M.A. Students
Deepali Dhiman
Deepali Dhiman was born and raised in a sleepy city in Punjab, India. The only thing she loves more than reading is discussing what she’s finished reading today. If you ever need to find her, just follow the sound of someone ranting about intersectional issues and women’s representation (or the lack thereof) in modern mainstream media.
Gwendolyn Elverson
Gwendolyn Elverson grew up in several states across the country, and in the United Kingdom, respectively. She received her undergraduate degree in English and History from Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, Virginia. Their research interests lie in the role of food in late 19th to early 20th century American literature with a focus on global, ethnic, and post-colonial implications. Gwen enjoys reading, cooking, baking, and boxing outside of class work.
Jessica Halsey
Jessica Halsey is a first-year English master's student at Virginia Tech, with a strong passion for African-American Women's writing, Southern African-American literature, and cultural representations of blackness within these genres. Jessica earned her bachelor's in English from Tuskegee University. After obtaining her master's degree, Jessica aims to pursue a joint Ph.D. in African-American studies and English, with aspirations of becoming a professor.
Samantha Hoyer
Samantha Hoyer (she/her) is an English MA candidate at Virginia Tech. She obtained dual undergraduate degrees in English and music from Hollins University. Samantha has now turned her focus towards the historical and contemporary publishing of romance fiction. While Samantha will always be interested in music history, she now finds herself pursuing graduate work in English, with the goal of one day professing at the collegiate level. Samantha also works at a bakery, where her love for cinnamon rolls has increased tenfold.
Alifya Lotia
Alifya holds a BA in Comparative Liberal Studies from Karachi, Pakistan. She loves writing poems and then losing them, hoping someone, somewhere will find joy in her words. Words can fix broken worlds.
Tongfei Ma
Tongfei Ma was born and raised in Nanjing, China. She has a profound love for reading. She is an enthusiast of European court drama, sit-coms, and fantasy. She aspires to try her hand at a wide range of pursuits, including being a fiction writer, poet, children's literature author, dramatist, English literature professor, literature blogger, healer, Tarot card reader, jewelry appraiser and designer.
Emily Meade
Emily Meade is a writer from Christiansburg, Virginia. She received her B.S. in English (concentration in professional and technical writing) from Radford University and a publishing certificate from New York University in 2022. Emily currently works as a full time Technical Content Specialist in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech. When she isn’t freelance writing and reading books, she enjoys spending time with her golden retriever puppy, Mr. Darcy.
Deirdre Price
Deirdre Price is from Loudoun County, Virginia, and she earned her B.A. In English and Theatre from Hollins University. Her primary areas of research are the Female Gothic and the American Gothic, with a particular focus on mid-century American texts. Other areas of interest include the Brontes, ecocriticism, local history and Appalachian Studies, Absurdism, and contemporary female playwrights. Outside of academics Deirdre can be found playing old-time and Bluegrass music, making coffee, and hanging out with her Boston Terrier, Leo.
Isaac Riddle
Isaac Riddle (he/him) is a Confirmed Bachelor (of Arts) returning to Tech after graduating from the department of English in May 2022. His research interests focus on the intersections of media, popular culture, and critical theory, especially in how new forms of media like video games inform and display popular perceptions of and treatments toward minority groups.
Madison Sweezy
Madison Sweezy (she/her) was born and raised in Virginia and holds a B.A. in Literature from Virginia Tech. Her research interests include the role of the environment in science fiction, femininity in Gothic literature, and animal studies.
Brendan Thompson
Brendan Thompson (he/him) is from Richmond, VA. He is studying at Virginia Tech where he recently received his Bachelor's degree in the Spring of 2023. During his undergraduate education he was particularly interested in American literature, specifically environmental and Indigenous literature. He enjoys music, Star Wars, and procrastinating.
Chris Yeung
Chris Yeung was born and raised in the Northern Virginia area. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Virginia in 2019, and was most recently a software engineer. Most of all, Chris has always loved the written word in all its forms from the day he could remember. He especially likes Russian classics and magical realist works ranging from Kafka to Murakami. Chris's current literary research interests in ecocriticism and postcolonialism are influenced by his passions outside of English: he loves the environment and exploring his Cantonese cultural background which has shaped him. When he is not reading a book, Chris enjoys creative writing, distance running, hiking, and dreams of one day climbing Mount Kilimanjaro. A fun fact about Chris: though he feels a close connection to raccoons, he loves squirrels the most and considers them to be his spirit animal.