Every year the English Department offers a variety of prizes and awards for both undergraduate and graduate students. The prizes and awards program provides a wonderful opportunity for students to have their work recognized in the fields of literary analysis and criticism; linguistics and rhetoric; creative fiction, non-fiction, and poetry; personal essay; and drama. Winners are celebrated on our website, within the department, and at our Annual English Department Spring Celebration each May. In addition to recognition, many winners receive financial awards that contribute to continued academic study and travel abroad.
General Prizes & Awards
The Dorothy Horowitz Scholarship (up to $1000)
The Helen Gray Cone Fellowship for Graduate Study in English (up to $10,000)
The Blanche Colton Williams Fellowship for Graduate Study in English (up to $4000)
The Camilla Schwieger Scholarship (up to $500)
The Katherine H. Gatch and Marion W. Witt Fellowship Travel Award (up to $800)
The Mary McElligott Gloster Award (up to $1000)
The Tessie K. Scharps Prize for an Essay on Friendship (up to $3000)
The Miriam Weinberg Richter Memorial Award for Scholarship, Criticism, or Creative Writing (up to $800)
The Randolph and Eliza Guggenheimer Prize for Distinguished Work in English Literature (Engraved watch)
The Matthew Ray Wiesen Essay Prize (up to $100)
The Harry Rosenfeld-Berle Reade and Ida Solomon Fischer Reade Prize (up to $200)
The David Stevenson Prize for Essays on English Language and Literature (two prizes, undergraduate and graduate, up to $500 each)
The Irene G. Dash Prize for the Best Essay on Women in Shakespeare (up to $1000)
The Trudy Smoke Award in Linguistics and Rhetoric (up to $100)
The Nancy Dean Medieval Essay Prizes (two awards, up to $500 each)
The Marcia M. Blacker Memorial Award for an Outstanding Essay in Shakespeare Studies (up to $100)
The Wendell Stacy Johnson Award for Scholarship in post-1800 English Literature (up to $100)
The Hudson Bruce Prize for Outstanding Essay on American Literature (up to $500)
The Barbara J. Webb prize for an Essay on African-American, Caribbean, or African Literature (up to $500)
The Gail Gordon English 120 Essay Prize (prize tbd)
The May Lamar and John W. Thorn English 220 Prize (up to $100)
The Virginia Clair Scholarship for Achievement in the Undergraduate English Major (nomination only)
The Norman Knox Memorial Award for Achievement in the Master’s Program (nomination only)
Creative Writing Prizes & Awards
The Edith Goldberg Paulson Memorial Prize for Creative Writing (up to $500)
The Audre Lorde Award (up to $1000)
The Academy of American Poets Prize in Poetry (up to $100)
The Colie Hoffman Poetry Prize (up to $150; prize includes the winning poem being published in North Dakota Quarterly)
The Mary M. Fay Award in Poetry (up to $100)
The Bernard Cohen Short Story Prize (up to $200)
The McGlintchee Prize in Playwriting (up to $1000)
