The Esmonde Award

The Margaret Powell Esmonde Memorial Award, which comes with a prize of $250, is given to the most distinguished scholarly or critical essay written by a graduate student at Villanova.

The prize-winning essays (undergraduate and graduate) are published in a booklet. For previous winners, as well as information about Margaret Powell Esmonde, see our awards page.

To be eligible, essays must have been

• written within a year preceding the deadline;

• written either for any Villanova English course that was taught by a member of the Villanova English faculty. It is permissible to revise or expand papers beyond what was submitted for the course. Submissions may be excerpted from an M.A. Thesis.

Format

• In addition to their essay, students should include a cover page including the course and professor for which the paper was written, as well as their local address, email, and telephone number.

• Students should also submit the essay assignment or an approximation of the assignment.

• Essays should be formatted in Times New Roman 12 (or equivalent font) and double-spaced. Graduate essays should be no longer than 20 pages.

• Essays should be formatted in MLA or Chicago Style.

• Only one submission per student is allowed.

• Judges are looking for argumentative originality and rigor, elegance of writing, and interpretive incisiveness. Submissions should be carefully proofread.

Submission information

• The deadline for submissions for 2020 is April 10. E-mail submissions via attachment to Sharon Rose-Davis.