by Hamilton Cochrane | Oct 27, 2023 | Faculty

On Thursday, November 2, at 7:00 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge, Mick Cochrane will host a book launch for The Crystal Gavel, a memoir by his late sister.
Click here to add this event to your digital calendar.
The memoir follows Sue’s journey from a childhood marked by poverty, alcoholism and violence through her recovery to her quest to humanize the courts and afford all people a genuine, dignified hearing.
The book has received early praise from readers:
“Rarely do I encounter a memoir so powerful and inspiring. Sue’s story reminds us of our potential to awaken through life’s most heartbreaking challenges…and to navigate with compassion, dignity, and grace.” —Tara Brach, author of Radical Acceptance
“A memoir that crafts exquisite wholeness from the shards of a wounded life. Sue Cochrane’s humanity, her healing vision, and her valiant heart will take your breath away.” —Pavi Mehta, author of Infinite Vision: How Aravind Became the World’s Greatest Business Case for Compassion
“The Crystal Gavel is a kind of miracle: At once profoundly personal and radically social, it offers a vision of transformation within our hearts and in the often-heartbreaking machinery of our legal system.” —Lon Otto, author of three short fiction collections and the novel The Flower Trade
A Q&A, book signing and reception will follow. The event is free and open to the public. Sponsored by creative writing program.
For more information: cochrane@canisius.edu
Submitted by: Mick Cochrane, Professor, English
by Hamilton Cochrane | Sep 11, 2023 | Faculty

The Irish Star recently featured a profile of Joseph Hassett ’64, with a special focus on his friendship with the late poet and Nobel Laureate Seamus Heaney. Click here to read the story. https://www.irishstar.com/news/us-news/joseph-hassett-irish-american-scholars-30835166?utm_source=linkCopy&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=sharebar
Hassett, who holds a law degree from Harvard and a PhD from University College Dublin, was the recipient in 2022 of Ireland’s Presidential Distinguished Service Award for the Irish Abroad. He is a former Canisius trustee and founder of the Hassett Reading, which brings prominent Irish literary figures to campus to read from their works. Past Hassett readers readers include Heaney, Marina Carr, Alice McDermott, Eamon Grennan, and Paul Muldoon.
Submitted by: Mick Cochrane, professor, English
by Hamilton Cochrane | Apr 26, 2023 | Faculty
The 71st volume of Quadrangle, the Canisius College magazine of literary and visual arts, will be unveiled tonight, Wednesday, April 26, at 6:00 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge.
This year’s theme is “In Progress.” Brianna Propis and Grace Brown, co-editors-in-chief, led a team of student editors in creating the magazine. Cassanna Dwyer designed it.
There will be readings by selected contributors, a display of artwork and refreshments. For more information, contact Mick Cochrane, cochrane@canisius.edu.
Submitted by: Mick Cochrane, professor, English
by Hamilton Cochrane | Mar 3, 2023 | Faculty
In his most recent column for “Connecting Writing Centers Across Borders,” a blog of WLN, A Journal of Writing Center Scholarship, Dr. Graham Stowe gives his thoughts on whether ChatGPT and other AI systems pose a threat to college writing instruction and considers whether these technologies could be used to help college writers.
Click here to read the blog.
Dr. Stowe is assistant professor English at Canisius and director of our college writing center.
Submitted by: Mick Cochrane, professor, English; director, Creative Writing
by Hamilton Cochrane | Oct 26, 2022 | Faculty

Creative writing major Aidan Ryan ’14 is the author of an interview included in Conversations with George Saunders, just published by the University of Mississippi Press.
Other contributors include Zadie Smith, Ben Marcus, and Deborah Treisman. Ryan is Senior Vice President for Crisis and Risk at the Edelman firm, and founder and publisher of Foundlings Press.
Submitted by: Mick Cochrane, Professor of English and Creative Writing