Contests, honors, and awards
Annual awards in English literature:
James E. Robinson Award for Outstanding Senior English Major
$500 is awarded to the outstanding senior English major. The English faculty nominates candidates and we ask that each faculty member only nominate one student. The English department selects from a short list of students with GPAs of 3.8 or higher.
2026 winner — Hannah Simon
Outstanding Student in Pre-1800 Literature
$300 is awarded to the graduating senior who has excelled in the study of literature from the era before 1800.
2026 winner — Claire McKenna
Eleanor Meehan Award For Literary Excellence for the best critical essay written by an English major for an English course.
This prize consists of a $300 award and recognizes the best critical essay written by an English major for an English course. The essay should be of substantial length (at least 10 pages) and should address a literary work or works.
2026 winner — Grace Leeson
Winning paper: "The Ukrainian Grandmother: A Force of Unity, Identity, and Support that Overcomes Generational Differences"
Outstanding Honors Thesis Award recognizing the best thesis in literary criticism written by a senior in the English Honors Concentration.
The prize consists of a $300 award which recognizes the best thesis in literary criticism written by a senior in the English Honors Concentration. Candidates must be nominated by their advisors, who may nominate only one thesis per year. Entries should be emailed to the Director of Undergraduate Studies, along with a short paragraph describing the particular strengths of the thesis.
2026 winner — Maximilian Amend
Winning thesis: “Exhausted Love: Queer Depletion in James Baldwin's Another Country"
Tom Brennan Prize for Excellence in Writing recognizing the best essay written for our gateway course, Introduction to Literary Studies.
Students enrolled in Introduction to Literary Studies during the preceding calendar year (spring and fall semesters) are eligible for the prize. Professors teaching Introduction to Literary Studies may submit one essay for consideration. The chair of the English department (or his or her designee) will select a judge each year to determine the winner. Essays will be judged for analytic acuity, stylistic clarity, and rhetorical force. The prize will be awarded each spring during the department’s Senior Thesis reading. The winner will receive $1,000, and will have the option of applying it toward the following year’s tuition or receiving a check. The winning essay will be posted and featured on the department’s website, and the winner’s name will be added to a plaque that will be prominently displayed in the main office of the English department.
2026 winner — Adrian Dooley
Winning paper: "A Waste Land of Misfired Performative Evocations"
Students will be informed of all relevant submission dates via email from the Director of Undergraduate Studies or by inquiring within the English Department.