Award Recipients 2020-2021

Cardinal Cushing Award —for the best fiction published in a 㽶 undergraduate publication:

  • First Place:Rachael Haskell ‘22, for "A Game of Cat and Mouse” (Stylus, Fall 2020)
  • Second Place: Serena Meyers ‘23, for "by falling we learn to go safely" (Stylus, Fall 2020)
  • Third place:Alexa Kirby ‘22, for "July 27, 2020 in the ICU” (The Otium Review, Spring 2021)

Dever Fellowship — a substantial grant presented in honor of novelist and 㽶 alumnus Joseph Dever, to a graduating senior who proposes to pursue a career in writing:

  • Samuel Harmon ‘21

Dever Award for Freshman Writing — for the best essay written by a freshman in any English course:

  • Grace Hone ‘24, for “The Shades of Identity: The Use of Color in Moonlight” (nominated by Nell Wasserstrom)
  • Mary Sarah Olson ‘23, for “Why is Kafala Unknown to Many Americans?” (nominated by Allison Adair)
  • Tinghao (Duncan) Wang ‘24, for “The Only Way of Doing Calligraphy” (nominated by Paula Mathieu)

Doherty Prize for an Exemplary Honors Project (Creative):

  • Cailin MacQuarrie, for “Falling from the Sky”

Doherty Prize for an Exemplary Honors Project (Critical):

  • Madeleine Deye, for “Compassion, Being, and Defiance: The Representation of Interdependent Bodies in the Drama of Samuel Beckett”

English Language Learner Essay Award—for the best essay by an English Language Learner written for an ELL section of First Year Writing Seminar or Literature Core:

  • First Place: Yifan (Ricky) Li ‘24, for "Four-Hour Minority” (nominated by Lynne Anderson)
  • Honorable Mention: Yunqi Chen ‘24, for "Interplays of Travel and Identity: Making Peace with Ourselves" (nominated by Brian Zimmerman)

John Randall Award — presented in honor and memory of author and 㽶 Professor John Randall to the undergraduate writer of the best essay on American literature and culture:

Two First Places:

  • Keara Hanlon ‘21, for "What Happens When We Lose Our Heads: The Visual Culture of the Internment of American Japanese During World War II"
  • Anna Goodman ‘21, for "Korean War Brides: Love, Intermarriage and Immigration in a Time of Destruction and Prejudice” (nominated by Christina Klein)

Honorable Mentions:

  • Rebecca Shan ‘23, for "COVID-19 in the US and the Increasing Politicization of American Culture: A Digital Archive" (nominated by Lori Harrison-Kahan)

William A. Kean Memorial Award — to the graduating senior judged to be the outstanding English major:

  • Emma Farnham ‘21

Bishop Kelleher Award — for the best poem published in a 㽶 undergraduate publication:

  • First Place:Lexie Slotterback ‘22, for "i kept my grandmother's sewing kit" (The Laughing Medusa & Stylus, Spring 2021)
  • Second place:Isabella De Palo Garcia Perez ‘21, for "Please Leave a Message After the Beep" (Stylus, Fall 2020)
  • Third place:Ryan Fitzgerald ‘22, for "GALATEA” (Stylus, Fall 2020)

Dennis A. McCarthy Award — for the best collection of creative writing by a junior or senior:

  • First Place:Isabella De Palo Garcia Perez ‘21
  • Second Place:Gina Case ‘21
  • Third Place:Gabriel Eshelman ‘21