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Home / Newsroom / Philip Metres Selected as Inaugural Recipient of George W. Hunt, S.J. Prize for Excellence in Journalism, Arts & Letters
Philip Metres Philip J. Metres, Ph.D., professor of English, has been selected as the inaugural recipient of the George W. Hunt, S.J. Prize for Excellence in Journalism, Arts & Letters by America magazine and the Saint Thomas More Chapel and Center at Yale University. The Hunt Prize seeks to encourage writers under the age of 45 who employ a Catholic imagination in their writing. The award, established in 2014, is named for Rev. George Hunt, S.J., the longest-tenured editor-in-chief of America magazine. It is made possible through a generous gift of Mr. Fay Vincent Jr. “We congratulate Phil Metres on receiving this wonderful honor, and by extension, bringing honor to John Carroll,” Jeanne Colleran, Ph.D., provost and academic vice president, said. “Phil has made extraordinary contributions to JCU: his innovative teaching crosses the fields of American Literature, Creative Writing, and Peace, Justice, and Human Rights. He has mentored countless students. He is an esteemed scholar. But most of all, his poetic voice is unique in American letters for its combination of social conscience, formal complexity, and eloquence. We are most fortunate to have him in our community." “Philip Metres’ work encapsulates both the breadth and spirit of the Hunt Prize,” said Matt Malone, S.J., president and editor in chief of America Media. “His poetry, literature and translations are infused with a deep sense of justice and concern for others, the kind of graceful sympathy that characterized George Hunt’s writing.” Metres will be awarded a $25,000 prize at a reception to be held at the Saint Thomas More Chapel and Center in September, where he will also deliver an original lecture that will be published as the cover story in a subsequent issue of America magazine. Metres has written a number of books, including “A Concordance of Leaves” (2013), “abu ghraib arias” (2011), “Ode to Oil” (2011), “To See the Earth” (Cleveland State 2008), “Behind the Lines: War Resistance Poetry on the American Homefront since 1941” (University of Iowa Press, 2007), “Instants” (a chapbook, Ugly Duckling Presse, 2006), “Primer for Non-Native Speakers” (a chapbook, Kent State 2004), “Catalogue of Comedic Novelties: Selected Poems of Lev Rubinstein” (Ugly Duckling 2004), and “A Kindred Orphanhood: Selected Poems of Sergey Gandlevsky” (Zephyr 2003).