The English Department's
Van Doren and Ledbetter Literary Prizes
The Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize was first awarded by English professor Jack Ledbetter, Ph.D., in 1972. The prize became an endowed scholarship through the donations of poet Mark Van Doren’s sons, John and Charles Van Doren. The Ledbetter Prize, named in honor of Professor Emertitus Ledbetter, is given annually to a CLU student for the best written work in any genre.
2012
Melanie Cornejo, a senior English Major, won the Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize for her poetry for the second year in a row!
Andrew Olson, a sophomore English Major, won the Ledbetter Prize for his play Like Birds Caught.
2011
Melanie Cornejo, a junior English Major won the Mark Van Doren Poetry prize for her poetry.
Dawn Megli-Thuna won the Ledbetter Award.
2010
Allison Wachtel, an English major, was awarded the Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize based on a selection of poems she submitted. Dr. Joan Wines read her poem "To the Academy" at the Honor's Convocation.
Shelby Morgan, another English major, receieved the Ledbetter Prize for Excellence in Writing for his critical paper "Sealing the Rift: Spirituality and Destruction in Chuck Palahniuk's Invisible Monsters."
2009
Katherine Rose Bierach of Campbell and Allison Wachtel of Thousand Oaks received California Lutheran University’s top literary prizes during Honors Convocation on May 15.
English Department faculty awarded Bierach, an English major, the $1,000 Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize based on a selection of poems she had submitted. English professor Bruce Stevenson read one of her poems, “Sonnet of Autumn,” at the ceremony. Bierach also won the 2008 Van Doren award.
Wachtel, another English major, received the Ledbetter Prize for Excellence in Writing for a literary analysis titled “Reality, Mortality and Media: Finding Agency in Don DeLillo’s ‘White Noise.’” The award, named in honor of Jack Ledbetter, is given annually to an English major for the best work in any literary genre.
2008
Katie Bierach was awarded the Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize, and Brigette Stevenson was awarded the Ledbetter Prize for Excellence in Writing at California Lutheran University's Honors Day Convocation.
2007
The Ledbetter Writing Prize was awarded to Emily Moffett, and the Mark Van Doren Prize was awarded to Lauren Coss at the CLU Honors Day Convocation on April 27. Coss, an English major from Maple Grove, Minn., was selected to receive the $1,000 award by faculty members of the English Department based on a selection of her poems. Her poem, “The Great Aunt,” was read during the ceremony. Moffett, of Simi Valley, was awarded the prize for her essay titled “Parallelism in the Modern Prometheus.”
