ENG140 Literature for Our Time Hall of Fame

This page remembers alumni of the largest first-year English class at the University of Toronto St George who went on to lives and careers in the arts. I took ENG140 Literature for Our Time over from Greig Henderson in 2003 and taught it until 2014, after which the still-missed Denise Cruz took over. When Prof. Cruz decamped for Columbia in 2017, I took it back and taught it until the 2023-24 school year. In 2024, I passed the reins again to a former TA in the class, now Professor Adam Hammond (remembered below among the class’s TAs who went on to careers in higher education or the arts). If you took this class from any of us, make any kind of art or work in the cultural sector, and don’t see your name here, drop me a line at nick.mount@utoronto.ca. Link updates also appreciated.

By way of an introduction to (or reminder of) the class, the video is the first 5 minutes or so of the introductory lecture that I gave for sixteen years, in this case recorded because over Zoom for COVID Year 2. For the full first hour, head over to YouTube.

We Knew Them When: ENG140 Arts Alumni

memoirist Parastu Ahang-Mehdawi (2023-24); audio producer / podcast developer Lily Ames (2004-05); film critic / actor Bil Antoniou (2005-06); poet Faith Arkorful (2012-13); audio producer Jolise Beaton (2006-07); singer-songwriter Michaela Bekenn (2010-11); video game developer Alicia Contestabile (2010-11); program manager Julia Culpeper (2008-09); jazz singer Nandita Dias (2003-04); writer/editor Rob Duffy (2003-04); model/fashion creator Rebecca-Jo Dunham (2006-07); jazz musician Dan Fortin (2005-06); rapper MC FÜBB (2004-05); comics artist Rosena Fung (2003-04); writer / publisher Mitchell Gauvin (2008-09); singer/songwriter Jason Gigan (2010-11); musician Kurt Grunsky of Future News (2013-14); comics artist Everest Guo (2021-22); keyboardist / vocalist Robin Hatch (2006-07); journalist / editor David Hains (2003-04); magazine editor Elizabeth Haq (2009-10); arts fundraiser/exec Nancy Hitzig (2004-05); writer / producer Graham Isador (2006-07); writer / editor Tajja Isen (2009-10); poet Anvesh Jain (2017-18); digital editor Erin Joyce Walker (2005-06); writer Joe MacKinnon (2006-07); writer / theorist Yannick Marshall (2003-04); editor Julia McDowell (2011-12); writer Emma McKenna (2005-06); cartoonist Brian McLachlan (2010-11); investigative journalist Marsha McLeod (2011-12); writer /filmmaker Melissa Mendes (2013-14); writer Alexandra Molotkow (2004-05); percussionist Dan Morphy (2006-07) of TorQ Percussion Quartet (2006-07);  William New (2009-10), former vocalist for Groovy Religion; musician Denise Nouvion (2009-10) of Memoryhouse; entertainment lawyer Dani Oliva (2004-05), founder of the Toronto Independent Music Awards; writer / translator Emily Paskevics (2006-07); playwright / novelist Aurora Stewart de Peña (2006-07);  poet /professor Tyler Pennock (2003-04); musician Adam Piotrowicz of Kid Metropolis (2010-11); video game designer / producer Dave Proctor (2003-04); writer defected to lawyering Nav Purewal (2003-04); writer Mala Rambharose (2006-07); environmental writer Andrew Reeves (2003-04); photographer Brian Rankin (2011-12); writer Jonthan Sas (2004-05); writer / anthologizer David Shultz (2018-19); poet Claire Marie Stancek (2006-07); culture critic Sam Sulman Feldman (2012-13); singer-songwriter Ladan Hussein (2006-07), aka Cold Specks; writer / editor Finch Strub (2023-24); publisher David Topping (2005-06); musician Alex Werden (2005-06); novelist Gabriel Verveniotis (2012-13); young adult novelist Betty Xie (2010-11); musician Alex Zenkovich (2008-09) of Invasions.

professor Dale Barleben (2005-06), City University of New York; Claire Battershill (2012-13), fiction writer and professor, University of Toronto; Myra Bloom, professor, York University; professor Julia Boyd (2019-22), University of Toronto Mississauga; professor Sarah Brouillette (2003-04), Carleton University; professor Glenn Clifton (2009-10), Sheridan College; professor John Corrigan (2003-04), National Chengchi University, Taiwan; professor Esther de Bruijn, Lecturer in African Literature, King’s College, London; Philip Dickinson (2012-14), Senior Lecturer, Lancaster University;  Kit Dobson (2005-06), professor, University of Calgary; poet / professor Triny Finlay (2004-05), University of New Brunswick; professor Julia Grandison (2011-13), Kwantlen Polytechnic University; Dara Greaves (2013-14), Capilano University; professor Aparna Halpé (2003-04), Centennial College; professor Adam Hammond (2008-09), University of Toronto; professor Ceilidh Hart (2008-09, 2010-11), University of the Fraser Valley; grants facilitator Letitia Henville (2010-11); professor Billy Johnson (2021-22), University of Prince Edward Island; writer Zak Jones (2018-19, 2021-22, 2023-24); professor and Canada Research Chair Nancy Kang (2003-06), University of Manitoba; professor Mary Ellen Kappler (2003-04), Humber Institute; professor Heather Ladd (2011-12), Kwantlen Polytechnic University; professor and Canada Research Chair Joanne Leow (2012-13), Simon Fraser University; creativity consultant Anna Lidstone (2003-04 & 2005-06); professor Eli MacLaren (2003-04), McGill University; professor Jody Mason (2003-04), Carleton University; Tara McDonald (2010-11), grant development specialist, CAMH; novelist / professor Robert McGill (2004-05), University of Toronto; NGO manager Aine McGlynn (2006-07, 2008-09); Paul Meahan (2005-06), curriculum coordinator, Fanshaw College; professor Miriam Novick (2009-11, 2013-14), Humber College; professor Tavleen Purewal (2018-20), University of New Brunswick; professor Cynthia Quarrie (2006-07), Concordia University; Alexandra Rahr (2009-10, 2013-14), professor, Munk School of Global Affairs; professor Jay Rajiva (2010-11), Georgia State University; archivist Simon Rogers (2003-05), University of St. Michael’s College; poet Brandy Ryan (2003-04); Ella Soper (2004-05, 2006-07), Global Sales Leader, Oxford International Education, Andrea Stone (2003-06), Smith College; writer Damian Tarnopolsky (2011-12); professor Christopher Trigg (2006-07), Nanyang Technical University; professor Morgan Vanek (2010-11), University of Calgary; writer / professor Ira Wells (2008-09), Victoria University.

TA Survivors

A group of people sitting around a table in a restaurant, enjoying conversation and drinks, with windows showing a street scene outside.

ENG140 TAS at the Bedford, Nov. 2010. Clockwise from Nick Morwood in cycling cap: Ryan Culpepper, Jay Rajiva, Morgan Vanek, Justine Leach, Miriam Novick, Tara McDonald, Tom Laughlin

Group of five people sitting outdoors at a table with trees in the background, holding colorful spray bottles, smiling, and enjoying a social gathering.

The last ENG140 TA year-end wrap party, April 6, 2024: L-R James Dunnigan, Walter Villanueva, Cassandra Olsen, Carson Hammond, Zak Jones. Out of frame: Erin Baldwin, Connor Bennet, Rachel Windsor, Isabelle Zhu, Finlay Pogue, and their fearless leader Danyse Golick. Relax, those are just bubbles.