By Faith Talamantez
The English department has reason to celebrate as we near the end of the year at UC Santa Barbara: Two professors within the department have received prestigious awards for outstanding work in their areas of specialization.
UCSB English professor and poet Swati Rana, has won the 2023 Queen Mary Wasafari New Writing Prize for poetry.
Swati Rana, an English professor and poet, won the 2023 Queen Mary Wasafari New Writing Prize in poetry. Her work, ‘Mother, Earth—A Colloquy’ was praised by judges like British-Nigerian filmmaker and author Caleb Femi, who described Rana as a “poet who enlivens the imagination and stirs the soul.” He wrote that he “relishes the opportunity to read more of her work.”
Open to new writers across the world who have yet to publish a full-length book, the competition grants winners prizes of £1,000 ($1270) and print publication, in addition to mentoring opportunities in partnership with The Good Literary Agency and The Literary Consultancy, both based in the UK.
UCSB English professor Cathy Thomas, one among the 2023 winners of the UC Hellman Fellowship for early career researchers.
In addition, Cathy Thomas became the sole winner from the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts among the nine UCSB winners of this year’s Hellman Prize. The prize, originally established at UC San Diego and UC Berkeley, has expanded to all UC campuses, and is awarded to researchers across the UC system. Aiming to provide faculty with the necessary resources to take risks in their research, the award is granted to researchers early in their careers in order to take their work to the next level. Fellowships can range from $10,000 to $65,000.
Thomas studies a variety of genres centered around Afrodiasporic Literature, as well as Caribbean literature. She won the fellowship for the research she is conducting under the title, “Unruly Genealogies of Afrodiasporic Women and Girls,” alongside eight other UCSB faculty members in the divisions of science and social science.
“These awards can be incredibly impactful for early career scholars by supporting a level of rigor and innovation that can help catapult an assistant professor’s career to the next level,” said Dana Mastro, associate vice chancellor for academic affairs and professor of communication at UCSB.
Faith Talamantez is a third year UCSB student majoring in Writing and Literature. She is a Web and Social Media intern for the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts.