English Majors in International Publication for a Second Year

For the second year in a row, two majors in Pacific University's Department of English have had work selected for publication under the auspices of the international honor society Sigma Tau Delta.

Both works of creative nonfiction straddle critical and memoirist convention: in Bite Down, Kymberlin Bush ('20) considers the long-lasting impacts of sexual assault, while, in Some Kind of Permanent, Kyle Riper ('19) explores the changing demographics of tattoo culture by examining what is means to reshape one's body with dead languages.

Read both works in the most recent volume of The Rectangle: The Sigma Tau Delta Journal of Creative Writing 95 (2020), pages 54–60 and 64–68, online. Print copies will also be available in the Department of English, located in Bates House, this spring. Last year, Riper also had literary criticism, "'Round about her tomb they go': Editorial Emendation in Much Ado About Nothing," drawn from his senior thesis project, appear in The Review: The Sigma Tau Delta Journal of Critical Writing 16 (2019), pages 176–81, which is also available online.

The Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society was founded in 1924 to confer distinction for high achievement in English language and literature in undergraduate, graduate, and professional studies. With over 900 active chapters and more than 9,000 members inducted annually, the Society aims to foster literacy through its local chapters on college campuses and promote interest in literature in their surrounding communities.

Pacific's chapter, Alpha Chi Omega, was founded in the spring of 2017 under the auspices of the long-running English Club, and in two years already has over 30 members. Membership is an outward recognition of personal accomplishment and signifies that those invited to join have achieved the Society’s high standards of academic excellence. When admitted, students receive a certificate of lifetime membership, the official Society pin to signify high achievement, and are formally inducted at an end-of-year ceremony.

Membership in the chapter makes students eligible to submit for publication, participate in publishing internships, apply for scholarships, and present at regional, national, and international conferences.

The application season for 2020 is now open. For more information about the society, how to contribute, or to apply for membership, visit the Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society website or contact the society advisor, Dr. Tavares (etavares@pacificu.edu).

Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2020