Prizes — I have been thinking about prizes lately in part because of the North Carolina Humanities Council’s series of programs commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Pulitzer Prize. These programs are focusing on people from North Carolina who have won the Pulitzer Prize. I am playing a role in one of these programs, which is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, September 27, at 11:00 AM in the Halton Theater on the CPCC’s Central Campus. I will be talking about Doug Marlette, who was a Pulitzer-Prize winning editorial cartoonist for the Charlotte Observer. My talk, however, will be on his comic strip, Kudzu. If you are interested learning more about this event, here is a link with more information: http://www.pulitzernc.org/events/2016/9/27/old-southnew-south-through-media-panel-discussion
Of course, being awarded the Pulitzer Prize makes headlines, but I think that being awarded lesser known prizes is also significant. Such prizes often recognize achievements that might not be noticed by the larger public but are highly regarded by people within the recipients’ field. Our colleague Chris Davis has just been informed that he has won such an award. His poem titled “Against Pride” has been selected as the winner of the Betsy Colquitt Poetry Award. This award is given by the creative writing journal Descant. The award is given annually to the single poem deemed the strongest in each edition of the journal, and the award includes a $500 prize. Even though the title of Chris’s award-winning poem is “Against Pride,” I am still very proud of Chris for winning this award. As everyone in our English Department knows, we have a very strong creative writing program. Chris’s latest award adds to the program’s already excellent reputation.
Kudos — As you know, I like to use my Monday Missives to share news about recent accomplishments by members of our department. Here is the latest news:
Balaka Basu just signed a contract for a co-edited collection titled The Harry Potter Generation. Her co-editor is Emily Lauer.
Kirk Melnikoff gave the invited-paper “Shakespeare’s Early Comedies and the Lure of Conycatching” at the Southeastern Renaissance Conference in Winston-Salem, NC.
Liz Miller recently presented a paper titled “Individual Positioning Work and the Mobilzation of Responsibility in Organizational Discussions on Social Sustainability” at a critical discourse analysis conference in Catania, Sicily.
Quirky Quiz Question — Doug Marlette is one of several award-winning editorial cartoonists who have worked for the Charlotte Observer. Does anybody know the name of the current editorial cartoonist who works for the Charlotte Observer?
Last week’s answer: September 15 is the date that all of these countries gained their independence from Spain.
Does anybody know why September 15 is a significant day in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua?