Congratulations to Anya Lewis-Meeks on being awarded the 2022 Stephen J. Horne Award for Excellence in Teaching. Lewis-Meeks, who taught English 110S.03 “Intro to Creative Writing” in the fall semester was selected by Professor Kathy Psomiades, Director of Graduate Studies (DGS), and the advisory committee, Professor Taylor Black and Professor Tsitsi Jaji, based on course evaluations and student nomination. Duke English is excited to award her with this well-earned honor.
Lewis-Meeks listed “building a diverse community of writers and thinkers” as the primary goal for her course. She crafted her course to help students addresses the questions: “What do we talk about when we talk about writing? Craft? Form? What are the foundations of creative writing and how can they carry over to other fields?” Students in the class read works from multiple genres and practiced writing techniques, including workshopping drafts with peers, that helped them develop consistent writing practices.
The student who nominated Lewis-Meeks included the following in their nomination:
Anya led incredible discussions, chose amazing books, articles, and other pieces to read, and was so committed to us students. She gave such great feedback on all of my creative writing pieces, and I could tell she really dedicated time and effort to my writing. I was so scared of creative writing as I had never tried it before, but she made the subject matter so fun, and I always looked forward to attending class. Honestly, it was one of my favorite classes at Duke!
The Stephen J. Horne Excellence in Teaching award is presented annually to a graduate student instructor in the English Department who best demonstrates outstanding commitment and excellence in the classroom. This award was established in 1998 in memory of Stephen Horne, a former graduate student in English who displayed an inspiring passion for teaching that was evident to his students, friends, and mentors. Lewis-Meeks clearly demonstrates that same level of commitment and ability to inspire her students.
Winners of the Horne Award receive a monetary award and certificate. Their names are listed on a plaque kept in English Department’s lounge in the Allen Building. For a list of previous year awardees, visit our website: https://english.duke.edu/graduate/pedagogy/award.
