2025 Writing Award Winners

The Annabelle Bonner Medal

for short fiction that demonstrates technical skill and promise in the art of the short story or narrative

Melinda Reed

“The Lost Art of Dying”

The Lynch Pendergast Medal

for the best essay on any topic in the discipline of English (no longer than 5,000 words)

Victoria Chen

“Risk Manifested”

The Ora Mary Pelham Poetry Prize

for the most outstanding poem or group of poems

Evelyn Blanchette

“They Tore our House Down With The Lights On”

The Quicksall Medal

for the best essay on Shakespearean drama

Amelia Shotwell

“Witchcraft in The Winter’s Tale: Female Agency and Male Insecurity”

The Bernard M. Wagner Medal

for excellence in writing in any genre except drama (fiction, nonfiction and poetry)

Barrett Ahn

“Umma”