Undergraduate Award Recipients 2023-2024

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

  • First Place: Kate Kemp ’24, for “The Cicadas” (Laughing Medusa, Spring 2024)
  • Second Place: Beatriz Isabel Pugeda ’24, for “A snapshot of Rosario, Cavite taken from my western myopic window seat view” (Stylus, Fall 2023 & Laughing Medusa, Spring 2024)
  • Third Place: Morgan Stumm ’25, for “Fraudulent” (Stylus, Fall 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:

  • Kathryn Gilmore ’24 

Dever Award for Freshman Writing — For the best three essays by first year students in a Spring 2023 or AY ‘23-24 English course (three first prizes): 

  • Toni Martin ’27, for “The Past as a Spirit Guide: Claiming a Hopeful Rebirth in Let Us Descend” (nominated by: Lori Harrison-Kahan)
  • Kevin McIlvain ’27, for “Gamechanger” (nominated by: Sabina Sullivan)
  • Peyton Zarate ’27, for “Missing: Public Recognition of Important Historical Female Figures on BC’s Campus” (nominated by: Vincent Portillo)

Doherty Prize for an Exemplary Honors Project (Creative): 

  • Kathryn Gilmore, “Surrender”

Doherty Prize for an Exemplary Honors Project (Critical): 

  • Nina Khaghany, “The Death and Ghost of ‘Sweeney’: An Analysis of Limitations of Modernist Verse Drama through T. S. Eliot’s Sweeney Motif”

Multilingual Learners Essay Award — For the best essay by a Multilingual Learner written for an ELL section of First Year Writing Seminar or Literature Core

  • Winner: Weiya Wang ’27, for “Pride and Prejudice: A Close Analysis of Cost of Living Scene One” (nominated by Lynne Anderson)
  • Honorable Mention: Jiu Chang ’27, for “Spirit in Virtual World” (nominated by Lauren Wilwerding)

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

  • Winner: Callie Walsh ’27, for “‘Rememory’ in Rebecca Hall’s Wake: Every Superhero Needs an Origin Story”
  • Honorable Mention: Ethan Ott ’24, for “Hippies, Drugs, Homelessness, and Crime – San Francisco’s Public Image Crisis” 
  • Honorable Mention: Kendall Tierney ’27, for “Cloudy Judgment: Gwendolyn Brooks’s Use of Rhyme in ‘the mother’” (nominated by: Allison Adair)

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

  • Kathryn Gilmore ’24

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

  • First Place: Kathryn Gilmore ’24, “Addressing the Earthly Ability to Rise” (Stylus, Spring 2024)
  • Second Place: Jenny Zeng ’24, “Chinook Salmon” (Laughing Medusa, Spring 2024)
  • Third Place Tie: Charlotte Caine ’26, “Elemental” (Stylus, Fall 2023)
  • Third Place Tie: Holly Branco ’25, “Cold War” (Stylus, Fall 2023)

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

  • First Place: Morgan Santaguida ’25
  • Second Place: Beatriz Isabel Pugeda ’24
  • Third Place: Jenny Zeng ’24
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