Thanks to the continued Kerr funding of campus literary events, Washington College offers a writer-friendly atmosphere that is the rival of larger schools.
The Sophie Kerr Prize, the largest undergraduate prize in the nation, is given annually to the graduating senior who demonstrates the greatest "ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor."
Thanks to the continued Kerr funding of campus literary events, today Washington College offers a writer-friendly atmosphere that is the rival of schools much larger in size and endowment.
Since its inception, the Gift has made possible a parade of nearly 200 visiting authors, performers and scholars who otherwise might not have set foot on a small campus miles from the traditional literary circuit. Some of these individuals were famous by the time they arrived at the College. Some were ahead of their game and soon would attain literary stardom, winning Pulitzers and Nobels and writing best sellers. Some were shy, even phlegmatic. A few were boisterous and bent on challenging the students' own proclivities for raising hell. Most were gentle and warmly receptive to young writers who yearned for and got face-to-face encounters with the literati in the classroom and, later, in the campus literary house.
To all Sophie Kerr winners, please feel free to share with us your stories, adventures, websites, books, interests, jokes, pictures, videos and anything else that could not think of in this rambling sentence.
