The Department of English in the Faculty of Liberal Arts & Professional Studies (LA&PS) recognizes students for outstanding essay writing produced during their studies.
This year’s winners of the English Award make up the 22nd group of recipients since the program was established as an important marker of academic excellence within the department.
“The English Awards are a great reminder of how curious, thoughtful and hard‑working our students are,” says LA&PS Interim Dean Kathryn McPherson. “These essays don’t just show strong writing, they reveal how deeply students engage with literary works from around the globe and in different centuries, as well as with complex theoretical and social issues.”
Every year, the winning essays span a wide range of topics showcasing the varied academic interests and critical perspectives students develop over the course of their studies at York.
Past essays have considered how spaces in Kim's Convenience and Da Kink in My Hair reflect cultural specificity or universality, or how William Shakespeare's King Lear was adapted into a classic film set in 16th century Japan.
The 2025 English Awards recognize work that engages with an equally wide range of ideas and approaches, including how modern theatre productions have adapted Shakespeare’s Othello, representations of gender and social status in two 18th century novels, and explorations of Indigenous resilience and identity in Patti LaBoucane-Benson’s contemporary graphic novel The Outside Circle and Cherie Dimaline’s dystopian novel The Marrow Thieves.
Award-winning essays are preserved in an online catalogue maintained by the Department of English to demonstrate the value of strong, original writing as a cornerstone of English studies. The catalogue also offers current and future students the opportunity to engage with and draw inspiration from past recipients’ work.
Recipients of the 2025 English Awards:
Avie Bennett Prize in Canadian Literature
The award recognizes the best essay in Canadian literature.
Winner: Joseph Wong
Essay: “Echoes of Oppression: Racialized Identity in Modern Othello Adaptations”
Brian Hepworth Memorial Prize
The award recognizes the best essay on a subject from English literature between 1660 and 1800.
Winner: Patrick Santarsia
Essay: “Colonize me Happy: Redefining the English conception of felicity through land dispossession in The Female American by Unca Eliza Winkfield”
Department of English Retirees’ Scholarship
The scholarship is awarded to a top student majoring or minoring in English based on academic performance.
Winner: Amy Khou
Elizabeth Sabiston Prize
The prize is awarded for outstanding academic writing in a first- or second-year English or humanities course.
Winner: Simoné Bianco
Essay: “No Way Out: Gendered Vulnerability and Social Entrapment in Frances Burney’s Evelina (1778) and Daniel Defoe’s Roxana (1724)”
H.K. Girling Literature Prize
The award recognizes an outstanding essay in a 2000- or 3000-level English course, with demonstrated commitment to literature.
Winner: Kalyani Sivakumar
Essays: “Emotionally Unavailable By Design: An Analysis of Narrator Reliability in Nevada and The Yellow Wallpaper” and “Figures of Speech Are Not For Women: Metonymy, Rhetorical Questions, and Simile in The Calf That Frolicked in the Hall”
June McMaster-Harrison Memorial Prize
The prize is given to the finest written work in a 3000- or 4000-level English course focusing on literary theory, romantic literature or interdisciplinary studies.
Winner: Amanda Nisi
Essay: “The Manipulation of Long and Short Temporalities in Bamewawagezhikaquay’s The Contrast”
Lucille Herbert Memorial Scholarship
The scholarship is awarded to an English major who has demonstrated academic excellence and financial need.
Winner: Patrick Sharp
Matthew Ahern Memorial Prize
The award recognizes exceptional promise in English studies, particularly in creative writing.
Winner: Mckenzie Tzeng
Best 1000-Level Essay Prize
Winner: David De Castro
Essay: “Hope From Within: Exploring Indigenous Resilience in Patti LaBoucane-Benson’s The Outside Circle and Cherie Dimaline’s The Marrow Thieves”
Best 2000-Level Essay Prize
Winner: Casandra Di Clemente
Essay: “The Fragile Boundaries of Power: Imperial Violence and the Ethics of Suffering in Waiting for the Barbarians”
Best 3000-Level Essay Prize
Winner: Donna Akbari
Essay: “Fasting, Feasting, Resisting: Food, Power, and Identity in Anita Desai’s Novel”
Best 4000-Level Essay Prize
Winner: Joseph Wong
Essay: “When Humanity Becomes Conditional: Disability, Utility, and Alienation in The Metamorphosis”
Best 4000-Level Essay Prize (honourable mention)
Winner: Kimberly Tran
Essay: “Slow Violence in Animal’s People: the Naturalization and Concealment of Violence in the Global South”
English Department Teaching Assistants’ Award for Excellence
The award recognizes a teaching assistant for outstanding teaching performance and dedication to student learning.
Winner: Hannah Varkey
See winning essays in the English Undergraduate Essay Prize Collection.