This scholarship, funded by English Department alumni and created by the English Department Leaders Board, is given to an outstanding undergraduate English major. Among equally qualified candidates, preference will be given to a student with some financial need.

In order to apply for the Mabel Owen Scholarship, students must be an English major and must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Financial need is not a requirement for this scholarship.

In order to apply for the Marian Lindsey Smith Scholarship, students must be an English major and have a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Students must demonstrate financial need by attaching a one-page statement of financial need (FAFSA is not required for this award).

In order to apply for the Hardin Craig Scholarship, students must be an English major, must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher, and must demonstrate financial need by having applied for FAFSA.

Deadline: March 1.

This award honors the best essay of at least 5 pages concerning any topic in British literature pre-1900. The essay must have been originally written for a class during the previous calendar year. However, students may revise the essay prior to submission. You do not need to be an English major to apply for this award. To apply, log in to Scholarship Universe, search for the prize, and follow the instructions there.

Deadline: March 1.

This award honors the best essay of up to 1000 words on any topic originally written for an English literature class during the previous calendar year. Applicants must be of sophomore or junior standing and may revise the essay prior to submission. Include in the submission the semester, course, and instructor for which the paper was originally written. You do not need to be an English major to apply for this award. To apply, log in to Scholarship Universe, search for the prize, and follow the instructions there.

Deadline: April 20.

The Honors Thesis Prize is awarded to the best honor thesis written during that calendar year. The prize is open to all students registered in English 4996 in the fall and who are writing an Honors Thesis the following spring. To apply, log in to Scholarship Universe, search for the prize, and follow the instructions there.

Deadline: April 1.

The Mahan Freshman Essay Award is a competition for first-year students enrolled in English 1000. View submission details.

Every year, the Creative Writing Program gives away over $3,000 in prizes for undergraduate students. Send us your short fiction, poems, and other creative writing for the chance to win one of these awards. Submissions are due March 15 unless otherwise noted:

Fiction
Mahan Short Story Award ($175, $100)
Margery McKinney Short Fiction Award ($250, $250)
Kerr Award in Fiction ($250, $150, $100)

Poetry
Mahan Poetry Award ($175, $100)
Academy of American Poets ($100)
Kerr Award in Poetry ($250, $150, $100)
Margaret Leong Children’s Poetry Award ($350, $250, $150) due April 1
Sibyl Pommer Freshman Poetry Award ($200) due April 1

Creative Nonfiction
Creative Writing Program Award ($200, $100)
Kerr Award in Creative Nonfiction ($250, $150, $100)

Drama
Kerr Award in Playwriting ($250, $150, $100)

You can submit your work electronically for these contests. It’s easy! Download this file: Creative writing awards instructions.

This contest seeks to recognize and reward outstanding student research. It differs from other research paper contests in that it does not judge only the paper itself, but also the research process and the student’s ability to articulate his or her experience conducting research. View details about this contest.

2020-2021: Ethan Anderson and Katy Bond

2019-2020: Ethan Anderson and Annalee Roustio

2018-2019: Rebecca Oliver and Emmalee Wilkins

2017-2018: Allyson Chapman and Jamie Berry

2016-2017: Ameerah Sanders and Jamie Berry

2015-2016: Kaitlin Beardmore

2014-2015: Erin Niederberger

2013-2014: Tegan Blackwood

2012-2013: Jaclyn Herr and Arriana Hayes

2020-2021: Vivan Herzog and Lauren Hynes

2019-2020: Alyssa Ripley and Macy Mundwiller

2018-2019: Lauren Pike and Peter Baugh

2017-2018: Sarah Pribe, Lauren Pike, and Amy Taylor

2016-2017: Taylor Ysteboe, Sherell Barbee, and Autumn McLain

2015-2016: Bradford Barnhardt, Erin Niederberger, and Tonya Eberhard

2014-2015: Katherine Hobbs, Hannah Salings, and Jennifer Para

2013-2014: Enrique Meijia and Kristin Carranza

2012-2013: Edward Hart, Grace McNamee, and Karlyn Skinner

2020-2021: Ethan Anderson

2019-2020: Ethan Anderson

2018-2019: Shelby Hart

2017-2018: Emily Hanneman and Rebecca Jaeckels

2016-2017: Marleigh Anderson and Sarah Judd

2015-2016: Marleigh Anderson and Marek Makowski

2014-2015: Jacqueline Land

2013-2014: Tegan Blackwood

2012-2013: Enrique Meijia and Charnissia Smith

2020-2021: Olivia Flagg-Bourke

2019-2020: Annalee Roustio

2018-2019: Emily Hanneman

2017-2018: Shelby Hart

2016-2017: Jamie Berry

2015-2016: Lindsey Marschka

2014-2015: Hannah Salings

2020: Ethan Anderson, “Mere Friendship: Queer Desire in Theseus’s Athens” (written for Professor Lee Manion’s English 8220: Resistance, Rebellion, and Revolution in Premodern Britain)

2020: Devon Hoerr, “Carmilla and the Queer Experience” (written for Professor Lee Manion’s English 4996W: Honors Seminar in English)

2019: Andrew Frein, "Shakespeare's House of Cards: The Social Critique of Family and Politics in King Lear" (written for Prof. Anne Myers’ English 4167W Major Authors, 1603-1789)

2018: Elorm Nutakor, for “An Exploration of Pride in Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels” (written for Prof. Stephen Karian’s English 4996W: Honors Seminar)

2018: Andrew Frein, for “The Subconscious of the New Woman in The Romance of a Shop” (written for Prof. Elizabeth Chang’s English 4188: Major Women Writers, 1789-1890)

2017: Andrew Frein, for "The Picture of Dorian Gray as an Immoral Tale" (written for Prof. Julie Melnyk’s English 3210: Survey of British Literature, Romanticism-Present)

2017: Bruno Vernaschi, for "Botched Intentions: On Chaucer, Jews, Calumny, and Hypocrisy" (written for Prof. Lee Manion’s English 4210: Chaucer's Canterbury Tales)

2015: Marleigh Anderson, for “Punctuation and Pulsation: William Blake’s Period” (written for Prof. Lily Gurton-Wachter’s English 4168: William Blake) 

2014: Bradford Barnhardt, “King Henry IV’s Machiavellian Call for the Crusades” (written for Prof. Bill Kerwin’s English 4166)

2013: Kristen Carranza, “Abdicating the Seat of Life: Man in the Stomach of Paradise Lost” (written for Prof. Anne Myers’ English 4167)

2012: Tegan Blackwood, “Topical Polemics in ‘The Life of Christina of Markyate’” (written for Prof. Johanna Kramer’s English 4210)

2020: Sean Dolan, "Everything All At Once: Stories & Studies in the Second Person" (Advisor: Phong Nguyen)

2020 (Honorable Mention): Sabrina Heffern, "The Anatomy of a Strange People: A Study of Ambiguous Loss in Extraordinary Communities" (Advisor: Phong Nguyen)

2019: Abagail Guinn, "Woman Unapologetic: 'something worth learning'" (Advisor: Kimberly McCaffrey) 

2018: Sherell Barbee, “My Mama Meat: An Exploration of African American Women’s Mental Health” (Advisor: Julija Šukys and Christopher Okonkwo)

2017: Marleigh Anderson, “You've Got Mail: Epistolography, Mapping, and Authenticity in Early Literature of Alexander the Great” (Advisor: Lee Manion)

2016: Katherine Hobbs, "‘Immortal Harps’: Milton and Musical Morality in Handel’s Samson” (Advisor: Anne Myers)

2016 (Honorable Mention): Bradford Barnhardt, "‘My Madness Singing’: The Specter of Syphilis in Prufrock’s Love Song" (Advisor: Frances Dickey)

2015: Emily Holtzman, "Indispensable Lives: Magical Realism and Postcolonial Resistance in Ana Castillo’s So Far from God and Junot Díaz’s The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao” (Advisor: Guadalupe Perez-Anzaldo, Romance Languages)

2015 (Honorable Mention): Delia Rainey, "Summer of the Sabra Cactus: The Body, Landscape, and Numbed Tourism” (Advisor: Lily Gurton-Wachter)

Jayda Moss (2020): First prize for “Literacy’s Effect on Black Women: A Personal Narrative”
Michelle Gershkovich (2020): Second prize for “Rushin to Learn English”

Gabriella Salinas (2019): First prize for “First”
Colby Thornton (2019): Second prize for “The Best Men Can Be”

Destiny Landsman (2018): First prize for “Dialectical Issues In The Classroom”
Sara Marquardt (2018): Second prize for “A Face Without a Page”
Fanya Sun (2018): Honorable mention for “The Treasure of Chinese Civilization”

N.F. (2017): First prize for “The Boy of Isolation”
Faramola Shonekan (2017): Second prize for “Social Media and Activism”

Catelyn Williams (2016): First prize for “Why is my Black Culture Only Appreciated When a White Person Is Appropriating It?”
Clemency Neville (2016): Second prize for “The 70s and Saturday Night Fever: The Limitations of Hollywood”

Homer Gaidarski (2015): First prize for “Learning Computer Science: A Secret Wall of Zeros and Ones”
Joseph Henke (2015): Second prize for “Eradicating an Epidemic: How Universities Can Better Protect Women from Sexual Assault”

Amy Brianne Schmiegelow (2014): First prize for “The Word Weavers: A Reader’s Influence on Ever-Changing Definitions”
Derrick Lin (2014): Second prize for “Bryson: Enlarging Vocabularies for a Fuller Language”

Helena Kowalewski (2012): First prize for “Abridging Speech vs. Abridging Lives”
McCullough Mischke (2012): Second prize for “Society in Bell, Book, and Candle and Practical Magic"
Emily Rothove (2012): Honorable mention for “What I Learned at the Kitchen Table”

Kristine A. Kerns (2011): First prize for "Misfortune: Creating Opportunity, or Impeding Happiness?"
Stephen M. Cady (2011): Second prize for "Ramblin' Woman"

Rebecca Taylor (2010): First prize for "The Collapse of the Nuclear Family"
Hannah Spratt (2010): Second prize for "The Dark Side of the Good Women"