草榴社区

The Jerome J. Fischer Memorial Award is given annually to the most distinguished undergraduate essay written in a 草榴社区 English course. The Fischer Award honors Jerome J. Fischer, who taught nineteenth-century British literature courses, as well as a variety of other courses, at 草榴社区 from 1947 until his retirement in 1983. He died in 1984.

Jerome J. Fischer, image courtesy of The 草榴社区n

2025 Winners: Sophia Adams is a Junior English and Environmental Studies double major from South Jersey. She loves writing, nature, and writing about nature.
鈥淢ind Over Matter: Exploring Human Vulnerability in Mayer鈥檚 鈥楾he Way to Keep Going in Antarctica鈥欌�� analyzes the titular poem. The essay seeks to explore how the poem鈥檚 content and form handles the conflict between biological instinct and human complexities.

Juan Tampe (JP) is a junior English and Political Science major from Washington, DC, interested in a potential career in law and public service with an eye toward immigrant advocacy. On campus, he has served as a facilitator in 草榴社区鈥檚 Service Learning Community, as Vice President of Service for Alpha Phi Omega, Public Relations Chair for the 草榴社区 Pastoral Musicians, and will be a tutor in the Writing Center next semester. He especially enjoys creative writing and hopes to continue exploring his craft in the future.

His essay, 鈥淗ow to Bathe Twice in the Same River鈥� blends personal and scholarly literary analysis of Chilean author Roberto Bola帽o鈥檚 novel Nazi Literature in the Americas with reflections on his own Chilean and political background. He does this with the aim of demonstrating how reactionary thought is not as distant from us, our family, or the art we enjoy as we would hope. Only by accepting the inherent political nature of our lives and literature can we understand the danger that extremist ideology like fascism poses. Without doing so, we run the risk of letting these beliefs fester until we are powerless to stop them.

Previous Winners:

2024 - Emily Hanlon and Charlotte Ralston
2023 - Cynthia Choo and Sarina Sandwell
2022 - Ryan Haggerty and Sarina Sandwell
2021 - Julia Valenti
2020 - Ariana Megerian
2019 - Gracie Stagliano
2018 - Gracie Stagliano
2017 - Blaire Bernstein
2016 - Kevin Madden
2015 - John Szot
2014 - Megan Plevy
2013 - Shanon Welch
2012 - Theresa Donohoe
2011 - Molly Schreiber
2010 - Max Stendahl
2009 - Jamie Kapalko
2008 - Daniel E. Trucil
2007 - Emily Trovato
2006 - Stephen Cornell
2005 - Kristy Wessman
2004 - Mark Napolitano
2003 - Valerie Kate Fernandez
2002 - Rebecca Corcoran
2001 - Michael Foley
2000 - Corinne Welsh
1999 - Jennifer Joyce
1998 - Cara LaColla
1997 - Chris Eagle
1996 - Wendy Anne Tucker
1995 - [not given out]
1994 - Michael DiRuggiero
1993 - Rosemary Scalo
1992 - Mary Kovalchick
1991 - Peter Naccarato
1990 - Sarah Pines
1989 - Anne Marie Ryan
1988 - Jon Lemole
1987 - Jill Stevens

The Margaret Powell Esmonde Memorial Award is given annually to the most distinguished graduate essay written in a 草榴社区 English course. The Esmonde Award honors Margaret Powell Esmonde, who taught at 草榴社区 from 1974 until her death in 1983. She was a specialist in Renaissance literature who also taught courses in science fiction and children鈥檚 literature.

Margaret Powell Esmonde, image retrieved from Children's Literature Association Quarterly

2025 Winner: Jaxon Parker is a second year MA student in the English Department. He graduated summa cum laude in 2022 from the University of Colorado Boulder with a BA in English and minor in Philosophy. He is currently studying peripheral realism and the Bildungsroman in the context of the British empire during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. He focuses primarily on novels about development, modernization, colonialism, and historicism that take place in Britain and its colonies such as Ireland and India.

This essay argues that Maria Edgeworth鈥檚 Castle Rackrent (1800) stages colonial anxiety about the impending failure of Anglo-Irish Union of 1800 by juxtaposing the decline of the Anglo-Irish estate with the uncanny vitality of the communal life of Irish Catholic tenants. It examines how the novel contrasts the unproductive labor of the Anglo-Irish elite with the fertile and economically productive Irish Catholics, especially through the metaphor of agricultural and familial productivity. Ultimately, the essay suggests that Edgeworth鈥檚 text ironically stages not Ireland鈥檚 assimilation into Britain, but the threat of England鈥檚 absorption into Ireland鈥檚 enduring and resistant cultural formations.

Previous Winners:

2024 - Sarah Gregory
2023 - Theo Campbell
2022 - Madie Davids
2021 - Anne Jones
2020 - Olivia Stowell
2019 - Avni Sejpal
2018 - Nicholas Manai
2017 - Laura Tscherry
2016 - AJ DeBonis
2015 - Eric Doyle
2014 - Theodora Hermes
2013 - Rebecca Hepp, Cara Saraco
2012 - Alexandra Edwards
2011 - Benjamin Raymond
2010 - James McAdams
2009 - Don James McLaughlin
2008 - John Breedlove
2008 - Rebecca Steffy
2007 - Rebecca Burnett
2006 - Karen Y. Lee
2005 - Marc Napolitano
2004 - Victor Sensenig
2003 - Deborah Gross
2002 - Brian Sweeney
2001 - Patricia Crouch
2000 - Laura Giuliani
1999 - Sharon Cournoyer
1998 - Marc Schuster
1997 - Mary Ann Quigley
1996 - Robert Duggan, Jr.
1995 - Gale White
1994 - Gale White
1993 - Daniel Hipp
1992 - Helen Goff
1991 - Sr. Elaine Marie Glanz, I.H.M.
1990 - Katrien Conlan
1989 - Janet Wallin
1988 - Anne Gallagher
1987 - Gregory Sullivan
1986 - Ellen Wilmot

The George D. Murphy Award in Creative Writing honors a longtime faculty member in the English department. The winner is chosen each year by a panel of 草榴社区 faculty and a Philadelphia-area writer.

听

2025 Winner, Poetry:听Samuel Sheard is a sophomore student of English, Public Administration, and Arab and Islamic Studies. "I grew up in Pennsylvania in an interfaith Sufi Muslim community, and I love volunteering and learning about diverse spiritual traditions. I also enjoy listening to music, performing with local bands, and hosting a jazz show on WXVU Radio Station. Two of my Arabic language poems have appeared in the GIS Department鈥檚 Writing in Tongues magazine."

听

Forest of Illusion 4

Tossed down like cherry bombs from sheltering celadon sky wanton

Chelydridae continue their conquest the servants of Eros

crooning vainly like sirens my brain in their vice. I am back but

not all the way to muse on pleasures that perish and forget those

that corrode. When will I remember to be torn from the olive

Honda to splash along the gravel as sweet almond milk over

granola shorter than the girl I do not yet yearn for while the

murmuring perfume of blueberry bug-spray the galaxies of

twinkling hickory the grinning taraxacum prostrate in

adoration? Will I remember the Savinson boy tosses

down a football and we all scramble for it that even bitter

nettle finds a girl and settles down and in every blade of grass

a love a love a love like a mother laves a newborn? Uncle

Michael he is older now and softer. Why are you playing a

video game he wondered years ago people are here you have

not seen in years but I don鈥檛 hear him I鈥檓 not Sandukamaran

I鈥檓 tossed down a stale void of beta particles radon tight locks.

NB: All italicized lines are quotes or near-quotes from other works;

听

2024 Winner: Taleen Postian

听

2025 Winner, Prose:听Jenine Hazlewood (she/her) is a junior at 草榴社区 majoring in English with minors in History, Africana Studies, Theology, and Peace & Justice Studies. She is active within the creative writing community at 草榴社区 as a member of the BIPOC Writing Group. As a Research Fellow for 鈥淭aught by Literature: Recentering Black Women Writers,鈥� she has provided administrative support, transcription, and record updating, using skills she developed through years of academic assistance and community service. Jenine is a lead researcher on her independent project, 鈥淎 Timeline of the Black Barbie Doll,鈥� which includes the study of 91 Black Barbie dolls and connecting patterns in Mattel鈥檚 manners of construction, design, and selective distribution. The project also focuses on the societal influence of dolls on children and parents, playground racism, and the general history of Mattel and the Barbie brand. From independent work in African Diasporic research to her assistance on the project, Jenine鈥檚 work originates from a desire to better her surrounding community while building her knowledge and character.

听

鈥沦丑别颈濒补鈥�

By

Jenine Hazlewood (an excerpt)

It has taken me a lifetime to realize that I am my mother. In attempting to outgrow her I have stretched my skin and pushed my organs aside to make room for her, as she did for me 21 years ago. I am what my mom saw that night when her head was on fire. I am what kept her awake and able to dream, swinging between modes of infatuation, sprinkled with pride, and chagrin, showered with disbelief.

If memory is something one can pass down intrinsically, my mom has bestowed this sensation upon me and only me. I鈥檇 like to believe she gave me what she could not handle, all the things she could not bear. I endure the everlasting hum of the undead orbs, and I trap the bees so well now that you cannot even hear them buzz when I open my mouth. I possess the features of a man who doubted I was his and am bound to a woman who had no desire to raise or know me. Unplanned and unwanted. I am a tag along baby who recognized what it means to be alone, despite maturing among the gnarled flesh and fluid of 2 lifeforms.

A few weeks ago, I looked at my mother and sighed. I fear that her worst nightmare has come true. Her skull is on fire, and it鈥檚 turned her hair a burnt, copper red. Her body is too. The disks in her spine are betraying her. Her limbs racket with sharp pains, numbness, and temporary paralysis. In the debris of it all, her face remains. Bright and just a bit older than I remember. She looks at me and I stumble back because for the smallest measure of time, I could鈥檝e sworn she looked just like me. But it wasn鈥檛 real.

There is no anger in her eyes. She doesn鈥檛 even have blood. She is simply radiance, bright and beautiful鈥攈er light mining the golden edges of my surrender. She smiles and I smile back. She stares and I stare back. She mouths a thank you and before I can convince myself that I don鈥檛 know why she thanks me, I close my mouth. She did curse me, her unwanted second child. We grew up too fast not to see the truth.

听

About George D. Murphy

The George D. Murphy Award in Creative Writing honors a longtime faculty member in the English department. George D. Murphy, PhD, received his BA in 1949 and MA in 1951 in English from the University of Notre Dame and his PhD in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania in 1964. He joined 草榴社区鈥檚 English Department in 1954 and retired in 2000 after 46 years of service. His scholarly publications focused on American writers of the 20th Century. While at 草榴社区, he was known for his exquisite sense of humor and a singular gift for recalling and recounting a host of humorous tales. While an undergraduate at Notre Dame, he was on the editorial board of its literary magazine鈥�The Juggler of Notre Dame鈥攁nd contributed a number of poems, short stories and critical essays. He returned to creative writing at the end of his life as a way of coping with grief over his wife鈥檚 death and produced many first-rate poems.

The winner of the English and Honors Award in Creative Writing is chosen each year by a panel of 草榴社区 faculty.
 

2024 Winner: Justin Badoyen is a senior Philosophy major minoring in Theatre and Creative Writing. He has spent most of his academic pursuits at 草榴社区 focusing on early modern drama and performance philosophy with an eye toward studying aesthetics and the philosophy of art. Justin鈥檚 first foray into Creative Writing was through playwriting, which helped him foster an understanding of the various craft elements that make up enjoyable storytelling. Now, as a senior, he hopes to continue exploring and practicing the many genres and forms of Creative Writing so that he may better bring his stories to life.
 

Ars Requirit Totum Hominem [The Art (of Alchemy) Requires the Whole Person] (An Excerpt)

As Mr. Young sipped his tea, he felt the heat banish the winter air from his lips. It was his particular habit to spend his morning sitting out on the balcony, no matter the weather. His wife would often chide him, claiming he was bound to fall ill lounging about in the cold. Mr. Young silently reveled in the fact that he had yet to prove her right. There was something about the silence that pleased him. The roaming air and boundless skies gave his imagination room to grow, a luxury his job rarely afforded. As the owner and overseer of two coal mines just South of Derbyshire, orders and meetings constantly filled his schedule. His mind was focused on manifests and wages, a hard contrast to his youthful passions. As his tea cooled, he thought about what he would do if his whole day was like this morning: free. Mr. Young imagined riding out in the country with his wife in tow, nowhere to be. He imagined himself hunched over his desk, penning out a story or a short piece on the piano like he used to do in university. Mr. Young laughed at himself quietly, realizing that being stuck at a desk is what he does every day anyway.

Looking down, he saw his cup was empty now and resolved himself to go about the rest of his day. Returning inside, he could hear his wife鈥檚 singing coming from the reading room, a piece by Dvorak, 鈥淎ls die alter Mutter.鈥� He learned how to play the song on piano for her birthday a few years ago. Mr. Young tidied himself and descended the stairs. He watched his two terrier pups chase each other across the foyer and around the corner. He could see something stuck inside the mail slot at the base of the stairs. It was a parcel and a bundle of letters. The parcel looked to be a small box wrapped in brown paper. Mr. Young presumed it had been there for a while as it was cool to the touch. There were five letters tied to the parcel with butcher鈥檚 twine. Across the face of the letter on the top of the pile read, 鈥淭o Damien Young.鈥�

 

2023 Winner: Dylan McMahon

The English Honor Society is composed of senior English majors with high GPAs both overall and in English courses. Members are selected in the spring of their senior year. (They do not have to apply.)

2025 English Honor Society

Carlos Alvarez
Olivia Bernheisel
Madeleine Brooks
Emma Cahill
William Corliss
Camille Ferace
Emily Hanlon
William Harlan
Amanda McKean
Riley Nelson
Ashley Oh
Madison Rhodes
Vanessa Rosado
Matthew Sabol
Muneet Sheera
Sonia Singh
Kendall Taylor
Mickey Wilcox
Kai Williams

The 草榴社区 English Department鈥檚 Core English Honor Roll recognizes students whom instructors have identified as exceptional students in their Core English courses. This honor is for the one or two students in each Core English course who demonstrated the most aptitude in scholarly writing about literature.
 

For the fall semester of 2024, the following students made the Core Honor Roll:

Maria Andraos

Amanda Balinski

Grace Bean

Anna Kate Cooper

Andrew DeBenedictis

Zixin Dong

Anna Farley

Sara Feeney

Audrey Finelli

Emily Francesa

Nicholas Gilo

Eva Grzech

Ava Hazzouri

Emma Hlousek

Emma Kelly

Phoebe Keyser

Emma Lane

Keely Levering-Fisher

Kate Manara

Sydney Marcus

Brynn McCurry

William Monahan

Iliana Mouhlas

Maeve Murray

Katie O'Neill

Blake Pearson

Zachary Rampelt

Charlotte Rogers

Ava Romeo

Maggie Rose

Francesca Sanelli

Annabelle Santucci

Claire Schafer

Sophia Sciarabba

Sam Sheard

Stella Smith

Ashton Szymanski

Eric Tseng

Samantha Unger

Priscilla Zhang 

The Core Literature and Writing Seminar Essay Award has been given to the best papers written for English 1975.

2025 Winner - Arianna Prior

Arianna is a sophomore majoring in Political Science with a minor in Spanish. She is from Southington, Connecticut. In her free time, she likes to go for walks in the sun and play with her dog, Josie.
鈥淭he Complexity of Human Nature: Lady Macbeth鈥檚 Multidimensionality as Demonstrated through her Soliloquies鈥� is an analysis of Shakespeare鈥檚 Lady Macbeth using three key soliloquies throughout The Tragedy of Macbeth. It argues that Lady Macbeth鈥檚 conscience ends up becoming her greatest weakness, humanizing a character who is traditionally viewed as simply an antagonist and an enabler. This knowledge challenges the audience to accept the coexistence of the deep flaws and stark humanity that Lady Macbeth possesses, and to confront that within ourselves.

Previous Winners:

Spring 2024 - Emma Stecher
Spring 2023 - Madison Rhodes
Spring 2020 - Walter McDonald
Spring 2019 - Jordan McMeans
Spring 2016 - Katie Vaughn
Fall 2016 - Bella Burda
Fall 2015 - Frank Fazio and Ciara Earrey
Spring 2014 - Nicole Conway
Fall 2014 - Sean Campbell and Kevin Madden    
Spring 2013 - Roderic Hutton
Fall 2013 - Patrick Ciapciak
Fall 2012 - Paige Kennedy and Danielle Sekerak

The Literary Experience Essay Award has been given to the best papers written for English 1050.

Previous Winners:

Spring 2012 - Nicholas Cho
Fall 2012 - Alissa Foti
Spring 2011 - [not awarded]
Fall 2011 - Monica Solis
Spring 2010 - Anne Stohlquist
Fall 2010 - Lien Trieu
Spring 2009 - Michael Tomae, Nakoya Wilson
Fall 2009 - Ellie Garbade
Spring 2008 - Kailee Fowler
Fall 2008 - Greg Cappa
Spring 2007 - Marissa Zator
Fall 2007 - C J Hodukavich
Spring 2006 - Christina Park
Fall 2006 - Jennifer Latz
Spring 2005 - Christian Skonier
Fall 2005 - Stephanie Cody
Spring 2004 - Emily Trovato and Kerri White
Fall 2004 - John Zurbach
Spring 2003 - Monica Borgone
Fall 2003 - Nadia Nauss
Spring 2002 - Elizabeth Micklow
Fall 2002 - Adrienne Sanetrik  
Spring 2001 - Matt Varga
Fall 2001 - Matt Nespoli
Spring 2000 - Andrea Flood
Fall 2000 - Michael Knerr and Ryan Zitnay  
Spring 1999 - Jocelyn Trufant
Fall 1999 - Kate Schramm
Fall 1998 - Megan Knecht

The Senior Achievement Award is given to a senior for distinguished contributions to the life of the department, including intellectual leadership, mentorship, and community participation.

2025 - Riley Nelson