Department announces 2023 graduate award winners

April 21, 2023

Department announces 2023 graduate award winners

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The Department of English congratulates the following graduate award winners on their outstanding accomplishments. The recipients of these awards include any Ohio State graduate student who has earned an award for any of our department programs/concentrations, for our special graduate prizes and for select college/university programs and national organizations.

BUSINESS AND PROFESSIONAL WRITING

Kitty O. Locker Prize for Excellence in Business Communication

Grants awarded to subsidize research-related expenses of graduate students studying business and professional writing.

Winners 

Kitty O. Locker Research Grant

Grants awarded to subsidize research-related expenses of graduate students studying business and professional writing.

Winner

Kitty O. Locker Travel Grant

CREATIVE WRITING

Helen Earnhart Harley Creative Writing Fellowship Award in Fiction

$600 for the best body of fiction by a second- or third-year student in the MFA Program in Fiction.

Winner

Honorable Mention

Academy of American Poets Award/The Arthur Rense Prize

Best poem or group of no more than three poems.

Winner

Honorable Mention

Vandewater Poetry Award

Best poem or group of no more than three poems by a graduate student.

Winner

Honorable Mention

Tara M. Kroger Award

$1,000 for the best short story by a student in the MFA Program in Creative Writing.

Winner

Helen Earnhart Harley Creative Writing Fellowship Award in Poetry

Best body of fiction by a second- or third-year student in the MFA Program in Poetry.

Winner

Honorable Mention

Helen Earnhart Harley Creative Writing Fellowship Award in Non-Fiction

$600 for the best body of fiction by a second- or third-year student in the MFA Program in Non-Fiction.

Winner

Haidee Forsyth Burkhardt Award in Creative Nonfiction

$100 for the best essay or nonfiction book chapter by a graduate student.

Winner

  • Nellie Smith 

DIGITAL MEDIA STUDIES

Digital Media Prize for Outstanding Graduate Work

For the recognition of outstanding digital media project(s) completed by a graduate student in the Department of English, either in a seminar or as part of the student's research or creative work.

Winner

FIRST-YEAR WRITING

Award for Excellence in Teaching by a First-Year Graduate Teaching Assistant

For a first-year graduate teaching assistant who demonstrates excellence in teaching First-Year Writing, based upon student evaluations and observations of teaching. 

Winner

SECOND-YEAR WRITING

Outstanding Graduate Teaching Associate in Second-Year Writing

For demonstrated excellence in teaching Second-Year Writing by an experienced graduate teaching assistant, based upon review of syllabi, assignment prompts, student evaluations and teaching philosophy.

Winner

GRADUATE SCHOLARSHIPS, GRANTS AND AWARDS

Muste Dissertation Prize

John M. Muste (1927-2002) was a long-time member of the department. He worked in twentieth-century literature and culture and was a stalwart citizen of the department, serving as Director of Graduate Studies and Vice Chair. Before retiring in 1986, he served as Associate Dean of the College of Humanities. Upon retiring, John and the College of Humanities established this fund which the department named in his honor.

Winner

  • Trey Conatser

Honorable Mention

  • Nicholas Hoffman
  • Preeti Singh

Brian McHale Award for the Best Graduate Paper in Narrative Studies

Winner

Honorable Mention

Estrich Paper Prize

The Robert M. Estrich Fellowship Fund was established in 1990 by the Board of Trustees of The Ohio State University with gifts to The Ohio State University Development Fund from Alice E. Estrich, colleagues, friends and former students in memory of Robert M. Estrich (MA, English ‘29; PhD, English ‘35), Professor Emeritus, The Ohio State University Department of English. Robert Estrich was chair of the Department of English from 1952 to 1964, during which he presided over the department’s enormous WWII growth. In both his brilliant hiring and his democratizing of internal governance, he was instrumental in transforming the department into both a model within the university and a national presence in the academic profession.

Winner

Honorable Mention

English Graduate Human Rights Award

Established by the Department of English Human Rights Working Group in 2014, the English Graduate Human Rights Award is given to the best academic paper or multi-modal project produced in a Department of English graduate course or independent study in the past year. Submissions demonstrate a critical engagement with the literature, rhetoric, narrative, folklore, histories, laws and/or cultural practices of human rights.

Winner

  • Luxin Yin

COLLEGE AND UNIVERSITY AWARDS

Robert L. and Phyllis J. Iles Award for Graduate Study of Myth

Global Arts & Humanities Discovery Theme Graduate Team Fellowship

Presidential Fellowship

This prestigious fellowship, awarded by the Graduate School, recognizes the scholarly accomplishments and potential of graduate students entering the final phase of their dissertation research or terminal degree project. Each fellowship provides financial support so the recipient may devote one full year to the completion of their work unimpeded by other duties.

Winners

Graduate Student Award for Mentoring Excellence

Hayes Graduate Forum Humanities Division

The Edward F. Hayes Graduate Research Forum showcases the innovative and exemplary research being conducted by Ohio State graduate students across the full range of graduate degree programs and facilitates fruitful exchanges between students, faculty, the administration and the public.

First Place Winner

Third Place Winner

Honorable Mention

Alumni Grant for Graduate Research and Scholarship

Nicholas G. Howe Award

NATIONAL AWARDS

Career Diversity Fellowship, Humanities Without Walls

Winner 

  • Rolando Rubalcava