English Department Essay Contest

The English Department offers courses covering a wide range of historical periods, traditions and critical approaches.  In recoginition of the broad range of study, the department will award a $500 prize for the best English undergraduate essay. 

Papers or essays must have been written for an English course during the previous three semesters (e.g., Fall 2024, Spring 2025, Fall 2025) or the current semester.  Only one paper or essay, of between 8-10 pages, may be submitted.  Shorter work is not eligible.  Please ensure your submission is free from any markups.  Former Essay Award winners are also not eligible at this time.

 To apply, please submit the form below:

English Department Essay Contest application

Deadline:  4:00p.m., Monday, March 16th, 2026.

Nathan Rubin (2025)

Bella Piekut (Honorable Mention 2025)

Chloe Chen (2024)

Camille Moreau (Honorable Mention 2024)

Sarah Davis (2023) 

Anna Kottakis (Honorable Mention 2023) 

Madison Hopkins (Honorable Mention 2023) 

Ben Thomas (2022)

Iris Chen (Honorable Mention 2022)

Raegan Allen (Honorable Mention 2022)

Audrey Ruan (2021)

Shreya Pabbaraju (Honorable Mention 2021)

Delany Sheldon (2020)

Annie Cohen (Honorable Mention 2020)

Nathan Blansett (2019)

Zach Stieneker (2019)

Josh Oberlander-Denny (Honorable Mention 2019)

Mattie Worsham (Honorable Mention 2019)

Christell Roach (2018)

Namrata Verghese (Honorable Mention 2018)

Kylie Baker (2017)

Jamison Murphy (2017)

Caroline Schmidt (2016)