The Department of English honored its outstanding undergraduate and graduate students Friday, April 20 during the annual awards ceremony. Professor Gary Taylor, chair of the department, welcomed those in attendance by saying the event is a way to celebrate past and present accomplishments.

“We are celebrating not only our current students, but we also are simultaneously celebrating previous students, alumni, and donors, those people who have looked back fondly on this department and this institution and this discipline and for whom these awards are named,” he said. “This is a celebration across generations of what it is we all love doing, and that some of us do extraordinarily well.”

Twenty-six students won awards in seven separate categories for the 2017-18 academic year. Professor Leigh Edwards leads the awards committee, which also includes Professors Joann Gardner, James Kimbrell, David Kirby, and Elizabeth Stuckey-French. A full list of the student winners is below.

For Professor Taylor’s welcoming remarks and Professor Kirby’s introduction to the ceremony, click here. A fuller article about the ceremony and some of the winners will be posted to this website soon.

2017-18 Awards

Undergraduate Writing Awards

Parker Logan

John Mackay Shaw Academy of American Poets Undergraduate Award

Cassandra Ledger

Cody Harris Allen Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Writing

Julia Watson         

Sassaman Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Creative Writing

Morgan Dobbins

Sassaman Undergraduate Award for Outstanding Critical Writing

Talise Burton

George and Ruth Yost Undergraduate Award for Best Personal Essay

 

Graduate Writing Awards

Tanya Grae

John Mackay Shaw Academy of American Poets Graduate Award

Molly Marotta

Sassaman Graduate Award for Outstanding Critical Writing

Whitney Gilchrist

Sassaman Graduate Award for Outstanding Creative Writing

 

Literati Undergraduate Creative Writing Awards

Johnathan Riley

Literati Undergraduate Creative Writing Award for Poetry

Gabriela Maceira

Literati Undergraduate Creative Writing Award for Fiction

Garrett Pletcher

Literati Undergraduate Creative Writing Award for Creative Nonfiction

 

Undergraduate Awards

Sarah Morrison

Louis and Mart P. Hill Award for Outstanding English Honors Thesis

Katherine Lutz

Fred L. Standley Award for Undergraduate Excellence

 

PhD Awards

Aimee Jones

Bertram and Ruth Davis Award for Outstanding Career as a Graduate Student

Alex Quinlan

Bertram and Ruth Davis Award for Outstanding Career as a Graduate Student

Martha McKay Canter

Bertram and Ruth Davis Award for Outstanding Dissertation in English Literature, Criticism, Linguistics, or Rhetoric

Erin Workman

Bertram and Ruth Davis Award for Outstanding Dissertation in English Literature, Criticism, Linguistics, or Rhetoric

Alexander Brickler

J. Russell Reaver Award for Outstanding Dissertation in American Literature or Folklore

 

Excellence in Teaching College Composition Awards

Kamila Albert

Marion Bashinski Award for Excellence in Teaching College Composition

Julianna Edmonds

Fred L. Standley Award for Excellence in Teaching College Composition

Jessi Thomsen

Robert O. Lawton Award for Excellence in Teaching College Composition

Alex Jaros

Bryan Hall Award for Excellence in Teaching College Composition

James Shashaty

James McCrimmon Award for Outstanding Student Writing in College Composition – Honorable Mention

Emma Moody

James McCrimmon Award for Outstanding Student Writing in College Composition

 

Edward H. and Marie C. Kingsbury Fellowships

William Fargason

Rita Mookerjee