Joan Lee Yang Memorial Poetry Prize
Description. The Joan Lee Yang Memorial Poetry Prize is awarded for the best poem or group of poems. Both graduates and undergraduates may apply. For complete information read the General Rules.
Prize Amounts. A prize of $250 will be awarded to the best undergraduate poem or group of poems. A prize of $250 will also be awarded for the best graduate poem or group of poems. Federal financial aid regulations require that all awards received by a student can not exceed their financial aid need as determined by a congressional formula. It is possible, therefore, that the cash award for a prize could reduce some component of a needy student’s package of financial aid awards. In these cases, the Financial Aid and Scholarships Office attempts first to reduce loan or work aid; fellowships, grants, or scholarships are only reduced as a last resort.
Deadline. Submissions must be hand-delivered by the author to the Undergraduate Scholarships, Prizes, and Honors Office, 220 Sproul Hall, no later than 4 p.m on December 1. The author's name must not appear on the entry.
History of the Prize. The Joan Lee Yang Memorial Poetry Prize was established in memory of Joan Lee Yang, who was a sophomore at UC Berkeley when she was killed in San Francisco while returning home from a bicycle ride in Golden Gate Park on Easter Sunday in 1969. A member of Mensa and Who’s Who of American High School Students in 1967-68, she was brilliant yet extremely modest. She loved music, mathematics, and cooking, and had developed a fierce love of poetry. Ms. Yang believed in nonviolence and advocated peaceful means of resolving disputes. In support of the Third World, she attended classes off-campus. Only 18 when she died, she lives forever in the hearts of her parents and sisters, her friends, and her teachers whom she trusted and respected affectionately.
2010-11: 34 entries; Rachel Trocchio, graduate winner ($500); Jenny (Yi ) Xie, Andrew David King and Abram Coetsee, undergraduate winners ($500 each)
2009-10: 40 entries; Sohir Albgal, Kayla Krut, Gillian Osborne and Jared Sandusky-Alford ($375 each)
2008-09: 32 entries; Steven Lance and Gillian Osborne ($750 each)
2007-08: 22 entries; Beatrix Chan and Sam Pittman ($250 each)
2006-07: 27 entries; Graduate winner: Hillary Gravendyk ($250); Undergraduate winner: Pablo Lopez ($250)
2005-06: 51 entries; Elizabeth Marie Young and Julie Carr ($250 each)
2004-05: 47 entries; first prize: Jennifer Scappettone ($200), second prizes awarded to Matthew Werner and Harmony Holiday ($150 each)
2003-04: 51 entries; Elizabeth Marie Young ($500)
2002-03: 26 entries; Trane DeVore ($500)
2001-02: 32 entries; Warren Liu ($500)
2000-01: 28 entries; Dana Stevens ($500), John Rauschenberg ($300), Nadia Nurhussein ($200) Ellen Samuels ($200)
1999-00: 36 entries; first prize awarded to Jasmine Donahaye ($300); second prizes awarded to Jessica Fisher and Ellen Samuels ($200 each); third prizes awarded to Sandra Lim, Sarah Liu and Mandy Kahn ($100 each)
1998-99: 55 entries; first prizes awarded to Kimberly Johnson, Sandra Lim, and Dana Stevens ($400 each)
1997-98: 45 entries; first prizes awarded to Sandra Lim and Damion Searls ($375 each); finalist prize awarded to Nadia Nurhussein ($150)