We’re proud to sponsor the 2026 Atlantic Book Awards. At SMU English, we study how stories shape culture, identity, and public life—and there’s no better place to see that in action than here. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be sharing why storytelling matters now more than ever. Stay with us.
Inside English @ SMU: Join @smuenglish.bsky.social for an interactive celebration of creativity and community! Print your own custom bookmarks, enjoy readings by creative writing contest winners and meet with faculty, students and a career counsellor. March 27, 11 am–2 pm in MM 201: loom.ly/Tff8YNE
🌹 A timely Valentine's weekend update on Dr. Goran Stanivukovic of @smuenglish.bsky.social. “The Romance and Wonder in the Age of Shakespeare” is his current research project as a #CRRS Fellow with U of T's Centre for Renaissance and Reformation Studies. More info: crrs.ca/about_us/people/fellows
Due by Feb. 20: Submit your #shortstory entries for the 2026 Margó Takacs Marshall Prize for Excellence in Short Story Writing! 🏆 Presented by @smuenglish.bsky.social, the annual contest is open to all currently enrolled students across SMU. Learn more: loom.ly/nNjWVMg. #SMUEnglish #CreativeWriting
Due by Feb. 20: Submit your #poetry and #spokenword entries for the 2026 Joyce Marshall Hsia Memorial Poetry Prize! 🏆 Presented by @smuenglish.bsky.social, the annual contest is open to all currently enrolled students across SMU. Learn more: loom.ly/nNjWVMg. #SMUEnglish #CreativeWriting
Carbon Arc Cinema's #NovaScotia Retro Film Festo is coming up soon! Dr. Jennifer VanderBurgh of @smuenglish.bsky.social will host a Q&A with short films by pioneering film director #MargaretPerry, at the Nova Scotian Vintage Shorts event Feb. 1 at 1 pm. www.carbonarc.ca/events/nova-... #SMUEnglish
Nova Scotian Vintage Shorts (NSRFF) — Carbon Arc
Screening times: Sunday, February 1, 1:00 PM - special guest attending! Various directors | Canada | Various Years This collection of vintage shorts from Nova Scotia is screening as part of the...
carbonarc.ca
📣 #ArtsForEveryone returns this winter with 4 free courses, including one online offering: Introduction to Composition (ENGL 1100) starts Jan. 7 with Dr. Seán Kennedy. 📚 It runs Mondays + Wednesdays, 10–11:15 am. Register here: smucc.brightspace.com/course/21/co... @smuenglish.bsky.social #A4E
Unforgetting and the Politics of Representation: Voices from Contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina | The Forgotten Children of War Association hosted a #Sarajevo book launch in November for Dr. Tatjana Takševa, Chair of @smuenglish.bsky.social. Read more: loom.ly/HIdWkHo. #SMUEnglish #artswithimpact
How AI is shaped by fiction: Check out @halifaxexaminer.ca for @timbousquet.bsky.social's video interview with Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social. #SMUEnglish #artswithimpact
Teresa Heffernan on how AI is shaped by fiction Morning File by @timbousquet.bsky.social
The #SMUReadingSeries presents "An evening with Kate Cayley" on November 27. Winner of the Trillium Award, O. Henry Prize and Mitchell Prize for Poetry, Cayley will read from her new novel Property, published by @coachhousebooks.bsky.social. 7 pm in SB 255: loom.ly/bnvuCYY @smuenglish.bsky.social
Apply by Nov. 30: The Edna and Velma Thomas Kane Writers Award supports SMU students of African Nova Scotian and Black/African descent in the next steps toward their #writing aspirations. Graduating with a BA or BES in 2026? Learn more: loom.ly/lo5R-k0 #KaneWritersAward #SMUAlumni #artswithimpact
Kane Writers Award: Apply by November 30 | SMU News and Events
The Edna and Velma Thomas Kane Writers Award supports aspiring writers of African Nova Scotian and Black/African descent. Valued at $30,000, the award will be pres...
loom.ly
"Resist the AI hype and question the uncritical adoption of this technology," Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social warns in her latest commentary piece for @halifaxexaminer.ca. #SMUEnglish #OpEd #ArtificialIntelligence #AI
Welcome to Big Tech, corporate-owned chatbots, and the totalitarian fantasy of AI gurus commentary from @tjheffernan.bsky.social
Call for applications! The Amadeus Choir seeks poets and composers from across #Canada to take part in its next Choral Creation Lab. Dr. Luke Hathaway of @smuenglish.bsky.social is a poet mentor this year! Learn more and apply soon: amadeuschoir.com/CCL/ #amadeuschoir #choralmusic #poets #composers
Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social spoke recently with #CBC #Mainstreethfx. "The modern road less travelled might be reading a book without help from AI: We learn from Dr. Heffernan about the consequences of using #AI to do your reading for you." www.cbc.ca/listen/live-...
Queer Lives & Letters: a new @smuenglish.bsky.social course aims to empower students at a scary time. Launched by Dr. Luke Hathaway in the Winter 2025 term, the course was featured in a recent @signalhfx.bsky.social story by Laura Flight. Read more: signalhfx.ca/queer-litera... #PrideMonth2025
The religious roots of AI and the rise of neo-feudalism: A new article by Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/G5VBJ... #SMUEnglish #AI #ArtificialIntelligence #humanities #artswithimpact
The religious roots of AI and the rise of neo-feudalism
Discussions of immortality, the raising of the dead, magic, demons, and the divine permeate the global AI industry. Although positioning itself as a technoscience, it has long animated its technolo...
tandfonline.com
Some cautionary new commentary from Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social, in an open letter to Evan Solomon, Canada's new Minister of Artificial Intelligence and Digital Innovation. #AI #artificialintelligence #artswithimpact
An open letter to Evan Solomon, Minister of Artificial Intelligence by @tjheffernan.bsky.social
In case you missed it: Dr. @tjheffernan.bsky.social of @smuenglish.bsky.social was featured in the first episode of the Humanities at Large podcast from @jhievents.bsky.social. Her topic was "Absence of Intelligence: The Science and Fiction of AI". Well worth a listen! uoft.me/jhi-podcast #AI
In episode 1, Teresa Heffernan discusses AI beyond the hype, examining AI's limitations, environmental impact, and the complexities of attributing "human" qualities to machines. Listen to this critical look at tech power dynamics and the need for ethical regulation. uoft.me/jhi-podcast
Congratulations to Dr. Annick MacAskill on 2 #poetry award nominations for 'Votive' (@gaspereaupress.bsky.social, 2024): #1 - J.M. Abraham Atlantic Poetry Award; the June 5 @atlanticbookawards.bsky.social gala is at #HalifaxCentral Library and online. #2 - see below. 🏆🏆 Happy #NationalPoetryMonth!
'Votive' by Dr. Annick MacAskill is also nominated for the Maxine Tynes Nova Scotia Poetry Award! The #NovaScotia Book Awards ceremony is June 2 in #Dartmouth, hosted by Prof. Raymond Sewell of @smuenglish.bsky.social. @thisisannick.bsky.social @writersfedofns.bsky.social #SMUFrench #artswithimpact
WRITE TO READ 2025: Come and celebrate new voices from SMU! Hear poetry, fiction, and performance works by students in our senior creative writing workshops. 🗓️Thursday, April 10, 7 pm 📍Atrium 101 (SMU campus) All welcome | Admission free | Scent-free event
Thanks to @thecoast.ca for this wonderful feature on @katebeaton.bsky.social! The #CapeBreton comic artist spoke with education reporter Lauren Phillips on the links between art, industry and community, ahead of her Cyril Byrne Memorial Lecture March 21 in Halifax. www.thecoast.ca/news-opinion...
Hark! A Kate Beaton
Award-winning cartoonist and author gives lecture on labour, class and art on Friday
thecoast.ca
Kate Beaton had a great conversation on CBC Information Morning with Preston Mulligan. The radio broadcast aired March 21 in advance of her lecture. Sponsored by @unsettlingirish.bsky.social, the event drew a full house! www.cbc.ca/listen/live-... @katebeaton.bsky.social @smuenglish.bsky.social
© CBC/Radio-Canada 2025. All rights reserved.
cbc.ca
"We Were Always Working and Making Art: Rethinking the Economics and Value of Creativity". Join us March 21 for an inspiring evening with @katebeaton.bsky.social, as she delivers the 2025 Cyril J. Byrne Memorial Lecture. Info: loom.ly/sZWX7BY @smuenglish.bsky.social @unsettlingirish.bsky.social
Join us for the second annual Arts Student Societies Gala! It's at The Gorsebrook Lounge on Thursday, March 27, 7-11 pm with dancing, a raffle, hot/cold snacks and a cash bar. Pre-order tickets for $20: loom.ly/1hAruCk; $25 at the door. #students #artswithimpact
The SMU Reading Series and Arts with Impact present a public reading by our Saint Mary’s University 2025 Writer in Residence Souvankham Thammavongsa Winner of the Giller Prize 🕖Thursday, 6 March 2025 | 7 pm | 📍Atrium 101 (SMU Campus)