Each year, the Department of English holds writing contests for student writers, with awards for poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction, and scholarly writing. To learn more about the contests, including how to enter, visit the Department Writing Contests page.
2021-2022 2020-2021 2019-2020 2018-2019 2017-2018 2016-2017 2015-2016 2014-2015 About the Contests
2021-2022 Award Winners
Graduate Student Award Winners
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Saddiq Dzukogi
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Jonathan Wlodarski
Sandoz/Prairie Schooner Awards for Fiction
First Place: David Henson
Second Place: Kasey Peters
Third Place: Ilana Masad
Gaffney/Academy of American Poets Awards for Poetry
First Place: Nicole Lachat
Second Place: Jamaica Baldwin
Third Place: Malik Rasaq
Susan Atefat Peckham Fellowship
Tara Ballard
Sunita Jain Award for Excellence in Poetry
Kate Gaskin
John Robinson Award for Scholarly Papers
Erin Chambers
“Hope Against Hope: Queer Negativity, Possibility, and Hope as Phenomena”
Undergraduate Award Winners
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Megan Willburn
Vreeland Award for Fiction
LeeAnn Mosby
Marjorie Stover Short Story Awards
First Place: Natalia Martinez
Second Place: Emma Krab
Undergraduate Poetry Awards
Irby Wood Prize: Madison Sides
First Place Gaffney Prize: Dominic Bhola
Second Place Gaffney Prize: Angela Thornburg
Gaffney Scholarly Essay Award
Claire VanLaningham
Gaffney Personal Essay Award
Lauryl Hebenstreit
Ted Kooser Award for Outstanding First-Year Writing
Pierce Leef
Instructor: Cameron Steele
2020-2021 Award Winners
Graduate Student Award Winners
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Teo Shannon
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Olufunke Ogundimu
Sandoz/Prairie Schooner Awards for Fiction
First Place: Alex Ramirez
Second Place: Carson Schaefer
Third Place: David Henson
Gaffney/Academy of American Poets Awards for Poetry
First Place: Saddiq Dzukogi
Second Place: Jordan Charlton
Third Place: Kate Gaskin
Susan Atefat Peckham Fellowship
Chaun Ballard
Sunita Jain Award for Excellence in Poetry
Jamaica Baldwin
John Robinson Award for Scholarly Papers
Jordan Charlton
“Creating Spaces for Literary Representation Through Craft: The Black British Bildungsroman and Bernardine Evaristo’s ‘Fusion Fiction’ in Girl, Woman, Other.”
Undergraduate Award Winners
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Karla Hernandez Torrijos
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Grace Barney
Marjorie Stover Short Story Awards
First Place: Rachel Stein
Second Place: Grace Fitzgibbon
Undergraduate Poetry Awards
Irby Wood Prize: Kassidy Linabery
First Place Gaffney Prize: DaRon Johnson
Second Place Gaffney Prize: Callie Ivey
Gaffney Scholarly Essay Award
Jennica Quast
Gaffney Personal Essay Award
Drake Keeler
Ted Kooser Award for Outstanding First-Year Writing
Eleanor Russell
Instructor: Mark Houson
2019-2020 Award Winners
Graduate Student Award Winners
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Saddiq Dzukogi
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Avee Chaudhuri
Sandoz/Prairie Schooner Awards for Fiction
First Place: Jonathan Wlodarski
Second Place: Kathrine Schwartman
Third Place: Carson Schaefer
Gaffney/Academy of American Poets Awards for Poetry
First Place: Jessica Poli
Second Place: Erika Luckert
Third Place: Jamaica Baldwin
Susan Atefat Peckham Fellowship
Katie Marya
John Robinson Award for Scholarly Papers
Molly McConnell
“Putting Kant’s ‘Analytics of Aesthetic Judgment’ in Conversation with Contemporary Beauty Standards.”
Undergraduate Award Winners
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Celie Knudson
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Rylan Chilcott
Marjorie Stover Short Story Awards
First Place: Michaela Brown
Second Place: Sarah Guyer
Undergraduate Poetry Awards
Irby Wood Prize: Bianca Swift
First Place Gaffney Prize: Madison Sides
Second Place Gaffney Prize: Hannah Morrison
Gaffney Scholarly Essay Award
Rose Wehrman
Gaffney Personal Essay Award
Molly Beck
Ted Kooser Award for Outstanding First-Year Writing
Dana Clements
Instructor: Jonathan Wlodarski
2018-2019 Award Winners
Graduate Student Award Winners
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Katie Henson
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Shawn Rubenfeld
Sandoz/Prairie Schooner Awards for Fiction
First Place: Adrienne Christian
Second Place: Rachel Cochran
Third Place: Alex Ramirez
Gaffney/Academy of American Poets Awards for Poetry
First Place: Cameron Steele
Second Place: Saddiq Dzukogi
Third Place: Zach Mueller
Susan Atefat Peckham Fellowship
Gina Keplinger
John Robinson Award for Scholarly Papers
First Place: Mark Houston
“Monstrous Entanglement and Deep Time in Louise Erdrich's Future Home of the Living God.”
Second Place: Caitlin Henry
“Realism of Narration in Trollope's Barchester Towers.”
Undergraduate Award Winners
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Bianca Swift
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Izchel Quintero
Marjorie Stover Short Story Awards
First Place: Lauren Mayer
Second Place: Rylan Chilcott
Undergraduate Poetry Awards
Irby Wood Prize: Henry Zander
First Place Gaffney Prize: Camille Paddock
Second Place Gaffney Prize: Nicholas Harmon
Gaffney Scholarly Essay Award Co-Winners
Zainab Saleh and Margaret Rieckman
Gaffney Personal Essay Award
Natalia Martinez
Ted Kooser Award for Outstanding First-Year Writing
Sam Wright
Instructor: Anne Nagel
2017-2018 Award Winners
Graduate Student Awards
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Ángel García
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Xavier Navarro Aquino
Sandoz/Prairie Schooner Awards for Fiction
First Place: Rachel Cochran
Second Place: Ilana Masad
Third Place: Shawn Rubenfeld
Gaffney/Academy of American Poets Awards for Poetry
First Place: Katie Henson
Second Place: Ivan Young
Third Place: Adrienne Christian
Susan Atefat Peckham Fellowship
Stevie Seibert Desjarlais
John Robinson Award for Scholarly Papers
Ivan Young
“Barbaric Sex: The Problem of Rape, Cannibalism and Sodomy in Shakespeare's Work.”
Undergraduate Awards
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Cecilia Flott
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Richard Stock
Marjorie Stover Short Story Awards
First Place: Mattison Merritt
Second Place: Evan Pille
Undergraduate Poetry Awards
First Place Irby Wood Prize: Celie Knudsen
Second Place Gaffney Prize: Angela Ching
Gaffney Runner Up: Bianca Swift
Gaffney Scholarly Essay Award
Tayce Hefner
Gaffney Personal Essay Award
Rose Wehrman
Ted Kooser Award for Outstanding First-Year Writing
Brooke Kobs
Instructor: Lydia Presley
2016-2017 Award Winners
Graduate Student Awards
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Katie Henson
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Jordan Farmer
Sandoz/Prairie Schooner Awards for Fiction
First Place: David Henson
Second Place: Keene Short
Third Place: Maureen Daniels
Gaffney/Academy of American Poets Awards for Poetry
First Place: Angel Garcia
Second Place: Rebecca Macijeski
Third Place: Ivan Young
Susan Atefat Peckham Fellowship
Maria Nazos
John Robinson Award for Scholarly Papers
Dillon Rockrohr
“Biopolitical Apocalypse: The Terror of Community in DeLillo's White Noise and Falling Man.”
Undergraduate Awards
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Tina Le
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Austin Buchanan
Marjorie Stover Short Story Awards
First Place: Andrea Hartman
Second Place: Lynda Clause
Third Place: Matthew Lenz
Undergraduate Poetry Awards
First Place Irby Wood Prize: Cecilia Flott
Second Place Gaffney Prize: Jessica Vasquez
Gaffney Runner Up: Christian Rush
Gaffney Scholarly Essay Award
Monica Claesson
Gaffney Personal Essay Award
Lindsey Hand
Ted Kooser Award for Outstanding First-Year Writing
Shoilee Rahman
Instructor: Lydia Presley
Laurus Awards
Prose
First Place: Faith Thomas
Second Place: Megan Ekstrom
Third Place: Olivia Miller
Poetry
First Place: Lane Chasek
Second Place (tie): Cassandra Kernick and Lindsey Hand
Third Place: Lindsey Hand
Art
First Place: Keith Buswell
Second Place: Connor Rodenbaugh
2015-2016 Award Winners
Graduate Student Awards
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Maria Nazos
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Nick White
Sandoz/Prairie Schooner Awards for Fiction
First Place: Jordan Farmer
Second Place: Xavier Navarro
Third Place: Shawn Rubenfeld
Gaffney/Academy of American Poets Awards for Poetry
First Place: Erin Bertram
Second Place: Katie Henson
Third Place: Keene Short
Susan Atefat Peckham Fellowship
Jaime Brunton
Undergraduate Awards
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Monica Claesson
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Lynda Clause
Marjorie Stover Short Story Awards
First Place: Christian Rush
Second Place: Amzie Dunekacke
Undergraduate Poetry Awards
First Place Irby Wood Prize: Holly Fleck
Second Place: Cecilia Flott
Third Place: Calla Kessler
Gaffney Essay Awards
First Place: Katlyn Powers
Second Place: Nina Hjermstad
Ted Kooser Award for Outstanding First-Year Writing
Vic Klafter
Instructor: Visnja Vujin
Laurus Awards
Fiction
First Place: Giles Hovseth, "The Stranger in the Stairwell"
Second Place: Faith Thomas, "Stained Rags and Piping Bags"
Poetry
First Place: Lane Chasek, "My Stepmother Becomes Immortal"
Second Place: Kyle Brosnihan, "The Kiss"
Art
First Place: Tanner Reckling, "Lightning Dad"
2014-2015 Award Winners
Graduate Student Awards
Vreeland Award for Poetry
Kimberly Tedrow
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Clarence Harlan-Orsi
Sandoz/Prairie Schooner Awards for Fiction
First Place: Gabriel Houck
Second Place: Nick White
Third Place: Jordan Farmer
Gaffney/Academy of American Poets Awards for Poetry
First Place: Ryler Dustin
Second Place: Sarah Fawn Montgomery
Third Place: Rebecca Macijeski
Susan Atefat Peckham Fellowship
Jennifer Gray
Undergraduate Awards
Vreeland Award for Poetry/Mixed Genre
Devin Koch
Vreeland Award for Fiction
Benjamin R. Curttright
Marjorie Stover Short Story Awards
First Place: Lori Nevole
Second Place: Elliott Wilke
Undergraduate Poetry Awards
First Place Irby Wood Prize: Monica Claesson
Second Place: Cameron Maxwell
Third Place: James Butler-Gruett
Gaffney Essay Awards
First Place: Erin Urbank
Second Place: Cody Fischer
Ted Kooser Award for Outstanding First-Year Writing
Dana Meduna (Instructor: Benjamin Vogt)
Allison Wetig (Instructor: Michael Page)
Laurus Awards
Fiction
First Place: James Butler-Gruett
Second Place: Dylan Roberson
Poetry
First Place: Monica Claesson
Second Place: Madeline Cass
Art
First Place: Sara Mosier
Second Place: Sean Johnson