Poetry Reading with Rita Dove

When: Wednesday, April 15 at 7:30pm
Where: Alice Campbell Alumni Center, 601 S. Lincoln Ave., Urbana
Free and open to the public

April is National Poetry Month, and the you’re invited to join us for a reading and book signing with award-winning poet Rita Dove! Dove served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 1993 to 1995. Winner of the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in poetry and the 2023 honorary National Book Award, she also received the 1996 National Humanities Medal and the 2011 National Medal of Arts. With support from the Robert J. and Katherin Carr Visiting Author Series and Department of English. More at go.illinois.edu/ritadove

Please note, there will also be a lunchtime event for undergraduate students (any major) at BNAACC: Food for the Soul/Inside Scoop with Rita Dove.

Much Ado About Nothing Performance

Later this month, What You Will presents their spring play Much Ado About Nothing on April 17th and 18th in Illini Union Room 210 at 7:30 PM. Be sure to come out (and invite your friends!) to support this hardworking cast and crew for a dramatic night of Regency gossip.

2026 Creative Writing Award Winners

Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Creative Writing Awards!

Undergraduate Winners:
Lama Ghrayeb
Sabrina Longo
Erica Such
Bennett Hernandez
Sauryam Shrestha
Molly Cooper Willis
Sophia Beem

Undergraduate Honorable Mentions:
Noah Meyerhoff
Joy Dudley

Undergraduate Finalists:
Owen Anderson, Drake Facchinello, Charles Kaffer, Abigail Obradovic, Ani Skiles, Bill Waltz, Charlie Booth, Rowan Homan, Rosette Pavkov, Julia Spainhour, Kiya Williams, and Jayla Woodard

Graduate Winners:
Morgan O’Sullivan
Hollis Druhet
Andrea Giugni
Tyler Moore
Garrett Stack
Mason McVeigh

Graduate Honorable Mention:
Jess Quintero

Unfinished Revolutions: Living Stories of American Rights Exhibit

Where: Spurlock Museum
When: March 14-November 8, 2026

Unfinished Revolutions: Living Stories of American Rights explores the bold promises of liberty, equality, and justice the United States was founded on. But the path toward fulfilling those ideals has been anything but straightforward. Our exhibit theme of unfinished revolutions explores the ongoing struggle to define and expand the meaning of freedom in America. From the Revolutionary era to today, individuals and communities have challenged injustice and demanded change—through protest and litigation, war and grassroots organizing, formal politics and everyday resistance.

This exhibit is multivocal. The objects vary, and the people interpreting and reflecting on them are diverse in view, experience, expertise, and background. These ideas will weave through the text created by many different contributors, interpreting objects from Spurlock’s collections and across campus.

PR Internship with Walker Sands

PR interns are responsible for developing media lists, conceptualizing and executing pitches, coordinating media opportunities, writing press releases and other deliverables, preparing media briefing materials, conducting research, and drafting speaking and awards submissions, among other tasks. For more information see this page.

Key Details

• This is a 12-week paid, 40-hour per week internship that will begin on May 26, 2026.
• Candidates for this internship must be eligible for full-time employment upon completion of the program. Students who will remain enrolled in a full-time academic program in the semester immediately following the internship (e.g., college sophomores or juniors continuing their undergraduate education) are not eligible to apply. While full-time employment at Walker Sands is not guaranteed for interns, offers may be extended based on individual performance and the availability of open roles at the agency.
• All PR internship candidate finalists must complete a writing test.

Registration time is upon us again! Time tickets (which tell you when you can start registering for summer and/or fall) will be available for you to view this Monday, March 30th. Summer and Fall 2026 courses are now available to view on Course Explorer.

Continuing students are not required to meet with us (unless they are on academic warning) but we certainly recommend that you check in one way or another; email is fine for quick questions or confirmation of your plans, but longer conversations are best had in real time either in person or over zoom.  To schedule an appointment please call 217-333-4346 during the hours 8:30am-noon or 1:00-4:00pm. Remember that we are very busy during the registration period so please don’t wait until your time ticket opens up and then send an email demanding an immediate reply. Plan ahead!

How to Request an English Honors Seminar

If you would like to sign up for an English honors course in the fall, please email the English Advising Office at englishadvising@illinois.edu (include your full name and UIN) and let us know which seminar you hope to take this fall, including the title/topic and the CRN.  You’ll find descriptions of the courses and the CRN in Course Explorer.  Please allow one week to get a response. Once you have been granted permission to take the course, you must still go into the registration system and add it to your schedule.  We cannot actually enroll you in the class; we are simply giving you the override that will allow you to enroll yourself! 

Eligibility rests on the following: a GPA of at least 3.33 in the major and overall, and prior completion of at least three ENGL courses, of which one must be ENGL 200 and another must be ENGL 301 or 350.  Most students begin honors coursework in their junior year, but eligible sophomores may request permission.  For more details about the honors program check our English department website: https://english.illinois.edu/academics/undergraduate-studies/honors-research/honors-research. 

If you would like to take two seminars at the same time, then you may, but you must receive approval for the first before you can request a second.  If you are approaching graduation and need a particular seminar in order to complete the honors program, please get your request in right away! Permission is granted on a first-come, first-served basis, although we do reserve the right to prioritize students closer to graduation.

How to Connect with LAS Career Services

• Mondays- 1-3 pm 105 Greg Hall (short chats)
• Tuesdays- 10-3 pm LAS Hub (Lincoln Hall) with peer mentors
• Wednesdays- 10-3 pm LAS Hub (Lincoln Hall) with peer mentors
• Thursdays- 10-3 pm LAS Hub (Lincoln Hall) with peer mentors
• Thursdays- 1-3 pm 105 Greg Hall (short chats)
• Handshake Appointments (in-person or virtual) are 30 minutes during available staff times. We have an energetic team to help you. Reach out to connect. Having trouble? Reach out to us at las-careerservices@illinois.edu. 

Sharing News

As a reminder, if you have an award, a publication, or some other triumph to report please send news to engl-news@illinois.edu so the social media interns can celebrate you and your accomplishment. Also, if you are a member of a student group affiliated with the English department and you would like an upcoming event posted on our undergraduate calendar (now available at the bottom of the advising page) please send that info to the same address. Thanks!