‘It’s all for the people’; Juan Felipe Herrera Elementary School opens in SE Fresno

August 26, 2022.Reading time 7 minutes.

The entrance of Juan Felipe Herrera Elementary School -- a bright orange roof shelter with a deep blue office.

Located on Church and Willow avenues in Southeast Fresno, the Juan Felipe Herrera Elementary School grounds are visually striking, with a large orange entrance contrasted with the dark blue administrative office and the vivid sky that often graces Fresno in the late summer.

New Faces: Sean A. Gordon

August 24, 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

The College of Arts and Humanities welcomes new faculty Dr. Sean A. Gordon to the Department of English. He earned a Ph.D. in English and American Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where he recently defended his dissertation, “On Being Dispersed: The Poetics of Dehiscence from ‘We the People’ to Abolition.”

In Memoriam: Steve Adisasmito-Smith

August 12, 2022.Reading time 18 minutes.

Dr. Steve Adisasmito-Smith, a Fresno State associate professor of English, passed away on July 10. He was 57.

In Memoriam: Dr. Jack McDermott

July 1, 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

Dr. John McDermott, a Fresno State professor emeritus of English, passed away on June 15. He was 89.

Frances Levine, longtime Fresno State supporter, dies at 94

June 23, 2022.Reading time 10 minutes.

Philip Levine with his arm around Fran as they look at each other in a black and white photo.

Frances Levine, whose gift to Fresno State of her U.S. poet laureate husband’s extensive personal book collection sparked the creation of the Philip Levine Reading Room inside the University library, passed away in Fresno on June 13. She was 94.

Kudos to Fresno Writers – Spring 2022

June 23, 2022.Reading time 28 minutes.

A woman's hand with rings on her fingers grasps a pen tightly as she writes in a notebook.

Kudos to #FresnoWriters is an ongoing series on the Fresno State MFA blog, celebrating the professional accomplishments of students, alumni, and faculty in Fresno State’s Creative Writing Program and the Department of English.

2022 English graduates embrace risk, improvisation, creativity

May 11, 2022.Reading time 25 minutes.

Facing obstacles of all kinds — including earning the bulk of their degrees in a global pandemic — these 2022 graduates of Fresno State’s English Department have all found ways to use writing and literature to thrive.

English professor Mai Der Vang named finalist for Pulitzer Prize in Poetry

May 11, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry Mai Der Vang stands in front of a green field and a setting sun.

Author and Fresno State professor Mai Der Vang was honored May 9 as a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, for her groundbreaking book of documentary poetry, “Yellow Rain.”

Attention English and Creative Writing students: Poetry competition open for 2023 Art Song Festival

May 2, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

Piano accompanies a singer performing an original piece at the Art Song Festival.

The competition is open to all currently enrolled Fresno State English and Creative Writing undergraduate and graduate students.

Alumni mark 5th anniversary of social justice writing prize

April 27, 2022.Reading time 23 minutes.

Now a graduate student, Hermelinda Hernandez Monjaras won the Mireyda Barraza Martinez Prize for Social Justice Writing twice as an undergraduate in 2020 and 2021.