Thank you to English faculty, Brian Baumgart for sending out an email bursting with accomplishments from the English department! We highlighted the list again, below!
Student & Alum Celebrations
Performances:
- Under Construction, NHCC’s student literary publication, hosted a reading and open mic in the NHCC courtyard on May 7, 2025. Students and community members read/performed their original writing, performed music, and sang songs. It was magnificent.
Faculty Celebrations
Publications:
- Ruth Knezevich’s essay “From a Persian Kitchen” was published in Streetlight Magazine, where it received 2nd place in the 2025 Memoir/Essay contest.
- Haley Lasché has poems forthcoming this Fall in Conduit Journal, as well as in The Book of Jobs, an anthology published through Penn State (which will reprint one of the poems from her collection ONE). Haley also has a hybrid piece coming out in Club Plum’s autumn horror issue.
Kelly Lundquist's debut book, Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage (Eerdmans), comes out October 30.
Kelly will have a local book launch event at Magers & Quinn in Minneapolis on Thursday, November 6. Folks who are interested can sign up here.
- Kelly Lundquist has some original essays and excerpts soon to be appearing in People magazine, the Huffington Post, Queerty, Third Coast Review, and several other places TBA.
- One of Kelly Lundquist’s poems was recently accepted for publication in the upcoming anthology, 250 Years of American Pop Culture, from Moon Tide Press.
- Karen Parkman’s novel, The Jills (Ballantine), comes out on January 6, 2026.
Grants, Positions, Awards, & Programs:
- Ruth Knezevich won 2nd place in the Streetlight Magazine’s 2025 Memoir/Essay contest for her essay “From a Persian Kitchen.”
- Kelly Lundquist’s poem “Mt. St. Helen” was nominated for a 2025 Best of the Net Award by Villain Era Lit.
- Kara Olson’s first book of poetry, The Order of Blooming, was a Finalist for the 2025 National Poetry Series.
Performances, Presentations, Interviews, & Readings:
- Brian Baumgart read from his newest book of poetry alongside poets Julie Adrian and Christy Merry at the American School of Storytelling in March 2025.
- Haley Lasché will be reading with Chicago poet Dawn Tefft and Micah Larson at Boneshaker Books on October 4th.
- Kelly Lundquist has interviews and conversations soon to appear in several periodicals and podcasts, in preparation for the release of her memoir (see above).
- Sun Yung Shin will be moderating “So You Want to Write Books for Kids?” on Oct. 7th along with authors Art Coulson, Cristina Oxtra, Crown Shepherd, and illustrator Emiko Rainbow for a panel conversation through the Hennepin County Library designed to help BIPOC children’s book creators navigate the path to publication.
- Along with Bao Phi and Tri Vo, Sun Yung Shin will be on the “Asian Americans in Geekdom: Celebrating and Complaining in 2025” panel at ConFluence (Oct. 18 & 19).
Thank you again to Brian Baumgart for sending out an email detailing these recent accomplishments from the English department!