The annual Department of English Awards Ceremony had a different look in 2020, but the end result was the same—recognition for the department’s outstanding student writers and scholars.

The awards committee, along with other department faculty members, judged the nominations for 24 undergraduate and graduate awards. The final decisions bestowed honors on 31 separate students, including runners-up and honorable mentions.

Although COVID-19 restrictions prevented the department from celebrating the students’ achievements in person, many professors took time to record short videos of their congratulations for the winners.

Click this link to watch the department’s first virtual awards ceremony. Although we encourage you to watch the entire video, the times in parentheses below denote when in the video those awards are announced. Here is the entire list of this year’s winners.

 

Undergraduate writing awards (1:20)

John Mackay Shaw Academy of American Poets Undergraduate Award—Nicholas Holt

Click here to read about Nicholas' Honors in the Major project.

John Mackay Shaw Academy of American Poets Undergraduate Award honorable mention—Caleb Dros

Click here to read about Caleb's Honors in the Major project.

Cody Harris Allen Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Writing—Raven Halle

Cody Harris Allen Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Writing (1st runner up)—Caleb Dros

Cody Harris Allen Award for Outstanding Undergraduate Writing (2nd runner up)—Mia Hernandez

Sassaman Undergraduate Creative Writing Award—Hayden Church

Sassaman Undergraduate Creative Writing Award (honorable mention)—Kean Knerr

Sassaman Undergraduate Critical Writing Award—Rachel Ames

George and Ruth Yost Award for Best Personal Essay—Emilee Wigglesworth

George and Ruth Yost Award for Best Personal Essay (honorable mention)—Mia Hernandez

Steven D. Schloff Undergraduate Creative Writing Award for Poetry—Emilee Wigglesworth

Click here to listen to Emilee talk about her poetry.

Steven D. Schloff Undergraduate Creative Writing Award for Fiction—Caleb Dros

Steven D. Schloff Undergraduate Creative Writing Award for Creative Non-Fiction—Jessica Posey

 

Graduate writing awards (4:45)

John Mackay Shaw Academy of American Poets Award—Diamond Forde

Click here to read about Diamond's 2019 Margaret Walker Memorial Prize in Poetry

John Mackay Shaw Academy of American Poets Award honorable mention—Hera Naguib

Sassaman Graduate Critical Writing Award—Jessica Morgan-Davies

Sassaman Graduate Critical Writing Award—Carley Robertson

Sassaman Graduate Critical Writing Award honorable mention—Fatmah Alharthi

Sassaman Graduate Critical Writing Award honorable mention—Alexander Ruhsenberger

Sassaman Graduate Creative Writing Award—Tanya Grae

Click here to read about Tanya's 2018-19 Edward H. and Marie C. Kingsbury Fellowship

 

Undergraduate academic awards (7:25)

Fred L. Standley Award for Undergraduate Excellence—Sabine Nemours

Click here to read about Sabine's 2019 IDEA Grant project.

Mart P. Hill Award for Outstanding English Honors Thesis—Lucy Miree

 

Graduate academic awards (9:30)

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

Click here to read about Karen's 2019-20 P.E.O. Scholar award and here to read about Karen's work with The Southeast Review.

Bertram and Ruth Davis Award for Outstanding Career as a Graduate Student honorable mention—Rita Mookerjee

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

J. Russell Reaver Award for Outstanding Dissertation in American Literature—Amber Cresgy

Click here to read about Amber's Bryan Hall Community Teaching Excellence Award

J. Russell Reaver Award for Outstanding Dissertation in American Literature honorable mention—Tom Tooley

 

Excellence in teaching First-Year Composition (16:30)

Fred L. Standley Award for Most Effective Teacher Among Graduate Assistants—Brendan Hawkins

Marian Bashinski Award for Excellence in Teaching First-Year Composition—Margaret Mauk

Robert O. Lawton Award for Excellence in Teaching First-Year Composition—Katherine Kelly

Bryan Hall Award for Excellence in Teaching First-Year Composition—Kathleen Taylor

James McCrimmon Award for Outstanding Student Writing in College Composition—Kiersten Wright

 

Adam M. Johnson Fellowship (20:00)

Huma Sheikh

 

Ned Stuckey-French Fellowship (20:35)

Dyan Neary

Click here to read about Dyan's 2019 Adam M, Johnson Award and her P.E.O. Scholar Award. Click here to read an article about Dyan bringing literacy to underserved communities.

 

Edward H. and Marie C. Kingsbury Fellowship Award (21:10)

Carley Robertson

Eleanor Boudreau

 

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