Undergraduate Award Recipients

Cardinal Cushing Award — for the best fiction published in a BC undergraduate publication:

  • First Place: Beatriz Isabel (Bea) Pugeda, "Composting with My Boyfriend"(Laughing Medsua, Spring 2023)
  • Second Place: Victoria Oliviero, "Momie Marron No.6" (Stylus, Spring 2023)•
  • Third Place: Harrison Walker, "Everything Happens for a Reason"(ASiAM, Spring 2023)

Dever Fellowship — a substantial grant presented in honor of novelist and BC alumnus Joseph Dever, to a graduating senior who proposes to pursue a career in writing:

  • Joseph Pelgro

Dever Award for Freshman Writing — For the best three essays by first year students in a Spring ‘21 or AY ‘21-22 English course (three first prizes): 

  • Abigail Kapoor,"Letters to Diane Nguyen: An Exploration of Authenticityin Young Asian American Writers" (nominated by Min Song)
  • Caclan LaChance, "The Newest Greek Myth" (nominated by Maren Schiffer)
  • Ernest Romero, "Outside the Bathroom Door" (nominated by Lynne Anderson)

Doherty Prize for an Exemplary Honors Project (Creative): 

  • Mary (Gracie) Meijer, "Don't Say Quiet" (poetry) 

Doherty Prize for an Exemplary Honors Project (Critical): 

  • Jessica (Jess) Orluck, "Fear of the Unknown: Horror and Gore in Late Middle English Literature"

English Language Learner Essay Award — for the best essay by an English Language Learner written for an ELL section of First Year Writing Seminar or Literature Core:

  • Winner: Sara Zourri, "Chronic Stress" (nominated by Brian Zimmerman)
  • Honorable Mention: Lun (Tim) Tan, "The History of the ChineseEducation System and the Consequent 'Gaokao Personality' Today”(nominated by Meguri DeMond)

John Randall Award — presented in honor and memory of author and BC Professor John Randall to the undergraduate writer of the best essay on American literature and culture:

  • Harrison Walker, "Queer Poetics: Words, Walls and Bridges in Ocean Vuong"(nominated by Allison Adair)
  • Honorable Mention: Victoria Oliviero, "The use of Egyptian Mummies in 19th c.American Literature" (nominated by Paul Lewis)
  • Honorable MentionMcKayla Yo, "Private Solutions to a Public Problem: TheWhite Slavery Crusades and Prostitution in Chicago, 1900-1918" (nominated byArissa Oh)

William A. Kean Memorial Award — to the graduating senior judged to be the outstanding English major:

  • Jessica (Jess) Orluck

Bishop Kelleher Award — for the best poetry published in a BC undergraduate publication:

  • First Place: Mariam Chaduneli, "A Visit to the Museum of Natural History" (Stylus, Spring 2023)
  • Second Place: Rachel Ruggera, "My Fifteenth Year" (Laughing Medusa, Fall 2022)
  • Third Place: Kathryn (Katy) Gilmore, "Piecing Together (Winter Nights Since2019)" (Laughing Medusa, Spring 2023 and Stylus, Spring 2023)

Dennis A. McCarthy Award — for the best collection of creative writing by a junior or senior:

  • First Place: Rachel Ruggera
  • Second Place: Kathryn (Katy) Gilmore
  • Third Place: Mary (Gracie) Meijer