UND English

A rare moment when schedules aligned! 📚✨

Five current and former English graduates, now working for Student Academic Success & Career Engagement, found themselves in the same place at the same time and we have the photo proof!

We're always proud to see where our graduates go, but it's especially exciting to see so many members of our English community supporting students right here at UND 💚

Pictured from left to right:
Yashari Nunez Speers (PhD program, ABD)
Kyle Braun (MA, 2021)
Anthony Olson (MA, 2025)
Aimee Galloway (MA, 2021 and currently pursuing the PhD in English)
Danika Ogawa (MA, 2026)

Anya Unser is the recipient of the Gladys Boen Literary Award for 2026-27. Anya is a first-year English major with a minor in Linguistics. She is also seeking a certificate in Creative Writing and another in Writing, Editing, and Publishing. Her focus in English is editing and publishing. She is originally from Aberdeen, South Dakota. Fun Fact: Anya liked to write stories when she was little but didn’t really like reading! Congratulations, Anya!

Davina Bell is the recipient of the Robert & Mary Caldwell Scholarship for 2026-27. Davina is a Ph.D. student in English (ABD) and is from Detroit, Michigan. She has a passion for American Literature, especially Speculative Black American Literature, Southern Gothic, Afrofuturism, and Black Horror. Fun Fact: She has been a Zumba instructor for over 14 years. Congratulations, Davina!

Jillian Larson is the recipient of the Donald Bruce Beard Award in English for 2026-27. Jillian is originally from Finley, North Dakota. She is a senior majoring in English Secondary Education and will begin her student teaching in the fall. Her interests in English are writing and literature. Fun Fact: She just went on a trip to Universal Studios for her 21st birthday. Congratulations, Jillian!

Mohammad Al Walid (Walid) is the recipient of the Robert & Mary Caldwell Scholarship for 2026-27. Walid is from Khulna, Bangladesh. He will begin his second year in the Ph.D. program in English this fall. His main interests in English are 20th and 21st Century American Literature (especially Speculative Fiction-Ecofiction-Indigenous Studies), American Culture, Popular Fiction and Culture, Cultural Studies, Digital Humanities, Archiving-Digitization-Archival Studies, Transculturalism, Environmental Rhetoric and Composition, Technical Writing, and Rural and Urban Literacy. Fun Fact: He is not a hummingbird, but always hums. Congratulations, Walid!

Thrilled to see our own Assistant Professor Courtney Kersten (published under Courtney Ann LaFaive) mentioned for "Follow The Signs: Searching for Linda Goodman, America's Forgotten Astrology Queen" in the The New Yorker! 🎉📖✨

Read the full review here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/06/08/follow-the-signs-courtney-ann-lafaive-book-review?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhfacebook&utm_content=app.dashsocial.com%2Fnewyorkermag%2Flibrary%2Fmedia%2F681323310&fbclid=IwY2xjawSVCsBleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETE3SDhiSjY3WndheEc2bWFRc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHlFSkqrmRbQ8JrebEWyfYpam1z1c--amZwrXa4Aldk5B95cdtGS7bUewF_0N_aem_QsnfCuZwa00vzdvQ3jhrlQ

Astrology is alluring because it gives the feeling, at once comforting and enlivening, that your idiosyncrasies can be traced to forces far greater than yourself. Linda Goodman picked up on that inherent human desire with her 1968 book, “Linda Goodman’s Sun Signs.” Before her inaugural text was published, discussions of the zodiac were confined to fringe scenes and scant newspaper columns. But Goodman, with her friendly, approachable writing style, demystified what had previously been a wonky, mathematical discipline, allowing even casual readers to feel a newfound connection with the tides of the universe. The cost was that she became trapped in a bizarre private cosmos of her own making. Read more about the complicated life of the woman who brought astrology to the masses: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/06/08/follow-the-signs-courtney-ann-lafaive-book-review?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=dhfacebook&utm_content=app.dashsocial.com%2Fnewyorkermag%2Flibrary%2Fmedia%2F681323310

Alivia Dendy is the recipient of the Myrtle McCrea Duncan Memorial Scholarship for 2026-27. Alivia is an English major in the Honors Program and will be a sophomore in the fall. She is originally from Bismarck, North Dakota. Her main interests in English are editing and creative writing. Fun Fact: Alivia has had a meal inside of the Eiffel Tower! Congratulations, Alivia!

Mark Patterson is the recipient of the Robert & Mary Caldwell Scholarship for 2026-27. Mark is a Ph.D. student in English (ABD). He is originally from Lampasas, Texas. His main interests in English are Arthurian romances, Geoffrey Chaucer, and q***r theory. Fun Fact: Mark spins wool to make his own yarn on a spinning wheel he stained and assembled himself. Congratulations, Mark!

Honna Westlund is the recipient of the Bill and Karmen Purcell Linguistics Scholarship for 2026-27. Honna is a senior majoring in English and Secondary Education. She is originally from Strathcona, a small town in northern Minnesota. “I have always had a passion for English; however, after my time here at UND my main interests revolve around Creative Nonfiction! I will be student teaching this fall, and I am excited to share this passion with my students! A fun fact about me is that I love to travel; pictured is me at the top of Mount Pilatus in Lucerne, Switzerland!” Congratulations, Honna!