwi, Canada Research Chair in Black Arts and Epistemologies and Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia.

Professor Antwi's talk, "On Being Cuddled; Or, Bearing the Racial Embrace", stems from the research leading to his latest book 𝑶𝒏 𝑪𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑬𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆. Ranging from the terrifying embrace of the slave ship's hold to the racist encoding of 'cuddly' toys, 𝑶𝒏 𝑪𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 is a unique combination of essay and poetry that contends with the way racial violence is enacted through intimacy.

Phanuel Antwi holds the Canada Research Chair in Black Arts and Epistemologies and is Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literatures at the University of British Columbia. He writes, researches, and teaches critical black studies; settler colonial studies; black Atlantic and diaspora studies; Canadian literature and culture since 1830; critical race, gender, and sexuality studies; and material cultures. He is also an artist, curator, and activist working with text, dance, film and photography to intervene in artistic, academic and public spaces. He has published articles in 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝘼𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨, and 𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, and he is completing a book-length project titled “Currencies of Blackness: Faithfulness, Cheerfulness and Politeness in Settler Writing.”

WHEN: February 18, 2025, 6 - 8 PM
WHERE: Arts W-120, McGill University, 853 Sherbrooke W.

RSVP required!: https://www.mcgill.ca/english/channels/event/spector-lecture-2025-antwi

02/13/2025

The 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝗵 is thrilled to welcome our 2025 Spector Lecturer: Phanuel Antwi, Canada Research Chair in Black Arts and Epistemologies and Associate Professor at the University of British Columbia.

Professor Antwi's talk, "On Being Cuddled; Or, Bearing the Racial Embrace", stems from the research leading to his latest book 𝑶𝒏 𝑪𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈: 𝑳𝒐𝒗𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑫𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝑬𝒎𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒆. Ranging from the terrifying embrace of the slave ship's hold to the racist encoding of 'cuddly' toys, 𝑶𝒏 𝑪𝒖𝒅𝒅𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 is a unique combination of essay and poetry that contends with the way racial violence is enacted through intimacy.

Phanuel Antwi holds the Canada Research Chair in Black Arts and Epistemologies and is Associate Professor in the Department of English Language and Literatures at the University of British Columbia. He writes, researches, and teaches critical black studies; settler colonial studies; black Atlantic and diaspora studies; Canadian literature and culture since 1830; critical race, gender, and sexuality studies; and material cultures. He is also an artist, curator, and activist working with text, dance, film and photography to intervene in artistic, academic and public spaces. He has published articles in 𝙄𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙫𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨, 𝘼𝙛𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙚𝙨, and 𝙎𝙩𝙪𝙙𝙞𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝘾𝙖𝙣𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙖𝙣 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙪𝙧𝙚, and he is completing a book-length project titled “Currencies of Blackness: Faithfulness, Cheerfulness and Politeness in Settler Writing.”

WHEN: February 18, 2025, 6 - 8 PM
WHERE: Arts W-120, McGill University, 853 Sherbrooke W.

RSVP required!: https://www.mcgill.ca/english/channels/event/spector-lecture-2025-antwi

01/21/2025

𝐉𝐚𝐲 𝐑𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞, PhD Candidate in the Department of English, spoke to the Faculty of Arts about his newest collection of poems 𝘓𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘴, shortlisted for the Quebec Writers’ Federation A.M. Klein Prize for Poetry.

"One of the questions poetry is often confronted with is this question of use value—what is it for? This is a political question, less about poetry than about how life is organized. When we devalue so-called “non-useful” or “unproductive” things—socializing, wandering, reading poetry, noodling on a guitar—we devalue a precious part of our humanity. Life is wonderous and strange, and poetry allows me to connect with this understanding of life, allows me to see it and hear it and experience it."

Read the full interview!: https://www.mcgill.ca/arts/article/faculty-publication-spotlight-listening-many-publics-jay-ritchie

01/06/2025

𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐟𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐡!

We hope this winter semester is filled with fascinating reads, inspired writing, mind-opening discussions and meaningful connections. 📖🔎💻🎥