In 2013 ASLE initiated a program that provides International Membership Grants for up to 50 ASLE-US memberships for literature and environment scholars outside the US and Canada. International Membership Grants provide assistance to scholars who, through higher education, are seeking to advance their knowledge of the field of literature and environment. We have recipients from Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Interested individuals can read more about the grants and find instructions for applying on our International Membership Grants page. Applicants are considered on a rolling basis, so it is never too late to apply!

Takele Enkossa Gurmessa, from Ethiopia, is one of our recent recipients. Takele describes reading both the poetry of Wordsworth and Keats as well as the poetry in his mother tongue, Oromo, as influential in helping him to think critically and meaningfully about his early memories of the flora and fauna in the forested highland of western Ethiopia. Takele holds an MA in English literature from Addis Adaba University and he has recently written some ecocritical pieces for Ambo University’s newsletter where he teaches and enjoys planning outings with students to the forests and mountains outside of Ambo. He looks forward to learning more from ASLE about how to cultivate an ecocritical tradition within Ethiopia. Welcome, Takele!

We are also pleased to highlight Adele Tiengo, a PhD student at the University of Milan who recently completed an MA thesis on animal studies and ethics. Having lived and studied for a time in Spain, she was able to establish alliances there with scholars associated with EASLCE. Eager to build relations with ecocriticism in North America because of her interest in North American literatures of the environment, she is pleased to be a recipient and to have been able to attend the recent ASLE conference in Kansas. She describes her current research as pertaining to “representations of apocalyptic and catastrophic scenarios as daily disasters in which human beings actively share responsibilities for their destructive potential.” Welcome, Adele! And welcome to our other recipients! We encourage interested applicants to visit our website or to contact our International Liaison, George Handley at George_Handley@byu.edu.

2013 Recipients of International Membership Grants

• Laurin Eckermann, Germany
• Takele Enkossa Gurmessa, Ethiopia
• Elizabeth Harris, England
• Idom Inyabri, Nigeria
• Daniela Kato, China
• Riona Kelly, Northern Ireland
• Dina Mahmoud, Egypt
• Mohammad Nasser Modoodi, Iran
• Michael Paye, Ireland
• Amulya Kishore Purohit, India
• Animesh Roy, India
• Simone Schroder, Germany
• Adele Tiengo, Italy
• James Maina Wachira, Kenya

International Membership Grants Still Available

The International Membership Grants Initiative continues to accept applications that will be reviewed on an ongoing basis until 50 two-year memberships are granted. Please see International Membership Grants to read more about the grants and how to apply.