So last night I went up…

So last night I went up to Northwestern to give a talk for SASA (S. Asian student group). I admit, I was a little cranky about driving in the bitter cold and dark, and it would have been tempting to just stay home instead. But when I got there I had a great time, of course. I spent an hour talking to them about my path to writing, and why I write about sex, and a bit about the political turn my writing is taking these days; they seemed interested, and the whole thing was fun. I like speaking to college students about Bodies in Motion -- so much of the book centers on college-type crises that it feels particularly relevant. On Friday, I'll be going to speak to a class at UIC that's reading my book as part of their course (multiethnic literatures in U.S.). Fun fun! Hopefully they're liking it. If not, maybe not so much fun. :-)

Most of my academic energy these days is turning towards spring semester; fall is wrapping up, and both of my classes seem reasonably well in hand for getting through the last few weeks. I'm excited about the colonial/post-colonial class I'll be teaching in the spring -- this is a new one for me, and it's going to be fun adding a bit of Ireland to my teaching. Dubliners, certainly -- not sure what else. Any recommendations for good post-colonial Irish texts, especially poems or other shorter works, would be greatly appreciated. I also need to find some good colonial history to use as background; most of what I've read is British-empire specific, and I'd really rather find something that also touched on French, Dutch, etc. Suggestions?

Got to get back to grading; this is the last big batch before the end of the semester. We're so close to done -- I can taste the holidays coming around the corner... I love teaching, but I'm going to love sleeping more, I'm pretty sure. For a week, at least. :-)