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Research areas: modernism / postmodernism / philosophy & literature / modern & contemporary literature / Samuel Beckett / Guy Davenport / literary pedestrianism
PhD in English, University of Toronto 1993 MA in English, Queen’s University, 1988 BA Honours English, Queen’s University, 1984
American, Irish, British and European Modernism American Postmodernism Modern and Contemporary Comparative Literature Contemporary Canadian literature
2025-26:
ENGL 601/2 Pedestrian Poetics (graduate seminar)
ENGL 398/2 Moby-Dick
ENGL 349/4 Modernist Poetry
ENGL 235/4 Short Fiction of the USA
2024-25:
ENGL604/4 Modern American Animals (graduate seminar)
ENGL470/4 American Environmental Literature (Honours seminar)
ENGL335/2 Modern Drama
ENGL235/2 Short Fiction of the USA
2023-24
2022-23
2021-22
2020-21
2019-2020
2018-2019
2017-2018
2016-2017
2015-2016
2014-2015
2013-2014
2012-2013
2010-2011
2009-2010
2008-2009
2007-2008
2006-2007
2005-2006
2004-2005
2002-2003
2001-2002
2000-2001
1999-2000
1998-99
1997-98
Foot Notes: Contemporary Walking Literature. London: Bloomsbury (forthcoming 2026)
Pilgrim's Gress: The Beckett Walk. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (2025)
Beckett after Wittgenstein. Evanston, Ill: Northwestern University Press (2015)
Guy Davenport: Postmodern and After. Evanston, Ill: Northwestern University Press (2007)
“Good for Nothing: Robert Walser and Beckett.” Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui 35:2 (fall 2023): 19-40
“Saint Urbain’s Quiet Revolutionary.” Canadian Literature 248 (summer 2022): 158-69
“Mordecai Richler Was Here: Quebec’s Richler.” Canadian Literature 248 (summer 2022): 122-26
“Walking towards Genre: The Pedestrian Excursus.” Journal of Modern Literature 45.2 (winter 2022): 118-35
“Elizabeth Bishop’s Animal Manners.” Essays in Criticism 70:4 (October 2020): 428-46.
“Flânoter: The Montreal Pedestrian Narrates.” Canadian Literature 236 (Spring 2019): 69-88
“Beckett from the Talking Cure to the Walking Cure.” Bréac 2.3 (September 2017): 32-51
“The Contradictions of Samuel Beckett.” Modernism/modernity 22.3 (September 2015): 449-70
“Earlier Wittgenstein, Later Beckett.” Philosophy and Literature 39.1 (April 2015): 64-86
“Samuel Beckett: The Literature of Exhausted Justification.” PMLA 127.1 (January 2012): 38-57
“Robert Allen’s Cantons de l’est Encantadas.” Canadian Poetry 64 (Spring 2009): 48-66
“Guy Davenport and the Archival Imagination.” New England Quarterly 28.1 (Winter 2007): 59-72
“Jan Zwicky: Lyric Philosophy Lyric.” Canadian Literature 191.1 (Winter 2006): 48-69
“Davenport and Sebald’s Arts of Excursus.” The Literary Imagination 8.2 (Spring 2006): 72-93
“Paul Celan with Anne Carson: ‘What Kind of Withness Is That?’” Canadian Literature 172 (Spring 2003): 63-92
“Postmodern and After: Guy Davenport.” Contemporary Literature 43.4 (Winter 2002): 709-735
“The Sacred Fount in Plato’s Cave.” University of Toronto Quarterly 71.3 (Summer 2002): 721-734
“Elizabeth Bishop’s Memoirs of Childhood: Writing the Disaster.” Critique 43.2 (Winter 2002): 148-160
“‘When Novelists Become Cubists’: The Prose Ideograms of Guy Davenport.” Style 36.1 (Spring 2002): 111-130
“Canadian History on Stage: Three Rebellions.” Canadian Literature 168 (Spring 2001): 57-83
“Bartleby the Socratic.” Studies in Short Fiction 34 (1997): 335-356
“Samuel Beckett’s Molloy: ‘Spartan Maieutics.’” Samuel Beckett Today/Aujourd'hui 5 (October 1996): 103-122
“‘Elenctic Tones:’ Socratic Method in Vladimir Nabokov’s The Real Life of Sebastian Knight.” English Studies in Canada 22 (September 1996): 283-296
“‘In Place:’ Kairos in Samson Agonistes.” The Seventeenth Century 10.2 (March 1996)
forum editor: "Mordecai Then and Now: Richler the Quebec Writer" Canadian Literature 248 (Summer 2022): 122-69 and online supplement
“Leopardi in Beckett’s Late Modernist Romanticism.” Davide Crosara, ed. Samuel Beckett’s Italian Romanticisms.New York: Routledge (2025): 31-53
*“Samuel Beckett’s Walking Time.” Teresa Valentini,Angela Weiser and John Zilcosky, eds. RTemporalitities: The Emancipatory Power of Narrative.Toronto: U of Toronto P (2025): 189-204
La Flâneuse montréalaise translates.” Tong King-Lee, ed. The Routledge Guide to Translation and the City. New York: Routledge (2021): 351-72
“Postwar North American Classics.” The Oxford History of the Classical Reception in English Literature, vol. 5. Kenneth Haynes, ed. Oxford: Oxford UP (2019): 472-503
“Montreal’s Third Spaces on Foot.” Speaking Memory: How Translation Shapes City Life. Sherry Simon, ed. Montreal: McGill-Queen’s UP, 2016: 249-72.
“’That Mad (?) Mathematician’: Beckett Reckoning with Wittgenstein.” Literatures in English: New Ethical, Cultural, and Transnational Perspectives, Wolfgang Zach, ed. Tübingen: Stauffenburg Verlag, 2014: 107-22
“’Wince and Sing:’ Elizabeth Bishop’s ‘In the Village,’” Short Story Criticism 151, Jelena Krstovic, ed. New York: Gale Publishing, 2011: 27-34. Rpt.
“Wittgensteinian Elegies.” Lyric Ecology: An Appreciation of the Work of Jan Zwicky, Mark Dickinson and Clare Goulet, eds. Toronto: Cormorant Books, 2010: 50-59. Rpt.
“’Yours Be the Speech’: Ronald Johnson’s Milton.” Ronald Johnson: Life and Works, Joel Bettridge and Eric Selinger, eds. Orono: National Poetry Foundation (2008): 73-98
“Guy Davenport’s Pastorals of Childhood Sexuality.” Curiouser: Essays in Pre-Adolescent Sexuality, Steven Bruhm and Natasha Hurley, eds. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2004: 325-44
“’Wince and Sing:’ Elizabeth Bishop’s ‘In the Village.’” Elizabeth Bishop’s Art of Place and Memory, Sandra Barry, Gwen Davies and Peter Sanger, eds. Halifax: Gaspereau Press, 2001: 175-86
“Obstetric Rhetoric and Tropes in Beckett.” The Beckett Papers, Anthony Jenkins and Juliana Saxton, eds. Victoria, B.C.: U of Victoria P, 1997: 76-85
“’My Real Smash’: Elenctic Negation in Henry James’ The Ambassadors,” in Negation, Critical Theory and Postmodern Textuality, Daniel Fischlin, ed. Amsterdam:Klewer, 1994: 137-59
Recent review essays
“Robert Walser, Uncanny Miniaturist on the Move.” The European Legacy 28:5 (winter 2023): 533-38
“These Books Were Made for Walking.” The European Legacy 28:3-4 (Spring2023): 410-16
“Elementary Beckett.” Irish Studies Review 30.2 (Spring 2022):222-27
“At Home with Beckett: Notes from the Lockdown.” Journal of Beckett Studies 29.2 (2020): 261-67.
“Elegies for Theory.” The Canadian Review of Comparative Literature 46.1 (July 2019): 164-70
“Samuel Beckett in Theory and Practice.” Irish Studies Review 24:2 (May 2016):224-29
Samuel Beckett, The Collected Letters of Samuel Beckett. Modernism/ modernity 22:1 (March 2015):
183-91
“Echoes of Samuel Beckett.” Irish Studies Review 22.4 (December 2014): 590-97
Recent reviews
Robert Pippin, Philosophy by Other Means The European Legacy 29:4 (Fall 2024): 563-67
Ilana Pardes, The Song of Songs: A Biography The European Legacy 28:5 (Winter 2023): 118-24
Annabel Abbs, Windswept: Walking the Paths of Trailblazing Women. The European Legacy 28:6(spring 2023): 675-68
Galina Kiyushina, ed. Samuel Beckett and Technology. Litteraria Pragensia 32:63 (June 2022):103-11
Ben Green, The Smart Enough City. The European Legacy 27:6 (Winter 2021):645-47
Geoff Hamilton, A New Continent of Liberty: Eunomia inNative American Literature from Occom to Erdrich.The European Legacy 27:5 (Fall 2021):512-14
Alan Warren Friedman, Surreal Beckett. Irish Studies Review 29:3 (Winter 2021): 396-99
Édouard Magessa O’Reilly, The Making of Samuel Beckett’s Molloyand Dirk Van Hulle, The Making of
Samuel Beckett’s Fin de Partie. European Legacy 27:5 (Winter 2020):490-93
Anthony Cordingley, Samuel Beckett’s How It Is: Philosophy inTranslation. Comparative Literature Studies 57.4 (fall 2020): 775-77
Jonathan Bate, How Classics Made Shakespeare. The European Legacy (winter 2020)
S.E. Gontarski, Revisioning Beckett: Samuel Beckett’s Decadent Turn. Irish Studies Review28.1 (February 2020): 146-49.
Rhys Tranter, Samuel Beckett’s Late Stage. The European Legacy 24.7 (spring 2020):246-51.
Christopher Langlois, Samuel Beckett and the Terror of Literature. The Comparatist 43 (October 2019): 382-85.
Dirk Van Hulle and Pim Verhulst, eds. The Making of Samuel Beckett’s ‘En attendant Godot’ and The Making of Samuel Beckett’s ‘Malone meurt’.Irish Studies Review 27.1 (Feb 2019):153-56.
“En attendant Godot in a Montreal Hourglass.” Journal of Canadian Irish Studies (winter 2018)
Justin H. Smith, The Philosopher: A History in Six Types. The European Legacy 23.7-8 (fall 2018): 872-74.
Samuel Beckett, The Letters of Samuel Beckett, vol. IV:1966-89. Irish Studies Review26.2 (May 2018): 281-84.
David Thompson, The Travels, 1848 Version and The Collected Writings of Pierre-EspritRadisson vol. II. Canadian Literature 232(Spring 2017): 175-77.
Alain Badiou, Pierre Bourdieuet al. What Is A People? The European Legacy 23:1-2 (February 2018).
Bethany Hicok, Elizabeth Bishop’s Brazil. Modernism/modernity 24:2 (April 2017):405-8.
Charles Altieri, Reckoning with the Imagination. Modernism/modernity 23:3 (September 2016):706-9.
“Oh les beaux jours à Montréal.” The Beckett Circle (September 2016)
Patrick O’Neill, Transforming Kafka. Canadian Literature 226(Autumn 2015): 236-40.
Matthew Feldman, ErikTonning and Henry Mead, eds. Broadcastingin the Modernist Era. Modernism/modernity 22:4 (November2015): 839-42.
Michael Harris, The End of Absence. Canadian Literature 224 (Spring 2015): 124-26.
Jan Wilm und Mark Nixon, Hgr. Beckett und die deutsche Literatur. Journal of Beckett Studies 24.1 (April 2015): 142-48
Gianni Vattimo, The Responsibility of the Philosopher. The European Legacy 20: 4 (April 2015): 217-21
Arkadii Dragomoshchenko, Endarkment: Selected Poems. Matrix (April 2015): 64-71
Sherry Simon, Cities in Translation. English Studies in Canada 40:2-3 (March2015): 216-20
Francesco Bono, a cura di. Mann/Visconti: Un Confronto. Modernism/modernity 21:4 (Nov. 2014): 936-41
Yves Lamonde, The Social History of Ideas in Québec 1760-1896. Canadian Literature 222 (Autumn 2014): 168-71
“Where Is Here Now? The Future of Canada as an Idea,’ ESC Round Table, ACCUTE George Brown College, Toronto, 31 May 2025
“Mishkenu Innu and the Restoration of Quebec’s Indigenous Trails.” Quebec Studies Conference, Bishop’sUniversity, Sherbrooke, QC, 28 March 2025
“The Chair of EDI.” Canadian Association of Chairs of English conference, York U, 26 May 2023
“Walking towards Genre on the Concordia Campus.” Concordia U, Montreal QC, 22 Oct. 2022
“James Joyce from Home Rule to the European Community.” Embassy of Ireland, Ottawa, ON, 15 May 2022
“Joycean Anniversaries.” McGill U, Montreal, QC, 13 June 2022
“A Chair in Professional Development.” Centre for Teaching & Learning Symposium, Concordia U, Montreal, QC, 31 Jan. 2020
“Precarious Labour in English Departments.” Canadian Ass. of Chairs of English Conference, U of British Columbia, Vancouver B.C., 31May 2019.
“Diversity in Academic Leadership.” Canadian Ass. of Chairs of English Conference, U of British Columbia, Vancouver B.C., 30 May 2019.
“Codes of Conduct, Modes of Misconduct.” Canadian Ass. of Chairs of English Conference, U of Regina, Regina, Sask, May 26, 2018
“What You Learn about Chairing by Playing Santa.” Canadian Ass. of Chairs of English Conference, U of Regina, Regina, Sask, May 25, 2018
“Le sens de la marche montréalaise.” Centre de recherches interdisciplinaires en études montréalaises, McGill U, Montreal, QC,26 April 2018
“Around the Mountain with Hugh Hood.” The Writers’ Chapel, Montreal, QC 3 Oct. 2017
“A Few Don’ts for Diversity Hiring.” Canadian Association of Chairs of English, Ryerson University, Toronto ON, 26 May 2017
“In the Wake of Ulysses.” School of Canadian Irish Studies, Concordia University, 16 June 2016
“Converge or Merge? Interdisciplinarity and Departmental Mergers.” CACE Annual Conference, University of Calgary, 27 May 2016
“Lines Made from Walking.” Ogden Glass Memorial Lecture, Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke, QC, 10 March 2016
“Oral Formulaic as Collagist Composition, from Homer to Eliot,” Bishop’s University, Sherbrooke, QC, 9 March 2016
“Closing Remarks: Monstrous Impositions,” Graduate English Colloquium, Concordia University, 5 March 2016
“Eros and Archive: Irving Layton,” panel organizer and speaker, Concordia University, 1 Dec. 2015
“Mordecai Then and Now: Richler on Set.” Concordia U, 25 September 2015
“Beckett’s Joyce.” School of Canadian Irish Studies, Concordia U, 15 June 2015
“Wilde, Joyce, Stoppard.” Segal Centre for the Performing Arts, Montreal, 12 April 2015
“Beckett: Pilgrim’s Gress.” Dept. of English Faculty Colloquium, Concordia U, 30 January 2015
“Beckett’s Walking Cure.” Ireland and Psychoanalysis conference, St. Mary’s U, Halifax N.S., 23 August 2014
“Cognitive Ulysses.” McCord Museum, Montreal, 14 June 2014
“Postwar American Classics and Classicism.” U of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom, 8 July 2012
“Breaking the ‘Law of Contradiction.’” U of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark, 25 April 2012
Recent Conference Papers
“Dropping out of Productive Labour in Samuel Beckett.” ACCUTE George Brown College,Toronto, 2 June 2025
“The Sustainability Walks of Braiding Sweetgrass.” ACCUTE George BrownCollege, Toronto, 3 June 2025
“Sustainability in Contemporary Walking Literature.” Conference panel organizer, ACCUTE George Brown College, Toronto 3 June 2025
“Bothering the American Wilderness.” Canadian Association of American Studies, ConcordiaU, 4 Oct 2024.
“Victorian Walking as Intellectual Labour.” North American Victorian Studies Association conference, Concordia U, 21 September2024.
“Samuel Beckett: Pilgrim’s Gress.” ACCUTE conference, YorkU, Toronto, 30 May 2023
“Sound Walks, Sounds Walk.” SpokenWeb conference, Concordia U, Montreal, QC, 18 July 2021
“‘From fairest creatures we desire das Mehr’: Paul Celan Translates Shakespeare.” Modern Poetry Symposium, U of Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, 16 April 2021
“Montreal Streetwalking.” Quebec Studies conference, Bishop’s U, Sherbrooke, QC, 13 April 2021
“Elizabeth Bishop’s Oils.” Comparative Literature Annual Conference, U of Toronto, 5 Nov 2020.
“‘Hors d’ici, c’est la mort’: the Epidemics of Samuel Beckett.” At Home with Beckett, Online Conference, 9 May 2020.
“Beckett Reads Italian Romanticism.” Beckett and Italy, Reading U, Reading UK, 6 Nov. 2019
“The Anxiety of Confluence: Moore, Bishop, Plath.” ACCUTE Conference, U British Columbia, Vancouver B.C., 2 June 2019
“In Defense of the Academic Code of Conduct” ACCUTE Conference, U of British Columbia, Vancouver B.C., 1 June 2019
“Walking Time.” Comparative Literature Annual Conference, U of Toronto, Toronto Ont., 29 March 2019
“The Montreal Pedestrian Narrates.” ACCUTE Conference, U of Regina, Regina Sask., May 27, 2018
“La Flâneuse Montréalaise.” International Conference on Narrative, McGill U, Montreal, QC,April 20, 2018
“Beckett: Within the Normal.” Beckett Studies Annual Conference, St. Mary’s U, Halifax NS, July 29, 2017
“Elizabeth Bishop’s Animals.” Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English, Ryerson U, Toronto ON, 29 May 2017
“Montreal Fiction Afoot. “Association of Canadian College and University Teachers of English, U of Calgary, Calgary, May 28, 2016
“Beckett’s ‘Minor Key ‘Romanticism.” Ass. of Cdn. College and U Teachers of English, Brock U, St. Catherine’s, May 25, 2014
“Maritime Elizabeth Bishop. “Thomas Raddell Memorial Conference, Acadia U, Wolfville NS, 6 July 2013
“Beckett’s Footfalls. “Samuel Beckett: Forms and History conference, St. Mary’s U, Halifax, 28 June 2013
“Sebald and Heaney on Pilgrimage.” MLA convention, Boston, 6 Jan. 2013
“Let your digits do the walking: Pedestrian Art, Digital Technology.” New Directions in the Humanities Conference, Montreal,14 June 2012
Podcastsand Interviews
“Walking into Literature.”SpokenWeb podcast, 6 February 2025
“Wittgenstein and PostmodernTheology.” Bishop Street podcast, May 4, 2023
“Managing Mordecai Richler.”Richler Against the World Conference, 31 October 2019
“Interview with MichaelLevine.” Spoken Web Oral History, 1 November 2019
“Richler at the Movies.” Richler, 12 December 2018
“Travesties of Dada.” Edge of the City/eotc #148, 19 April 2015
“The Pedestrian as Author.” Cosmonauts Avenue, 23 April 2015
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