I. The Department of English offers a number of significant awards each year in essay writing, poetry, fiction, and academic achievement.
For some of the awards, one must be nominated by the department:
- The Harriet Perkins Prize for an outstanding senior majoring in English
- The Ann Barger Nemet scholarship(s) for Creative Writing.
For other awards, those stemming from various writing competitions, one must submit an entry. Announcements of each year’s prize competitions are available in the department office shortly before spring break; they are published in an awards booklet. The current prizes are:
- The Karl Lemmerman Prize for the best essay by a first-year student
- The Holden Prize for the best essay by an upper-division (sophomore, junior, or senior) student
- The Finley Foster/Emily M. Hills Poetry Prize for the best poem or group of poems
- The Emily M. Hills Award for the best poem or essay written by a woman in the College of Arts and Sciences
- The Helen B. Sharnoff Award for poetry of some formal distinction
- The Edith Garber Krotinger Prize for Creative Writing other than poetry
- The Eleanor Leuser Award for outstanding writing for or about children by a student enrolled in a creative writing course
II. Annual Journalism Awards
3 Categories:
- Any nonfiction news or feature story under 500 words (no personal essays)
- Any nonfiction news or feature story more than 500 words (no personal essays)
- Any nonfiction news or feature story about sports (any length)
**Only one submission per student per category. Previously published stories and unpublished classwork are both acceptable.
Open to all current CWRU undergraduate students. Deadline in March (varies by year).
III. Tim O’Brien English Scholarship for Internships and Research Travel Support Fund
These awards are only for undergraduates. Preference is given to English majors.
–Tim O’Brien English Scholarships for Internships (further info here)
Maximum Award: $2,000.
Funded through generous donations from English Department alumnus Tim O’Brien, scholarships are available to undergraduates who are participating in an internship at CWRU or elsewhere between May 15, 2024, and August 31, 2024. Preference is given to English majors.
Eligibility: Stipends are available to undergraduates at Case Western Reserve University. Awards do not impact students’ financial aid.
Reporting: Stipends will be paid in one payment to be determined based on the dates of the internship. All awardees will be required to produce a final report (2 pages in length) at the completion of their internship.
Application Deadline: Applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis now through May 17, 2024. (See application cover sheet here.)
–Tim O’Brien English Research Travel Support Fund (further info here)
Maximum Award: $1,000.
Funded through generous donations from English Department alumnus Tim O’Brien, awards are available for travel and research support to undergraduates working on projects related to literature, film, journalism or writing studies between April 1, 2024, and August 31, 2024. Preference is given to English majors.
Eligibility: Stipends are available to undergraduates at Case Western Reserve University. Awards do not impact students’ financial aid.
Reporting: Stipends will be paid in one payment to be determined based on the dates of the research travel. All awardees will be required to produce a final report (2 pages in length) at the completion of their project.
Application Deadline: Applications will be reviewed and accepted on a rolling basis now through May 17, 2024. (See application cover sheet here.)
IV. Experiential Learning Fellowships
The Rocks Experiential Learning Fellowship is found here: https://case.edu/artsci/elf/funds-and-opportunities/rocks
The Rocks is open to Music, Dance, Theatre, DMLL, English, Classics, and Art History, as well as “students who have declared their intent of pursuing a major or minor in any of the college’s interdisciplinary programs in which faculty from the arts, humanities or social sciences departments listed above participate as program faculty.”
The Traub Undergraduate Research Fund is found here: https://case.edu/artsci/elf/funds-and-opportunities/traub
This fund is meant to “support declared majors who are pursuing degrees offered by the College of Arts and Sciences related to the history, politics, public policy, or economics of the Northern Ohio region.”
Previous awardees can be found here: https://case.edu/artsci/elf/awardees