The English Department at Duke University is honored to announce the winners of the 2018 Creative Writing Contests and Creative Writing Scholarships. English majors and non-major undergraduates are eligible to participate in creative writing contests in the areas of fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry works. Each spring semester the Creative Writing Committee awards the William M. Blackburn, Francis Pemberton and Margaret Rose Knight Sanford scholarship to undergraduate students for work done in one or more creative writing courses. Nominations are made by English faculty. Students must be eligible for financial aid to receive these scholarships.
2018 William M. Blackburn Scholarship Winner
Emily Otero
The William M. Blackburn Scholarshiprecognizes outstanding achievement in the field of creative writing. Established in 1962 by students and friends of Professor William Blackburn (1899-1969) who first began teaching creative writing at Duke.
2018 Francis Pemberton Scholarship Winner
Luke Duchemin
The Francis Pemberton Scholarship is awarded to a junior or senior pursuing the study of creative writing. This scholarship was created by the Trustees of The Mary Duke Biddle Foundation in memory and in honor of Francis Pemberton's service to the Biddle Foundation.
2018 Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarship Winner
Rachel Hsu
The Margaret Rose Knight Sanford Scholarship is awarded to a female student who demonstrates particular promise in creative writing. This scholarship was established in recognition of the untiring efforts of Margaret Rose Knight Sanford on behalf of Duke University.
2018 Award for Most Original Honors Thesis Winner
Chloe Hooks
“Syllabic Heirlooms”
This award recognizes a senior student for writing the most original honors thesis.
2018 Critical Essay Award Winner
Catherine Ward
“‘The silence often of pure innocence’: Rewriting the Galatea Moment in Talk to Her and The Winter’s Tale”
The critical essay competition is open for essays written by any Duke undergraduate enrolled in an English department course. Submissions must be critical nonfiction essays produced for a class (current academic year) in which the student is (was) enrolled.
2018 Fiction Award Winners
(There are two awards in the category of fiction)
Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Fiction Winner
Vivian Lu-Meltwater
(Ms. Lu also won this award in 2017)
The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Creative Writing was established by the family and friends of Anne Flexner, who graduated from Duke in 1945.
Reynolds Price Fiction Award Winner
Caroline Waring – Jumping Frog
The Reynolds Price Fiction Award was established in memory of the distinguished novelist, essayist, story-writer, poet and public intellectual, Reynolds Price, who was a graduate of Duke and taught in the English Department for over 50 years.
2018 Creative Nonfiction Winners
George Lucaci Award for Creative Nonfiction
Jackie Xu - Welcome
2nd- Liddy Grantland –I’m Here
3rd(tie) Caroline Fernelius - Crashbox
3rd(tie) Emily Brockman – Auntie Mock
The Lucaci Award for Creative nonfiction is funded by the Lucaci Endowment. It was established to encourage creative nonfiction writing and to honor George P. Lucaci, a former Duke student, who has been an active supporter of undergraduate creative writing in the English Department for many years.
2018 Poetry Award Winners
(There are three awards in the category of poetry)
Academy of American Poets Prize
Caroline Fernelius - “Collude”
Honorable Mention- Zoe Abedon – “I grow cautious of the cinema”
Founded in 1934 in New York City, the Academy of American Poets is the largest membership-based nonprofit organization advocating for American poets and poetry. Its mission is to support American poets at all stages of their careers and to foster the appreciation of contemporary poetry.
Anne Flexner Memorial Award for creative writing in Poetry
Chloe Hooks – Solitaire
The Anne Flexner Memorial Award for Poetry was established by the family and friends of Anne Flexner, who graduated from Duke in 1945.
Terry Welby Tyler, Jr. Award for Poetry
Nadia Kirmani – “If the Sutures Hold”
This award was established by the family of Terry Welby Tyler, Jr., an English major that loved poetry. He would have graduated with the class of 1997 had he not passed away in 1996. This award recognizes and honors outstanding undergraduate poetry.
2018 Stanley E. Fish Award for Outstanding Work in British Literature Winner
Valerie Muensterman
“Hands, Gesture and Complicity in Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray”
This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in British Literature.
2018 Barbara Herrnstein Smith Award for Outstanding Work in Literary Theory or Criticism Winner
Lauren Bunce
“The Work of Being Worked (For): Intimacy, Knowledge, and Emotional Labor in the Works of Henry James”
This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in literary theory or criticism.
2018 Louis J. Budd Award for Outstanding Work in American Literature Winner
Emery Jenson
“Arrowsmith as Medical and Scientific Microcosm: The Implications of Shifting Belief Systems During the Scientization of Medicine”
This award recognizes outstanding work by an undergraduate enrolled in an English course in American Literature.
