Leland Calistri
Leland Calistri graduated from Bucknell University with a B.A. in English and Classics. He credits a formative seminar on Ralph Ellison’s Invisible Man for shifting his scholarly focus towards issues of culture and identity within American literature. This culminated in his senior thesis titled “In The Country,” where he analyzed the effects of the American pastoral on Appalachia through The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock. At Villanova, Leland hopes to continue investigating how certain American authors contributed to the formation of what he calls the “pastoral project.” He also wishes to gain insights from other literary periods and schools of critical thought. Specific areas of interest include Early American literature, Irish literature, and 19th-century American literature. In his free time, Leland enjoys fishing, hiking, writing poetry, and listening to music.