• Home
• Undergraduate
• Scholarships & Awards
• Undergraduate Essay Prize

Undergraduate Essay Prize

One prize of $200 is awarded in April of each year for the best essay submitted for credit within the current academic year by an undergraduate student registered in an English, Writing, Film, Theatre or Medieval Studies course at the 2100 level and above within the Department of English and Writing Studies at Western University.

Warmest congratulations to Adam Taimish, recipient of the 2026 Undergraduate Essay Prize for their essay, "Love, Sorrow, and the Gods: Developing Treatments of Pyramus and Thisbe in the Middle Ages," written for Professor Richard Moll’s course, English 3316E – Love in the Middle Ages.

The adjudicators noted, "This meticulously researched and carefully argued essay traces a literary and linguistic genealogy of the Pyramus and Thisbe story, from Ovid’s Latin version in the Metamorphoses (early 1st century CE), to the French verse Ovide Moralisé (early 14th century), to William Caxton’s 15th-century English translation of the French. Working with primary sources in multiple languages, including an original unedited 15th-century manuscript on microfilm, Adam shows how Ovid’s emphasis on the role of the gods in shaping human action gives way, in the medieval versions, to a growing emphasis on the power of emotion, particularly sorrow, to shape human action. It is rare to find such a combination of technical skill and depth of insight in undergraduate work. We warmly and enthusiastically congratulate Adam on his accomplishment!"

Thank you to Professors Anne Schuurman and Michael Fox, who served as adjudicators for the award this year.

1. Entries for Fall/Winter 2026–27 must be submitted by the instructor by Friday, April 30, 2027.
2. Entries will be adjudicated based on the quality of their research and academic writing.
3. Eligible essays should receive a mark of at least 85%.
4. One entry per student.
5. Entries must be work submitted to a course offered through the Department of English and Writing Studies in a course numbered 2100-4990 (including English, Writing, Film, Theatre and Medieval Studies).
6. The submission must be the graded paper, with instructor comments (photocopy is fine).
7. Submissions cannot be hitherto published or won an award in any other competition.
8. Previous winners are not eligible.
9. Entries must be submitted to the Department of English and Writing Studies, Undergraduate Studies Office, University College, 2401B, or by email in PDF format to undergrad.ews@uwo.ca.
10. The winner will be notified by email by the end of May.
11. The results will be posted on the Department of English and Writing Studies website.

Inquiries

undergrad.ews@uwo.ca