Convocation
Congratulations to SFU English’s 2022–23 undergraduate award winners
The Department of English recognizes the achievements of its undergraduate students in creative writing, literary analysis, academic excellence, and much more.
Nimrit Basra: Winner of the Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Inclusion, Democracy, and Reconciliation
The Lieutenant Governor’s Medal for Inclusion, Democracy, and Reconciliation is awarded to a graduating student in good academic standing with demonstrated academic excellence and outstanding contributions in “support/promotion of one or more of the following areas: inclusion; democracy and/or reconciliation (in campus or in their communities.” This is one of only two awards open to all graduating students at SFU, and we couldn’t be happier for the winner: Nimrit Basra. Among her academic achievements are an English Honours degree, an extended minor in gender, sexuality, and women’s studies a minor in Criminology, and a legal studies certificate, as well as a long run on the President’s Honour roll, and an extensive history of leadership and community involvement. Read Nim's convocation story.
Zachary Bennett: Winner of the Gordon R. Elliott Award in Writing and Rhetoric
The Gordon R. Elliott Award in Writing and Rhetoric is given annually to an undergraduate student in good academic standing who is majoring in English and is also enrolled in, and shows great promise in, the Writing and Rhetoric Certificate Program. This year’s winner is Zachary Bennett. In his Writing & Rhetoric coursework, Zach distinguished himself as a thoughtful investigator and an eloquent writer and speaker. His hard work and excellent preparation contributed to his consistently strong performance in class discussion and written work.
Paige Gant: Winner of the Capi Blanchet Annual Scholarship in Fiction
The Capi Blanchet Annual Scholarship in Fiction is one of several creative writing awards given by the department. Paige Gant is an extraordinarily dedicated and flexible creative writer with specific interest in "emergent" speculative fiction. She is both a compelling stylist and generous and encouraging classmate in studio classes.
Rebekah Osterman: Sheila Delany Essay Award in Early Literature
The Sheila Delany Essay Award in Early Literature is given annually in the summer term for the most deserving essay written by an undergraduate student on early literature (before 1450 CE) from any culture. Rebekah Osterman's "Mixed Feelings: An Analysis of Sympathy in Cleanness and the Hundred Years War" argues for the influence on the century-long conflict between the French and the English as a key part of Cleanness's textual environment. Rebekah manages the difficult task of accounting for Cleanness's difficult narrative outline and some of the strange moments of tenderness that seem to defy it. This is a smart and brave paper by an impressive student.
*Cassius Petherick: Winner of the Philippa Polson Memorial Prize in English and the Tom Grieve Honours English Program Award
The Philippa Polson Memorial Prize in English is awarded to Cassius Petherick, who wrote the best English honours essay during the academic year.
The Tom Grieve Honours English Program Award is given to a student who has demonstrated past and present achievement and/or future promise as it pertains to the field of English. Cassius Petherick is this year's winner. Cassius's honours project begins by applying Lacan's “The Instance/Agency of the Letter in the Unconscious” to trans people's and their observers' experiences with gender misalignment. Combining readings of poststructuralist theory with personal accounts of misalignment, Cassius's honours project is both theoretically sophisticated and remarkably approachable. This is a highly original project with a wide range of relevance both inside and outside of the academy, and it richly deserves this year's Tom Grieve award.
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Angela Wachowich: Paul Delany Graduation Award in English
The Paul Delany Graduation Award in English is awarded to Angela Wachowich, the English graduand with the highest CGPA.
*Lisa Yu: Roy Miki Award in Creative Writing
The Roy Miki Award in Creative Writing is given to the most deserving student who has successfully completed an English course in creative writing over the academic year. Lisa Yu is a distinctly gifted and daring writer of both poetry and prose. She is currently working on a long and formally complex autobiographical work or "biotext" about her former life as a flight attendant. The committee was very impressed by her deft writing and her original project.
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