Poet wins literary award, and $69,000

Date published: 5/18/2009

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CHESTERTOWN, Md.

Bruce, who graduated yesterday from Washington College, was selected from among 31 students who submitted writings at the Eastern Shore school and receives $68,814.

Bruce's submission included a meditative essay on President Barack Obama's inauguration and an excerpt of a larger nonfiction piece on the Rwandan genocide that incorporated oral testimony from a survivor.

The 21-year-old English major said he plans to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry and will take some time off to decide on which school to attend.

Bruce said he likes to express "moments and ideas in a very specific way" although he aims for the "gray spaces where I'm not really sure what's going on or what's happening." The poet said he is interested in "how complex memories can be, in that not only does one person have a lot of different ways to think about something, but how the opinions of everyone else weigh in on that."

Professor Robert Mooney, who advised Bruce on some of his prose projects, called Bruce "a writer who looks at others with empathy and curiosity. He gives a voice to those who are voiceless."

The prize is given annually to the graduating senior who demonstrates the greatest "ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor." This year's prize is the largest in its history.

The award, which has been presented since 1968, is named for writer Sophie Kerr, a native of the Eastern Shore--which includes parts of Maryland, Delaware and Virginia--who used the region as the backdrop for most of her writing. She wrote 23 novels and more than 100 stories and left more than $500,000 to the college when she died in 1965.

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Date published: 5/18/2009