Past Prize Winners & Award Recipients

2015

MACLAS 2015 Prize & Award Committees and Prize Winners & Award Recipients

arthur p. whitaker prize

The committee for the Arthur P. Whitaker Prize (for the best book published in the previous two years by a MACLAS member who has been a member in good standing for the past two years) was comprised of chair Michael Schroeder of Lebanon Valley College, Ivani Vassoler of the State University of New York at Fredonia, and Meghan McInnis-Domínguez of the University of Delaware.

Whitaker Prize Winner: María Roof, for Flame in the Air:  Bilingual Poetry Edition. Vidaluz Meneses. Casasola Editores, 2013.  In the words of the Prize Committee, "This 550-page blockbuster carries a dual copyright:  the copyright to the poems is held by Vidaluz Meneses, and the copyright to the translations by María Roof.  The book therefore has two authors, and is listed under both names. This hybrid, collaborative, synthetic quality is expressed on every page of this extraordinary book. What we have here are two books fused into a creative synthesis that makes the whole bigger than the sum of its parts. The first book is a 150 page interview and testimonial autobiography – narrated by Vidaluz Meneses in dialogue with María Roof, edited by Roof, and then reviewed & refined & sharpened in a long series of collaborative efforts.  The second is a 300-plus page collection of bilingual poems, with Vidaluz Meneses’ originals and Roof’s exquisite translations.  These two books speak different languages – testimonial autobiography in the form of an extended interview, and poems – and represent very different ways of knowing and speaking, yet are also integral to each other and remain in constant if subtle dialogue – sometimes in shouts, and sometimes in barely audible whispers.  It is a remarkable achievement of collaboration and synthesis.  In the words of one member of the Prize Committee,

“This is an important work that introduces US readers to a poet who is already famous in her native country as well as many other countries worldwide. She also compiles the poems of several of Meneses’ collections and beyond as an important resources for Meneses’ scholars as well as those who study Central American Revolutionary poetry as a whole. Roof’s critical contributions offer valuable context for researchers of literature, sociology, and history of Nicaragua during Meneses’ life. She also includes a strong bibliography of the works of and on Meneses for interested scholars.”

Another committee member commented:  “The story of Vidaluz Meneses is gripping, the translations of the poems are superb, and the volume makes a major contribution to Latin American studies by introducing the work of a towering poet and political actor of the second half of the 20th century to the English-reading world.”  Another wrote:  “Roof's volume is superb. . . . an impressive narrative about Luz's trajectory and work, and translation of her most important poems, in a very meticulous and rigorous scholarship.”  

Postscript.  Vidaluz Meneses died on July 27, 2016.  She was 72 years old.  See this fitting homenaje in La Trinchera of 29 July.  Photo at left courtesy of Allegheny College and Pelletier Library, host of the 19th annual Pelletier Library Lecture featuring Vidaluz Meneses and María Roof (who graduated from the college in 1967).

harold eugene davis prize

The committee for the Harold Eugene Davis prize (awarded for the best book chapter or article published in the previous two years by a member who has been in good standing for the past two years) was comprised of chair Maria Roof of Howard University, Mark Wasserman of Rutgers University, and Stephanie Saunders, Capital University

Davis Prize Winner:  John Stolle-McAllister, for his article, “Producing and Circulating Kichwa Community in Intercultural Ecuador.” University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), The Latin Americanist 57.3 (Sept. 2013): 29-50.

john d. martz iii prize

The committee for the John D. Martz III Prize (for the best paper submitted to the conference by a graduate student) consisted of chair Louise Detwiler of Salisbury State University, Gloria Clark of Penn State University, and James Baer of Northern Virginia Community College.

Martz Prize Winner: Josh Esposito, for his paper, “Institutional Decolonization: Guianese, British, and American Perspectives on the Role of Organized Labor in Post-Colonial Society.”

juan espadas prize

The committee for the Juan Espadas Prize (for the best paper submitted to the conference by an undergraduate student) was comprised of chair Kathy Cunniffe of Temple University, Jeff Pugh of the University of Massachusetts, and James Seikmeier of West Virginia University.

Espadas Prize Winner:  Kaitlin Senk, for her paper, “What Makes Gender Quotas Effective: A Comparative Examination of Electoral Systems and Quota Legislations.”

james street prize

The committee for the James Street Prize (awarded to the best article published in Latin American Essays) was comprised of Brian Turner and the journal's other editors. 

Street Prize Winner:  Brooke Severe, for her paper, “Gender and Authority in Sara Yorke Stevenson’s Maximilian in Mexico.”  Brooke graduated from St. Joseph’s University in 2014.

judy b. mcinnis distinguished service award

The committee for the Judy B. McInnis Distinguished Service Award (awarded to a longstanding MACLAS member for outstanding service to MACLAS and/or to the larger academic community of Latin American studies, continuous outstanding scholarship, excellent teaching, and/or humanitarian endeavors in Latin America) was comprised of chair Maria Roof of Howard University, John Incledon of Albright College, and Mark Wasserman of Rutgers University.

No McInnis Award was awarded in 2015.

christina turner awards

The committee for the Christina Turner Awards (for graduate students to subsidize a portion of the travel expenses to the annual MACLAS conference) was comprised of chair Bridget Chesterton of the State University of New York Buffalo State, Ivette Guzmán-Zavala of Lebanon Valley College, and Betsy Konefal of the College of William and Mary.

Awardees: Liz Geitman of the University of Florida, and Jennifer Calles of Villanova University

Władysław Maryan Froelich Research Grant

The selection committee for the Władysław Maryan Froelich Research Grant (which offers up to two $500 prizes annually to faculty, professionals or independent scholars to carry out research or creative projects on any facet of Latin American culture, politics, and society) was comprised of Brian Turner and other Essays editors.

Awardee:  Kia Hall, a recent Ph.D. recipient from American U, received a $500 award for her “Ereba Iriona Photography Project.”

Congratulations to all our MACLAS 2015 prize winners & award recipients!