Awards and Scholarships
The English Department at San Jose State University annually recognizes student achievement with an impressive number of scholarships and awards funded from its endowment.
The deadline for 2012 awards submission will be announced in Spring 2012.
Submit all work to the main office (FO102) and follow guidelines for online
submission: https://scholarships.sjsu.edu/stars/wizard_application1.aspx:
skip all "free form" questions. For technical questions contact: Felicity
Jimenez-Howard at felicity.jimenez-howard@sjsu.edu
WHAT TO SUBMIT TO ENGLISH DEPARTMENT OFFICE:
- THREE COPIES OF EACH SUBMISSION.
- A COVER SHEET FOR EACH SUBMISSION WITH YOUR NAME, TITLE, AND CONTACT INFORMATION.
- DO NOT PUT YOUR NAME ON ACTUAL POEM/ESSAY/STORY, ETC. PLEASE PUT TITLE ON EACH PAGE, HOWEVER.
- DO HAND YOUR SUBMISSION DIRECTLY TO GABBY
NOTE: IN ORDER TO APPLY FOR ONE OF THESE SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS, YOU MUST
BE A STUDENT REGISTERED AT THE UNIVERSITY THIS SEMESTER!
PLEASE NOTE THAT AMOUNTS OF AWARDS ARE NOT SPECIFIED. BECAUSE OF ECONOMY,
ALL AMOUNTS MUST BE VERIFIED, WHICH WILL TAKE SOME TIME.
A. SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS (All eligible for student submission)
Bonita M. Cox Award for Classical and Medieval Studies: Scholarship awarded
to an SJSU student who writes the best essay on classical or medieval roots
of modern thought. Eligible students: Jr., Sr., Grad students (taking 6
units or more).
Bonita M. Cox Award for Studies in Medieval Literature.
Scholarship awarded to an SJSU student who writes the best essay on a
literary work or theme. Open to Jr., Sr., Grad students (taking 6 units or
more).
Bonita M. Cox Award for Creative Nonfiction. Scholarship awarded to an SJSU
student who writes the best essay of no more than 2,500 words in one of the
following areas: travel or scientific writing; momoir; vignette; profiles;
literary reviews. Open to Jr., Sr. Grad students (taking 6 units or more).
The Lois King Thore Short Story Scholarship. Scholarship to an English
major who shows promise in short story writing. Submit two copies of
application form with two copies of a) statement of eligibility and b)
representative short story.
The James O. Wood Shakespeare Award. Scholarship to the best essay, reading,
scene representation, musical presentation, costume, painting, sculpture, or
other appropriate project related to any of Shakespeare's dramatic works.
Submissions must include application form and a one-page statement about the
project.
The Academy of American Poets/Virginia de Araujo Prize. Monetary awards for
best poems submitted. Open to any undergraduate or graduate student (taking
at least 6 units or more). (Note: This prize is judged by a distinguished
poet not affiliated with SJSU). Please submit application form and three
copies of each poem submitted, three maximum. Poems must be no more that 150
lines. Please print last four dignits of social security number in the
right-hand corner of each page-no names can appear on the work submitted or
poems will be ineligible.
The Marjorie McLaughlin Folendorf Award for Creative Writing. Scholarship
awarded a SJSU student for outstanding achievement in creative writing.
Applicants must have completed at least 24 units at SJSU. Please submit two
copies off application form and two copies of a) creative work and b) brief
statement of eligibility.
James Phelan Literary Awards. Categories include:
a. metrical verse (30 lines and under)
b metrical verse (over 30 lines)
c. free verse (30 lines and under)
d. free verse (over 30 lines)
c. short story (2000 words and under)
d. short story (over 2000 words)
e. familiar essay; critical essay; humorous and satirical essay. All
undergraduates and graduates are eligible and awards will be given in
separate categories to both.
B. Awards by Faculty Nomination:
The Harvey Birenbaum Prize for excellence in the graduate study of
literature: Outstanding scholarly achievement by a graduate student.
The Josephine Chandler Scholarship: Awarded to a student who demonstrates
clear academic excellence and a commitment to the study of the humanities.
If faculty wish to nominate a student, that student must submit a one-page
statement to the English department office discussing the importance of the
humanities to contemporary culture. All applicants must have a minimum GPA
of 3.5 and be majoring in one of the following: English, Foreign languages;
Humanities, Philosophy, Linguistics and Language Development.
The Courtney E. Cox Chaucer Prize: Awarded for outstanding scholastic
achievement in Chaucer or Middle English. Open to undergraduate and graduate
students.
The Roberta Holloway Undergraduate Award: Outstanding scholastic achievement
as an undergraduate major in English.
The Shirley Nelson Iverson Scholarship for new freshman: Awarded to a
freshman English major who intends to become a high school teacher
Dorrit Sibley Award: Awarded to a freshman who shows outstanding achievement
in writing and studying poetry.
The Mara Steffey Graduate Award: Scholarly, artistic, or professional
accomplishment by a graduate student.
The Shelby A. Sweeney Beowulf Prize: Awarded for outstanding achievement in
studying Old English. Both undergraduate and graduate students are eligible.
(NOT GIVEN IN 2009)
The Catherine Urban Scholarships: Junior and senior English majors who
display academic promise in writing, as indicated by papers submitted for
upper division English classes. Applicants must be at least half-time
students with an overall and major GPA of 3.0 or above.
The Dorothy Wright Children's Literature Award: Outstanding work in children's
literature by an undergraduate English major.
WINNERS: Results of each year's awards can be seen here.
