News

The Robarts Centre for Canadian Studies has awarded the first Odessa Prize in the Study of Canada to fourth-year English major Lotoya Jackson.

Nominating Professor Andrea Medovarski, described Lotoya’s paper “Compromises of Success: Politics of Representation and Paratext in Lawrence Hill’s The Book of Negroes” as a “genuinely original” textual analysis.

In his award letter, acting director Daniel Drache wrote, “Lawrence Hill’s book is marvelous and memorable in its powerful narrative on slavery and freedom. The voice of Aminata is remarkable, authentic, and so moving. Your essay explores the cultural and social context in which the novel is set and examines the place of slavery in Canadian history and its legacy.” Congratulations for an excellent submission.

The Robarts Centre awards the $1000.00 Odessa Prize in The Study of Canada to fourth-year students based on the superior quality of their essays in Canadian History, Politics, Society, Culture, Literature, or Fine Arts.

The prize was made possible by the generous donation of profits from the sale of What is Canadian? Forty-three Thought Provoking Responses (2006) by author and York alumnus Irvin Studin.

The English Department offers a wide range of courses that provide training in the fundamentals of reading and writing about literature and introduce students to various theoretical approaches, literary genres, and national literatures. Our upper-year courses allow students to engage in more specialized studies of theories, literary periods, genres, and individual authors.

Our goal is to equip our students with the tools they need to understand, appreciate, and discuss forms of literary expression across historical and national boundaries, while giving them the freedom and encouragement to pursue their particular interests.