Department Awards 2025
Greetings from the Department Chair
“Dear Friends of the English Department,
I love it that our annual Awards Celebration occurs as the crab-apple and plum trees are in bloom, the tulips are open, and the daffodils are only beginning to look back down at the ground from which they so recently sprung. It’s also the time of year where we all look back at the year that has passed, wondering how it could be that August turned so quickly into late April. The work we’ve labored at for all these months has come into blossom, and we reserved two hours on April 21, 2025 to join together as a community and celebrate all that’s worth celebrating.
Our students gained honors of many kinds, which you’ll learn of below, in the Department, College, and University. We love cheering on their successes, and we also understand how each individual success is nourished by a community of staff and faculty whose large care is necessary to our students’ growth. This year we also took time to celebrate the whole Department, naming the names of those nominated for awards, yes, but more largely, offering our heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has made this year a vital one for us all.
Our Scholarship Committee deserves a singular thanks: thank you Tatiana Nekrasova-Beker, Maurice Irvin, and Debra Walker, for your care, attention, and time. Thank you to Tom Conway and Tobi Jacobi, for helping widen the scope of our celebratory vision. And thank you Sheila Dargon, without whom, this event wouldn’t occur.
To our kind donors who make these scholarships possible, I hope the happiness that fills our hearts also fills yours: your generosity makes what we do possible.
May is not far away. (That’s a little like a one-line poem, isn’t it?)
May is not far away, but I’m glad it’s not here yet, if only for this small chance to greet and thank the colleagues, students, friends, and family who have gathered around these happy hours—happy hours the work and care of many years has made possible.”
Sincerely,
Dan Beachy-Quick
Interim Chair, English
Quicklinks
Undergraduate Creative & Performing Arts Scholarship Awards
Fiction
Mikayla Crotchett
“Things Left to the Dirt”
Bear Atwood
“Servals, Collies, and Okapi”
Jessie Strong
“The Decent”
Mandy Gonzales
“A Reflection of the Past”
Creative Nonfiction
Addison Mitchell
“Digging to Italy”
Fiona Mayes
“Oversharing”
Max Pohl
“Beelzebub and Black Holes”
Poetry
Stella Van Buskirk
“winter,” “picture day,” “Introduction to Astronomy,” “that i must love stella,” “Anonymous is a Woman.”
Kelly Hobbick
“The Fallout of a Nuclear Family,” “Temporary Ichor,” “And We Walk After.”
Mae Ferry
“Split Seconds: Four ways of Seeing American,” “Daily science,” “Sonata: mornings on a phone.”
Department Scholarships and Fellowships
Recipients of department scholarships and fellowships receive a certificate, inscription on the departmental perpetual plaque, and scholarship or fellowship funding. Current students select a faculty member to say a few words about them and to present the award. The following students received scholarships for 25-26.
The Diane Keating Woodcox and Larry G. Woodcox Scholarship
Endowed by an alumna of the English department, this scholarship is awarded to a full-time junior or senior undergraduate major with an overall minimum 2.5 GPA. The student must have held gainful employment or have participated in a paid or unpaid internship and exhibit exceptional focus and determination as a student. Preference is given to a graduate of a Colorado high school. This year’s recipient is Riley Bashkin.
The Judith A. Dean Memorial English Scholarship
This scholarship was created in memory of Judith A. Dean, a graduate in the master’s program in the Department of English, and prominent professional in the English teaching field and the organizations that support it. Judith Dean earned an MAT at Colorado State in 1978 and taught at high schools in Colorado, Idaho, and New Mexico. She served two terms as President of the Colorado Language Arts Society, and several years on the Society’s executive committee—strong measures of her prominence in public education in Colorado. The recipient is Willow Engle.
The Sarah Sandra Collins Creative Writing Memorial Scholarship
Sarah Sandra Collins attended Colorado State University in 1970 and 1971. She discontinued her studies in Psychology and English to become a CSU police officer, due to lack of funds and a desire to help people. Sarah was a profoundly honest and courageous person with great loyalty and generosity towards those she loved. Undaunted by difficult decisions in her work or personal life, she sometimes found herself enmeshed in controversy…an African American poetry writing police sergeant who converted to Orthodox Judaism in her thirties. She wrote poetry and short stories, serious and whimsical, throughout her life. The purpose of this Scholarship is to provide financial assistance for a CSU full-time undergraduate student and encouragement for the lifelong pursuit of creative writing. This year’s recipient is Mae Ferry.
The O’Connor-Miller Scholarship
This annual scholarship is given by an alumna of the English department and parent of a former CSU student who studied electrical engineering, computer science, and string bass performance. The recipient of this award must be a full-time graduate or undergraduate student, or a part-time graduate or undergraduate enrolled in the College of Liberal Arts in the Department of English. The recipient is Ava Richardson.
The Donna Weyrick Memorial Scholarship
The Donna Weyrick Memorial Scholarship honors the memory of Donna Weyrick, a 1962 graduate of the Department of English. This endowed scholarship for undergraduates is made possible by contributions from the Weyrick family and friends. This year’s recipients is Isabel Blosser.
The Smith-Schamberger-Swinson Literature Fellowship
The Smith-Schamberger-Swinson Literature Fellowship is given to a new or returning full-or part-time graduate student in the MA literature program. The recipient is Gwynnivere Riethoven.
English Department Legacy Scholarship
This annual scholarship prioritizes support for high-performing undergraduate and graduate students to finish their degree.
Bear Atwood
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The TEFL/TESL Scholarship
Funded by the INTO CSU English Language Program, the TEFL/TESL Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding student in the TEFL/TESL graduate program. The recipient is Amirhossein Nobarian.
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The Cross-Cultural Understanding Scholarship
The Cross-Cultural Understanding Scholarship is awarded to an outstanding graduate student who has demonstrated a commitment to international/cross-cultural issues and education. The recipient is Emily Owens.
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The James J. Garvey Graduate English Language Scholarship
This award is given in memory of Professor James Garvey. It is presented annually to a graduate student in their second semester or beyond in the TEFL/TESL graduate program, or a student in the Rhetoric and Composition or English Education graduate programs. The recipient must have shown a strong interest in advanced language study. Recipients of this award may be first-generation students. The recipient is Shema Akter.
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The James J. Garvey Undergraduate English Language Scholarship
This award is also given in memory of Professor James Garvey, and presented annually to an undergraduate student who has a documented interest and coursework in the study of the English language. Recipients of this award also demonstrate a commitment to diversity in education and may be first-generation students. The recipient is Yesica Martin Felipe.
The Ann Osborn Zimdahl Memorial Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded in memory of Ann Osborn Zimdahl, a 1981 graduate of the CSU MA TEFL/TESL program. Ann taught in the Intensive English Program and contributed to the international community of the university and Fort Collins. Her career also extended overseas where she held several different teaching appointments. Ann was strongly committed to cross-cultural understanding and enthusiastically shared her love of new cultures with her students both here and abroad. There were a total of two recipients this year.
The first award is for an outstanding graduate student in the TEFL/TESL program who is committed to international education and language teaching in support of the second year of study. The first recipient is Uchenna Nwagbara.
The next award is given to an outstanding graduate student in any program in English. The recipient is Steven Zimmer.
The Karyn L. Evans Scholarship
This scholarship is awarded to undergraduate students in memory of Karyn L. Evans, an alumna of the English department, and is created through a gift from her estate. The recipients are Medhaa Lakshman, Katherine White, Leslie Rae Means, and Joy Tran-Dyrenforth.
Medhaa Lakshman
Katherine White
Leslie Rae Means
Joy Tran-Dyrenforth
The Stephen Reid Award for Excellence in Teaching
The award recognizes the long-standing contributions and commitment to teaching of Dr. Stephen Reid, who taught in the Department of English from 1972-2014 and who is nationally known for his work in writing pedagogy. The selection committee have chosen a prize winner and an honorable mention; this year’s awardees are Danny Saldana and Yanni Angelis (honorable mention).
Danny Saldana
Yanni Angelis
Outstanding Literary Essay Awards
These awards, selected by the English department’s Literature program, recognize outstanding critical writing and interpretive work in literary studies. Applicants must be registered graduate or undergraduate English majors or minors.
Graduate
1st Place
Sarah Carter
Essay Title: “Nothing on the Horizon to Unite Them: Failed Communities and Forsaken Kinship in Toni Morrison’s A Mercy”
2nd Place
Andy Parker
Essay Title: “Reviving the Butterfly: Nuances in Queer Desire in M. Butterfly (2017)”
3rd Place
Cody Reed
Essay Title: “The Archives of Annihilation”: An Understanding of The Crawler and Nonhuman Ethnoscapes through Mycosovereignty
Undergraduate
1st Place
Cana Peirce
Essay Title: “Slaves, Spittoons, and Sacrifices: the Women of The Iliad as Victims and Vehicles”
2nd Place
Devon Bower
Essay Title: “Ibn Fadlan and the Land of Difference: The Intersection of Punishment and Nature in Medieval Turkic Populations”
2nd Place
Sonya Bauer
Essay Title: “On Cages and the Cost of Escaping Them: How Mortality, Maternal Love, and Gender Relations in Lars von Trier’s Adaptation Heighten the Human tragedy of Medea”
3rd Place
Maddy King
Essay Title: “Amitav Ghosh’s Genre Blending and Historical Storytelling”
Outstanding Writing Awards in Writing, Rhetoric, and Literacy
This award recognizes innovative ideas, critical thinking, and stellar communication in the broad area of writing studies.
1st Place
Gabby Franklin
Essay Title: “Fighting Climate Change: How a President’s Rhetoric Affects Climate Change Mitigation”
Graduate Distinctions
English graduate students can earn recognition for excellence on a final project, portfolio of work, or thesis.
Anna Letova
Distinction in TEFL/TESL Research Project
Creative Writing Master of Fine Arts Awards
Conrad Schaefer
Conrad Schaefer was awarded The Academy of American Poets Prize for his poem, “Aboretum”
Kristy Nowak
Kristy Nowak was named Honorable Mention for The Academy of American Poets Prize for her poem, “the present moment arrives as a dog”
Chase Cate
Chase Cate was named Honorable Mention for The AWP Intro Journals Project Award for his poem, “Theology”