Ain’t Nobody’s Fool
Biographer Martha Ackmann, MA English ’79, recently published a new book on Dolly Parton, tracing Parton’s songwriting and artistry back to her childhood and experience of poverty in East Tennessee.
Stories
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Century-Old Farm Stories
After she was given two farmers’ early 20th-century diaries, Kathryn Youngdahl-Stauss, MA ’15, MLitt ’23, decided to make a film about the mother-son pair.
Haunted by History
The novel Flashlight by Susan Choi has been long-listed for the 2025 Booker Prize.
Bread Loaf Undammed
Nearly 90 years ago, Middlebury built a 25-foot-high dam over a creek in Ripton to help supply drinking water to the Bread Loaf campus.
Too Busy Blurbing Books
For the novelist Rebecca Makkai, MA English ’04, writing blurbs had become nearly a full-time job.
Book of the Century
The New York Times Book Review included The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai, MA English ’04 on its list of the 100 greatest books of the 21st century.
New in Kids’ Lit
Two alumni have written children’s books that address cultural differences and migration.
Prize Poetry
Kellam Ayres, MA English ’07 has been awarded the 2023 Spacks Prize for her forthcoming full-length poetry collection, In the Cathedral of My Undoing.
Evolution of Literary Prizes
McGill literature professor Xander Manshel ’09, MA English ’14 appeared on the podcast On the Media to share his research on the influence of literary prizes and how they’ve changed over the last 35 years.