English professor shares expertise at prestigious literary event

There are famous writers, and there are scholars whose critical insights highlight their brilliance for the rest of us. Department of English Language and Literature faculty member Joseph Sommers is a recognized expert who has written four books on the much-celebrated author Neil Gaiman, winner of both the Newbery Medal and the Carnegie Medals.

St. Louis University recently invited Sommers to share his expertise in two talks honoring Gaiman as the most recent recipient of the St. Louis Literary Award, one of our nation’s most prestigious awards for writers.

As part of their Campus Book Talk Series, Sommers gave an online talk about Gaiman’s books Stardust and The Graveyard Book.

Sommers said it is nice to be recognized for his work in the field and to celebrate Gaiman’s major accomplishments. “One of the joys for me as a scholar in celebrating Neil Gaiman was being asked by this prestigious award to talk about two of his works, and to have those talks anthologized forever as part of his St. Louis Literary Award.”

In conjunction with these talks and his forthcoming biography, Sommers will be teaching works of Gaiman, including The Graveyard Book and Stardust, in his ENG 323: Science Fiction and Fantasy this fall and ENG 482: Fantasy for Youth next spring. Seats are available for both classes.