English Students Receive Awards

Alex Harrington ’19

The year coming to a close is a time of sadness for those of us left behind, and a time of excitement for graduating seniors on their way to greener pastures. Before the semester officially ends, various departments on campus, including the English Department, honor students for their particular excellencies in various areas with several awards.

The Words’s own Senior Editor Spectacular, Zeena Fuleihan ’18 received the Honorable Mention in the Nick Adams Short Story Contest for her story “Za’atar Croissants.” Each year, Macalester recognizes a few seniors for outstanding contributions to the Macalester community throughout their college careers with the Presidential Leadership Award for Outstanding Seniors. This year, two English Majors received the award: Ariana Hones ’18 and Zeena Fuleihan ’18.

Cole Chang ’19 won the Gateway Prize for Excellent Writing in the Humanities. The Gateway Excellent Writing Award for Poetry went to English Minor Jonathan Amezquita ’18. M.L. Kenney ’18 was nominated as the Student Educator of the Year. A Collaborative Summer Research Grant was given to Roan O’Neill ’20 with Professor Amy Elkins. The Creating Lifelong Learners Grant to make a film called “Kinship of Rivers” was given to Harrison Runnels ’20 with Professor Wang Ping.

At our End of Year Celebration, the English Department also gave out department awards. The Ardis Hillman Wheeler Prize for International Study, an award for students studying abroad, went to Ben LeBlanc ’20, Zoe Berkovitz ’20, and Andrea Salas de la O ’20. Bethany Catlin ’19 for “American Daughter,” Ally Moore ’18 for “Rituals,” and Zeena Fuleihan ’18 for “Za’atar Croissants” and “Regression” were chosen as departmental finalists for the Nick Adams Short Story Contest. The Macalester finalist for the Academy of American Poets College Prize was Charlie (Ngoc) Pham ’20, and Claire Grace ’19 was given Honorable Mention. The Harry Scherman Writing Contest for Seniors was won by Leon Swerdel-Rich ’18 and Liza Michaeli ’18 for Literary Criticism, John Ratz ’18 and Zeena Fuleihan ’18 for Creative Prose, and Spencer Fugate ’18 for Poetry. For English Majors who exemplify a commitment to poetry and excellence in writing, Spencer Brownstein ’18, Andrew Becker ’18, and Zeena Fuleihan ’18 won the Wendy Parrish Poetry Award. Zeena Fuleihan ’18 won the Livingston-Patnode Award, which is given to a graduating senior who has made a special contribution as an English major. 

We at The Words extend our congratulations to all award recipients, and all those graduating and moving on! Good luck out there, and know Macalester’s English Department will always be here rooting for you.