Bursaries, Awards and Prizes

Sophie MacLeod (1901-2001) received a Bachelor of Arts from Dalhousie in 1925. She enjoyed a long and distinguished career in teaching and for many years taught English at Bloomfield School in Halifax. This bursary is awarded annually to students majoring in English or undertaking a double major or combined honours degree with English as one of their focuses. Apply through the general online bursary program.

"Throw the Switch, Igor" Bursary provides a four-year renewable bursary covering the full tuition of one female undergraduate English student at Dalhousie. The recipient must be registered as a mature student and must demonstrate financial need.

This fund was created through the generosity of the faculty and staff in the Department of English. The bursary is intended to alleviate financial difficulties for Black Canadian and Aboriginal students who have declared their major/Honours in English. The bursary is also intended to help retention and encourage student success in the program, and it will build on the Department's commitment to expanding the diversity of the program.

This prize ($500 plus a complete set of the New Canadian Library) is one of six established by Mr. Avie Bennett, Chairman and President of McClelland and Stewart to mark the company’s 90th anniversary and the 40th anniversary of the New Canadian Library, of which the founding general editor was Dalhousie Professor Emeritus, Dr Malcolm M. Ross. It is awarded each year to the best essay on Canadian literature submitted from an undergraduate class at Dalhousie during the current academic year. Essays may have been written for classes in any department, but they should focus explicitly on a Canadian literary topic and not on history or culture more generally, and they must be written in English. Essays should be nominated by instructors; clean copies should be submitted by the specified date.

Colleagues and friends of the late Allan Bevan have established a memorial scholarship. The scholarship is to be awarded, in the first place, to a student in the Major program (that is a student entering the third or fourth year of the Majors program). In the absence of a suitable candidate from the Major program, the scholarship will be awarded to a student entering the third or fourth year of the Honours program. If there are no suitable candidates from English, the selection will be made by the School of Performing Arts.

This prize is awarded annually to an outstanding first year student enrolled in introductory English at Dalhousie University. Section instructors will normally make nominations, which shall consist of a letter from the instructor on why the student should receive the award, the student’s final grade, and a sample essay.  

Awarded annually to a student entering his or her 4th year of study (i.e. having completed 90 credit hours) in an English Major or Honours (including Double Major or Combined Honours) programme who has demonstrated a high level of academic excellence. Students registered at both Dalhousie and King's are eligible.

This award was established to recognize outstanding interdisciplinary initiatives between the arts and the health sciences, and it honours the memory of this former graduate student in English. The competition is open to undergraduate and graduate students in the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences, Medicine, and Health Professions. Faculty may nominate students who have completed an outstanding project, thesis, or research essay that combines work in the humanities or the arts with work in medicine or health care.

The MacMechan/IODE Scholarship is granted to a graduating English student who has demonstrated special abilities at the Undergraduate level. Preference will be given to those who intend to pursue a Master's degree in English. Students registered at King's are not eligible.

The McIsaac Prize is awarded to a student in the second or third year of study in the Honours or Majors programme in English who demonstrates an enquiring and original mind. Students registered at both Dalhousie and King's are eligible.

The Pond Prize was endowed by Mr. F.H. Pond of Halifax in memory of his wife, the late Margaret Nicoll Pond, a gifted teacher of English and a devoted alumna and governor of Dalhousie University. The prize is awarded to the woman graduating in  English with the highest academic standing (i.e. the highest GPA in English classes at the 2000 level and beyond). Students registered at both Dalhousie and King's are eligible.

The Samantha Li Memorial Award was established by family, friends, faculty, and students to honour the memory of Samantha Li by supporting an annual prize for a student in the Honours programme in English.  The recipient chosen will most closely reflect the academic and personal qualities of Samantha Li: intellectual reach and creativity; a passion for the exploration of literature and ideas; generosity toward and engagement with fellow students and professors. Click here for a biography of Samantha Li.

Two fellowships, of an annual value of approximately $5,500 each, are awarded by the English Department, on the recommendation of the Undergraduate Committee, to students selected on the criteria of the GPA of all English classes at the 2000 level and beyond and a clear indication that the student(s) will go on to do graduate work.  The work must be done at a university approved by the faculty; it need not be held at Dalhousie. Students registered at both Dalhousie and King's are eligible.

Each year the Department of English offers a medal to the top First Class Honours graduate in recognition of superior achievement in the program.

The Clare Murray Fooshee Literary Prizes are an annual competition open to all full-time or part-time undergraduate Students from Dalhousie or King's College. Prizes are awarded for poetry (1st, 2nd, and 3rd place) and short stories (1st and 2nd place). 

Please note - contest is now closed for 2025.  

Winners will be announced on April 4th, 2025. 

Event info below - come join us!

Fooshee Prize Winners for best poetry 2024:

• 1st place  

Carmen Gessell - "Cinnamon Buns"

• 2nd place
  

Kate Duncanson - "Daisies in Antarctica"

• 3rd place  

Sopie Peterson - "I Stargaze Sometimes"

Thanks to a donation from alumnus William Blakeney, the Department has instituted a Gothic creative writing competition, in honour of Devendra Varma, formerly of the Dalhousie English Department. First ($500), second ($150), and third ($100) prizes will be awarded for original works of fiction or poetry with a gothic setting or theme. Submissions (250 words maximum) should be deposited in the drop box in the English department office by late October (date TBD). Submissions should be identified by student number ONLY (B00***).  Contestants must have declared English or Creative Writing as a focus of their degree program (Honours, Combined Honours, Major, Double Major), and this must appear on their transcript at the time of judging.  Prizes will be awarded at a ceremony (date TBD). Judges and contestants are encouraged to come in costume.

• Winners for the 2012 Varma Prize in Gothic Literature
• Winners for the 2014 Varma Prize in Gothic Literature
  
• Winners for the 2015 Varma Prize in Gothic Literature
  
• Winners for the 2016 Varma Prize in Gothic Literature
  
• Winner for the 2017 Varma Prize in Gothic Literature
  
• Winners for the 2018 Varma Prize in Gothic Literature
  

This scholarship is to be granted to deserving students in the English Department at Dalhousie University.

Established to honour Malcolm Ross, founding editor of the New Canadian Library and Professor Emeritus in the Department of English, a prize of $200 to be awarded to an outstanding MA or PhD thesis on Canadian Literature. McClelland and Stewart have generously provided the funding to recognise Professor Ross’s role in forwarding the study of Canadian literature

To provide an annual scholarship to a student entering the Master of Arts program in English at Dalhousie University.

To provide an annual scholarship to the leading Honours graduate English at Dalhousie University who intends to proceed to a Master's Degree.

This scholarship is awarded annually to an outstanding graduate student in Dalhousie's English department.