We’re proud to recognize the incredible talent, hard work, and dedication of our students and instructors. Here is the list of the 2026 ODU English Awards winners.

Distinguished Guest Speaker: Featured Alumna Lauren Grant (’20)

Scholarships:

  • The David Scott Sutelan Memorial Scholarship: Charles Rhodes
  • Perry Morgan Fellows: Ella Smith and Maddy Terlep
  • Friends of the MFA Program Scholarship: Madison Britt
  • Jerri Fuller Dickseski Endowed MA in English Scholarship: Michael Burdette
  • Joan Argyle Shambaugh Graduate Scholarship in English: Dahlia Perez


ODU College Poetry Prize Winners:

  • Graduate Honorable Mentions: “I like,” by Evelyn Griffith; “abecedarian while on hold with,” by Winnie Wong
  • Graduate Runner-up: “What discerns the desperate from the willing?” by Megan A. Pastore
  • Graduate Winner: “Inspecting the Crabs,” by Gabriela A. Igloria
  • Undergraduate Runner-up: “Slip,” by Esidra Swift
  • Undergraduate Winner: “May you never exist to learn my language,” by Kalea Brasfield
     


Sigma Tau Delta Inductees:

  • Eryn Anderson
  • Emily Dubicke
  • Jorja Connelley
  • Cassidy Fernandez
  • Ashton Marten
  • Laney Overholt
  • Kyla (Ky) Phillips
  • Grace Reaves
  • Morgan Robinson
  • Sam Saunders
  • Ash Thomas


Undergraduate Critical Essay Winner: 

Breyanah Drayton for “Deconstructing ‘Fight Club’ Through Eagleton and Norton”


Undergraduate Curriculum Design, Teacher Research, Practitioner Writing Competition:

Asli Peri Ergur for “Innovative Teaching Ideas”


Undergraduate Applied Linguistics Research Paper Competition:

Natalie Hillinger for “Ethnography”


Dickseski Fiction Prize Winners (2025):

  • Undergraduate Winner: Shane Green, “Down with Delivery Boy”
  • Graduate Honorable Mention: A.J. Miller, “Hunger”
  • Graduate Winner: Rebekah Sanderlin, “Jump to Recipe”


The Diane Zinna Creative Nonfiction Prize:

  • Undergraduate Honorable Mention: Jeremy Phillips, “A Pleasant Walk Alone”
  • Undergraduate Winner: Madison Delbrugge, “Laurel Highlands”
  • Graduate Honorable Mention: Matt Holsopple, “A View of the Box”
  • Graduate Winner: Jerome Newsome, “Bites”


Benjamin Equitan Jr. Essay Prize:

  • Honorable Mentions: “I Am Not Enough” by Janice G. Estepa and “Ben Equitan Essay” by Jessica Anne M. Villaluna
  • Winner: “Threading Tides” by Kennice Balmoria

 


Outstanding First-Year Teacher: 

Megan Pastore


Outstanding GTA Teaching Award:

Matt Holsopple


91¶ÌÊÓÆ” GTA Award:

Helen Peluso


Outstanding Tutor:

Dana Broadus and Sydney Walker


Outstanding Student(s) in English:

Natalie Hillinger and Ash Thomas