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The annual Peter Burton Hanson Writing Awards are named in the honor and the memory of English alumnus Peter Burton Hanson (SSH ’91), who perished along with his wife, Sue Kim, and young daughter, Christine Lee, aboard United Airlines 175, on September 11, 2001. Peter’s life and values are remembered through these events and awards. The Department of English is deeply grateful to Peter’s parents, Lee and Eunice Hanson, for their generosity in endowing the Peter Burton Hanson Lecture and Writing Awards.

peter burton hanson with wife and daughter

Awards for Scholarly, Creative, and Other Works in 2021

In the Category of Scholarly Writing

Winner: Lilly Wilcox
“Shame It Is Upon My Sex: The Gendering of
Antebellum Boston’s Sectarian Print Culture”
Written for Dr. Patrick Mullen in ENGL 4710 Capstone, Fall 2021

In the Category of Creative Writing

Winner: Gillian Brown
“Before & After”
Written for Dr. Laurie Edwards in ENGL 2770 Writing to Heal, Fall 2021

Honorable Mention: Lauren DeSousa
“thirteen – A Poetry Collection”
Written for Dr. Eunsong Kim in ENGL 2420 Contemporary Poetry, Spring 2021

In the Category of “Other” work

Winner: Wendy Chen
“text drafts”
Written for Dr. Eunsong Kim in ENGL 3377 Poetry Workshop, Fall 2021

Honorable Mention: Deanna Schwartz
“Jacob, Esau, Russell, and Me”
Written for Dr. Lori Lefkovitz in ENGL 3678 Bedrooms and Battlefields: Hebrew Bible and the Origins of Sex, Gender, and Ethnicity, Spring 2021


In honor of Peter Burton Hanson’s life, we would also like to share a speech given by a high school friend of Peter’s, Vanessa Elias, delivered most recently at their school’s 20th anniversary ceremony: