Get to Know Us!
The People Behind the Posts
Hey there everybody! Since there’s no big event to discuss this week, we thought it might be fun to have a little introductory, getting-to-know-us post so that you could learn more about who exactly is sharing all of this information with you!
First up, we have Dr.
, the mastermind behind the Substack idea!
John is Associate Professor of English and Graduate Coordinator for the English Department and has been teaching at South since 2005. He has degrees from the University of North Carolina (BA), the College of William and Mary (MA), and Tulane University (PhD), and he lives in midtown with his wife and dogs. He has published on a range of topics from Beowulf to Chaucer to Patrick O’Brian and is currently working on a book about the body in historical fiction, focusing on O’Brian, Hilary Mantel, Rose Tremain, and others. He also publishes his own Substack, Personal Canon Formation, linked here. (Check out the piece on Prince and the Icelandic Sagas.)
Since he spends much of his time reading, he has had a difficult time picking one book to recommend, but he has landed on the novel that has pretty much obsessed him for the last fifteen years since its publication in 2009, Hilary Mantel’s Wolf Hall. But since Dori is recommending more than one book, he will also shout out Excellent Women by Barbara Pym and Music and Silence by Rose Tremain.
The time he doesn’t spend reading, he spends either walking the dogs or listening to music. (Sometimes he does all three at once.) There are lots of music recommendations on his Substack, so check them out. Lately, he has had Yo-yo Ma’s Japanese Melodies on repeat, as well as the recording of Sibelius’s Fifth Symphony by Herbert Blomstedt and the San Francisco Symphony, and the album Rae by the singer/songwriter Ashe.
And for the second face behind the screen, we have the Graduate Assistant
!
Dori is a second-year English graduate student at the University of South Alabama, with a concentration in creative writing. Dori grew up in Fairhope, Alabama, and considers the south absolutely integral to the work that they do as an academic and a writer. They most enjoy studying the relationship between genre fiction and modern society, especially how monster stories have become representative of marginalized communities over time. They have a special love for horror, both movies and books, and often find themself watching old slasher movies for comfort. They’ve also been published in a few journals and anthologies, and you can find those stories in places like Susurrus Magazine, The Deeps Magazine, and the Demons & Death Drops anthology from Little Ghosts Books. They’re also a co-editor for the micro horror press, Spindle House. You can read more about them and their work at their website, linked here!
Since we’re doing both book and music recommendations, the books that Dori recommends are Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence: An Arcane History of the Oxford Translators' Revolution by R.F. Kuang, or My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones (honestly, anything by Stephen Graham Jones is an absolute win). Babel because Kuang is able to beautifully combine fantasy elements and in-depth historical storytelling to create a gorgeous and heartbreaking tale, and My Heart is a Chainsaw because Stephen Graham Jones truly is one of the most intelligent and in-depth contemporary horror writers (at least in Dori’s opinion).
If they had to choose an album for recommendation, they’d choose Stick Season by Noah Kahan. They’ve got a taste for more folky, acoustic-sounding work at the moment, and Stick Season is an excellent mix of guitar and banjo with phenomenal songwriting. However, if they had to pick a singular song, they’d tell you that “Cruel Summer” by Bananarama (NOT Taylor Swift) does, in fact, live rent-free in their head at all times.
Thanks so much for spending this time with us! We’re having an absolute blast sharing our events and goings-on with you, and can’t wait to share more as the semester progresses!
Hey Graduate Students!
If you haven’t heard the news, there’ll be an information session this Tuesday, February 20th, at 5:00 PM regarding applying to college and university teaching positions! This session will be held in Humanities Room 266, and light refreshments will be served to those who attend. If you’ve ever been interested in pursuing an academic career, this talk will be invaluable to you, as the topics discussed will be: writing a cover letter, preparing for interviews, reading job advertisements, and so much more. We look forward to seeing you there!