Poetry contest

Undergraduate English majors take top honors in statewide poetry contest



Photo submitted

Addison Mahaffey

The Arkansas Poets Roundtable has announced the winners of its statewide 2020 Jeanie Dolan Carter Collegiate Poetry Contest. Addison Mahaffey and Anna Beth Lane, both from the Honors Program in the English Department of the J. Willliam Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, won 1st and 2nd place respectively for their poetry.

Mahaffey won 1st place for his poem “Not Your Fault, Son, No Orange”. Mahaffey, a senior citizen is from Fayetteville, and his writings have been published in Crab fat magazine, mountain of glassand Watershed review. She is currently working on her honors thesis, a collection of poems and stories about youth and the influence of southern spaces. After graduating this fall, Addison plans to pursue a master’s degree in creative writing.

Portrait of Anna Beth LaneLane won 2nd place for his poem “Permanent”. Lane’s English major includes a concentration in creative writing and a minor in cultural anthropology. She is interested in cross-cultural dynamics, having done internships in non-profit organizations and lived with host families in Rwanda, Israel, Palestine and Philadelphia. She plans to pursue a graduate program in her major or minor field of study.

The Arkansas Poets Roundtable is the state’s oldest nonprofit poetry organization, established in 1931 to encourage the art of poetry.

About the J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences: The J. William Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences is the largest and most diverse unit on campus with three schools, 16 departments, and more than 43 academic programs and research centers. The college provides the core curriculum for all University of Arkansas students and is named after J. William Fulbright, a former college president and longtime U.S. Senator.

About the Specialized College: Established in 2002, the University of Arkansas Honors College helps the university’s top undergraduate students excel academically, grow personally, and discover a world of opportunity. Each year, the Honors College awards up to 90 freshman scholarships that provide $72,000 over four years and more than $1 million in undergraduate research and study abroad scholarships. The Honors College is nationally recognized for the high caliber of students it admits and graduates. Honors students benefit from small, in-depth courses and programs are offered in all disciplines, tailored to students’ academic interests, with cross-disciplinary collaborations encouraged. Fifty percent of Honors College graduates have studied abroad, and 100 percent of them have engaged in supervised research.