Leave Space for Kindness and Joy Every Day: An Interview with Jack Ridl

Written by Anna Stowe, Hope College Creative Writing Major and Student Managing Editor for the English Department The co-founder of the Visiting Writers Series, Jack Ridl, taught at Hope College from 1971-2006. During this time, Jack mentored many students and fought to bring creative writing to life on Hope’s campus. All the while, Jack poured …

From Hope to Houston

Written by Anna Stowe, Hope College Creative Writing Major and Student Managing Editor for the English Department Alumni Spotlight: Eileen Ellis (’23) What do you do now? And we’d love to hear a bit about how you got there as well. Currently, I am in my first semester in the University of Houston’s  M.F.A. in …

Writing That Reached Us

By Anna Snader ‘26, English Literature Major and Political Science Minor On September 30th at 7:00 pm, the Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series welcomed Heather Sellers, a former Hope professor, and Anna Gazmarian, a 2014 Hope alum, to read their work. After reading Devout by Anna Gazmarian and You Don’t Look Like Anyone I Know …

English Course Preview – Spring 2025

Take a look at our upcoming offerings as you begin to plan. Be sure to make an appointment with your advisor if you are not sure which English classes to take in the spring.

Making Art Is A Kind Of Play: An Interview with Heather Sellers

Written by Anna Stowe, Hope College Creative Writing Major and Student Managing Editor for the English Department For many writers, the name Heather Sellers is a familiar one—we’ve all used her textbook, The Practice of Creative Writing, in an Intro to Creative Writing class. This, however, is often the only contact we have with her …

Research Is No Solitary Sport

Discovering Chasing Beauty Written by Anna Stowe, Hope College Creative Writing Major and Student Managing Editor for the English Department Deep in the basement of the Van Wylen Library, you’ll find the Rare Books Room. Lining its walls are hundreds of books ranging from first-edition novels to tomes of Michigan history. It’s both atmospheric and …

Anna Gazmarian, Hope ’14, releases memoir about mental health and Evangelical faith

Anna Gazmarian’s memoir, entitled Devout: A Memoir of Doubt, is the exploration of the complex interplay between faith and science, particularly in the context of mental health. Growing up in Winston Salem, North Carolina, within an Evangelical family, she was ingrained with a religious framework that offered limited understanding and resources for dealing with mental …

On Writing, Fishing, and Failing: Alumni Spotlight with Taylor Rebhan (’14)

What do you do now? And we’d love to hear a bit about how you got there as well. My day job is writing advertising, marketing, and brand copy as a Senior Writer at REI Co-op. By moonlight, I write creative non-fiction with the hope of publishing a book of humorist essays. I graduated from …

English and More: Double Majors in the Department

Wondering what a double major with English looks like? Unsure of which majors can be paired with English? Seniors Carole Chee, Will Vance, and Piper Daleiden give us a glimpse into their experiences as double majors and offer insight into how an English major can complement other areas of study. Carole Chee (’24): English and …