For one short story writer crafting characters has paid off. Kathryn J. Manion a Washington College (MD) senior took home this year’s largest undergraduate literary prize in the country: the Sophie Kerr Prize.
Manion was given a check for $58,274— the amount of the 2012 prize—for her portfolio of writing. The English major’s submission included four shorts stories as well as excerpts from her thesis on the role of letter writing in literature. Her work discussed letters in novels by Emily Bronte Jane Austen George Elliot and Mary Shelley. Manion described her stories as “works in progress” and says she has discovered that “finding a voice whether a character’s or my own can be one of the most challenging parts of the creative process.”
Sophie Kerr Committee Chair and English professor Kathryn Moncrief said Manion “… excels as both a critical and creative writer” and that her fiction is “fun to read full of wonderful surprises.” Bob Mooney another committee member and English professor said this about Manion’s work: “There are flashes of brilliance in her ability to create voice keenly appropriate to the story in progress.”
With minors in creative writing and anthropology Manion was very involved in writing-related groups and events. She edited copy for the campus literary magazine participated in the Writers’ Theater and helped lead the Writers’ Union which hosts workshops and readings and publishes a literary journal online. In other words she immersed herself in writing—and it paid off. Literally.
For the last 44 years the Sophie Kerr Prize has been given to the senior who demonstrates the greatest literary ability and promise. That award money is available thanks to its namesake a writer who left more than half a million dollars to Washington College when she died in 1965. Since her death Kerr’s endowment has provided more than $1.4 million to talented writers from the inaugural year’s $9,000 prize to nearly $69,000 in 2009.
Past recipients have gone on to become teachers editors marketing professionals and published writers. As for Manion no one seems worried about her career possibilities. “She has a terrific work ethic and is courageous and persistent in taking on difficult subjects,” says Moncrief adding “She is always willing to grow and develop as a writer.”
Of course with one of the biggest awards since the Sophie Kerr Prize’s genesis Manion can buy herself some time to think.
For more information about the award visit http://english.washcoll.edu/sophiekerrlegacy.
