2018 Library Undergraduate Poetry Prize Winners
EUGENE, Ore. — University of Oregon Libraries and Oregon Poetry Association announce the winners of the inaugural Library Undergraduate Poetry Prize: Sarah Hovet and Joshua Plack. This award is given to two undergraduate students every other year who demonstrate high-quality works of poetry in which the library has played a role in their artistic output. The prize consists of a tuition-supported poetry workshop and a limited-edition printing of their winning poems to be distributed to select libraries in Oregon and to the prize winners.
This poetry prize was conceived in collaborative discussions between the two organizations over the past year. The UO Libraries is the official archive for Oregon poetry which has been substantially derived through contributions by the OPA. The director of Special Collections, David de Lorenzo, said “we wanted to add to the collection by supporting young poets whose work is worthy of recognition. The award idea received enthusiastic support and we plan to make it a permanent part of the undergraduate experience at UO. We are very honored to have the support of the OPA to make this award a reality.”
The 2018 Library Undergraduate Poetry Prize recipients will be presented with their awards and read their selected poems at a reception held in conjunction with the 2018 Oregon Poetry Association Conference. The schedule for the reception follows:
2018 Library Undergraduate Poetry Prize
Ceremony and Reception
Friday, September 28, 2018 · 4:00-6:00 p.m.
University of Oregon Knight Library Browsing Room
1501 Kincaid Street, Eugene, Oregon
Open to the public · Refreshments provided
Poetry Readings by
Library Undergraduate Poetry Prize recipients:
Sarah Hovet and Joshua Plack
Oregon Poetry Association invitees:
Andrew Gonzalez and Amy Miller
University of Oregon invitees:
Amanda Cox and Tia North
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Biographies of prize winners:
Sarah Hovet: I am a senior at University of Oregon with an anticipated graduation date of winter 2019. I herald from Springfield, Eugene’s sister city, and have been a lifelong lover of Oregon’s beauty. In my time at UO, I have worked toward completing an English major, journalism major, and creative writing minor. Throughout my undergraduate career, I have prioritized reading and writing poetry. I participated in the University of Oregon Poetry Slam Team in 2015 and 2017, and led a one-credit Clark Honors Introductory Program on the theme of “poetry and you” for fifteen incoming Honors College freshmen in both 2016 and 2017. I have recently delved into academic research beyond my classes, conducting scholarship on feminism in Irish literature on the Vice President for Research and Innovation Undergraduate Fellowship while studying abroad in Galway, Ireland in summer 2017. My research project engaged with prose and poetry, namely that of Eavan Boland, Nuala Ni Dhomhnaill, and Eilean Ni Chuilleanain. Currently, I am participating in the Humanities Undergraduate Research Fellowship and analyzing sense of place in poetry collections by Ada Limon, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, and Louise Erdrich. Additionally, I am excited to undertake a research project on Claude McKay’s Jamaican dialect poetry for my English Honors Program poetry seminar. My engagement with poetry has been facilitated by a number of outstanding mentors in the English department, creative writing program, Honors College, and more. After I earn my bachelor’s degree, I hope to attend Cardiff University as an MA in English literature on the Fulbright award and engage with the Welsh language and poetry. In the meantime, I write poetry whenever possible. I have been published in campus publications such as The Siren, Unbound, and The Ecotone, as well as Sigma Tau Delta’s The Rectangle and Z Publishing’s Anthology of Oregon’s Best Emerging Poets beyond campus. One day, I aspire to be a full-time writer and instructor in a creative writing program.
Joshua Plack: I am an undergraduate student and aspiring author at the University of Oregon. A Philadelphia native, I moved across the country from Baltimore to Eugene to study English and improve my craft in writing. Here I achieved numerous Honor Roll awards and was accepted into the Kidd Creative Writing Program for poetry with a full scholarship. A personal history of homelessness and a deeply entrenched love for the massive and diverse cultures of the major East Coast cities informs my poetry, as does a desire to push image and metaphor to their breaking points.
My educational background includes an Associate’s Degree in Education from Wor-Wic Community College where I graduated with Honors and was asked to represent the school at conferences. Here at Oregon, I have tried to broaden my understanding of the poetic craft by enrolling in diverse and rigorous courses of study that rewarded me with the influences of Claude McKay, Emily Dickinson, Elizabeth Bishop, and countless others. Through the mentorship of the Kidd program, as well as the guest lectures given by visiting poets and the readings I attended at the Matthew Knight Library, I have learned that the art of writing poetry requires obsessive diligence and a thorough dedication to improving one’s craft, as one Robin Coste Lewis demanded of us upon her visit.
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