Sunset Cottage

First-time visitors should not feel embarrassed if they feel a small thrill of excitement when they enter Sunset Cottage, walking past the flower beds and passing under the second-story porch, then up a short hallway to the famous seminar room. The photographs lining the walls of that room underscore Sunset's status as a literary landmark. This is the home of Kenyon's English department, long associated with The Kenyon Review, with the many poets and fiction writers who have brought their talents to the College—and with a tradition of excellent teaching.

The English department is the largest academic department at Kenyon, with the largest faculty and the largest number of majors. Coursework embraces British and American literature, Anglophone literature (such as the literature of India or the Caribbean), and literary theory. The department also offers a wide range of seminars in creative writing and the option of completing the major with a creative-writing focus.

Students of English take advantage of several special opportunities. They may become Kenyon Review associates, assisting in the operations of the literary journal. Some choose to spend their junior year in England on the Kenyon-Exeter Program. And every year, five or six students publish collections of their poems under the auspices of the College's chapbook series.

Sunset Cottage Fast Facts
Sunset Cottage: In Our Own Words
Offices and Departments in Sunset

Sunset Cottage Fast Facts

Named for: Has been called Sunset Cottage since it was built by Francs Wharton, a professor who went on to become solicitor of the U.S. Department of State.

Original use: Served as home to a number of noted faculty members and at least three Kenyon presidents.

Current use: Department of English office, English faculty offices, seminar rooms.

Historical notes: Sunset became home to the English department in the late 1970s.

Insider information: Who's the new poet or fiction writer on campus? That question is always part of Kenyon's literary buzz, because every year a new author comes to teach for a semester, serving as the Richard L. Thomas Professor of Creative Writing, a post that entails not only teaching classes but also special readings and discussions. Recent Thomas professors have included such leading literary lights as Barry Unsworth, Claire Messud, and Alan Shapiro. Other visiting writers and literary scholars come to Kenyon for readings or lectures throughout the year. And that's not to mention the contingent of highly respected writers in the English department's full-time faculty.

Sunset Cottage: In Our Own Words

"The medieval feel of the older buildings is amazing, but I love that we also have little cottages that we go to class in."
—Erin Billie Cooper, Class of 2004, psychology major

Offices and Departments in Sunset