Eleven Hill School students were honored during the annual Alex H. Revell, III '43 Writing Contest awards ceremony, which took place during the Dial Dedication Ceremony on Monday, May 17, 2021. The contest honors the late Alex Revell, a longtime instructor of English at The Hill.

The contest includes four categories: poetry, nonfiction, fiction, and podcasts. The Gardner Prize for Nonfiction is named in memory of Bon Gardner '64, former Hill instructor of English; The Marshall Prize in Poetry is named in honor of Ann Marshall, instructor of English emerita; The Wolff Prize in Fiction is named in honor of Tobias Wolff '64, acclaimed author of the book, Old School, among other short stories and books; and The Benedict Prize for Podcasting is named in honor of Pinckney Benedict '82, author and professor at Southern Illinois University Carbondale.

Marshall Prize for Poetry:

Winner: Johnny Dai '22

Judge and award-winning poet, Michelle Brooks, commented,  “Johnny Dai’s poem titled “Walnut” delights in its subtle juxtaposition of playfulness and gravity about the ways in which our experiences both embody and subvert our expectations.”

Runners Up: Jennie Ki '23 and Portia Sockel '22

Gardner Prize for Nonfiction:

Winner: Tina Wang '22

Judge and awarding-winning novelist, Laura Benedict, said this about Tina’s essay: “The reader is drawn into the scene with the funeral director’s words: an invitation to put paper lotus flowers around her grandmother’s coffin. It’s that invitation that is so striking—he is inviting the child to express her grief, telling her that it is normal, even though she’s fearful. I’m reminded of the classic figure of the boatman on the River Styx. The writer does an excellent job of observing the child through the distance of time, ascribing age-appropriate emotions through the lens of maturity.”

Runners Up: Sophie Harberson '24 and Jennie Ki '23

Wolff Prize for Fiction:

Winner: Julia Weiss '21

Hill alumnus and renowned fiction writer, Pickney Benedict '82, had this to say about Julia’s story: “The canny use of timestamps throughout the manuscript keeps the reader aware of the passage of time and because we are trained to respond to chronological imperatives, successfully increases the tension.”

Runners Up: Tina Wang '22 and Olivia Mofus '22

Benedict Prize for Podcasting

Winner: Samir Khan '21

Judge Pinckney Benedict '82 said: “This podcast feels substantial, by which word I mean that the listener/viewer senses that it’s not just a one-off, a reasonably well-made Zoom interview of the sort with which we’ve become deeply familiar over the last year or so.”

Runners Up: Sophie Harberson '24 and Martin Tran '22