Each year the Department of English’s Undergraduate faculty select from a pool of rising junior and senior concentrators to determine the winner of the A. Scott Berg Fellowship, a scholarship endowed by the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer A. Scott Berg `71 h.c. '03. This year's selection provided four exceptional projects: co-winners Cassy James '24 and Zach Sahin '24, and co-runner-ups Priyanka Aiyer '23 and Sierra Stern '24, who will be developing their work this summer with assistance from this generous support.<!--break-->
A. Scott Berg is the author of four bestselling biographies: Max Perkins: Editor of Genius, winner of the National Book Award; Goldwyn, for which he received a Guggenheim Fellowship; Lindbergh, winner of the Pulitzer Prize; Kate Remembered, a biographical memoir of Katherine Hepburn.
This year, the four students selected as recipients will receive stipends, up to $3,500 to meet the living, travel, or research expenses for these undergraduate English majors who are using the summer for writing or research in connection with their Princeton independent or course work.
As in past years, the selection was a difficult process as the submissions were exceptional.
We celebrate all those who submitted and the students who are recognized below.
Co-Winners for 2021 - 2022:
Cassandra James '23 Vaqueras: Mostly True Tales of Hispanic Women on the Frontier
Zachary Sahin '23 Arthur Henry Hallam, an Elegiac Reckoning
Co-Runner-Ups for 2021 - 2022:
Priyanka Aiyer '23 Once There Were Tigers: A Novel
Sierra Stern '24 Black Surrealism and Southern California Gothic: A Screenplay
The scholarship is allocated by a special committee of the English Department on the basis of proposals submitted by students. Students may be nominated by faculty or may simply apply; in either case, two letters of support from faculty members are required. Creative projects are particularly welcomed, but no form of writing or research is excluded.