Emily Blackner of Perry Hall Named Sophie Kerr Prize Finalist

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CHESTERTOWN, MD (05/03/2013)(readMedia)-- Washington College is pleased to announce that Emily Blackner '13 of Perry Hall, MD has been named a finalist for the 2013 Sophie Kerr Prize, awarded each year to the graduating senior determined to have the best ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor. Valued at $61,192, it is the nation's largest literary prize awarded solely to undergraduate students.

The literary prize was established by a posthumous gift from Sophie Kerr, a prolific writer born in Denton, MD, about 30 miles from the Washington College campus. When it came time to pass her assets forward, Kerr bequeathed most of them to Washington College, where she had received an honorary degree (along with Eleanor Roosevelt) in 1942. From the original half-million dollars she left to the College at her death in 1965, the Sophie Kerr Endowment has over the years awarded some $1.5 million in prize money to promising young writers.

Blackner, an English major with a double minor in creative writing and political science, has been involved with the campus newspaper, The Elm, since her freshman year; serving as its news editor her senior year. Blackner also works for the Office of College Relations and Marketing as a communications intern and has served as vice president for Sigma Tau Delta and president of a campus political organization. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa and Pi Sigma Alpha. Her Sophie Kerr portfolio includes a short story about a city bus driver, a long-form journalism piece about efforts to end mental illness stigma and a personal narrative exploring the reasons behind individual involvement in politics, as well as several shorter newspaper articles and blog posts.

The College will announce the winner of the Sophie Kerr Prize at 7:30 p.m. on May 14 at the Enoch Pratt Free Library in Baltimore. The celebration will be free and open to the public and will include remarks by Daniel Dirda, the Pulitzer Prize-winning book critic at the Washington Post and readings by the five prize finalists.

Founded in 1782 under the patronage of George Washington, Washington College is a private, independent college of liberal arts and sciences located in colonial Chestertown on Maryland's Eastern Shore.