Faculty Excellence
Faculty Book Awards
LITERARY & CREATIVE ACHIEVEMENT
English: Creative Writing
Raz-Schumaker 2025 Prairie Schooner Book Prize
Micah Dean Hicks · English
Vulture Gold
~ Winner of the 2025 Raz-Schumaker Prairie Schooner Book Prize for his manuscript
Vulture Gold. Published by University of Nebraska Press in 2026.
Publisher page | Prairie Schooner Announcement
PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry
Natalie Scenters-Zapico · English
The Verging Cities
~ Winner of the PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award for Poetry, alongside the Great Lakes Colleges Association New Writers Award and Utah Book Award
in Poetry.
Publisher page -- University of Colorado Press | USF faculty biography
Cave Cannon Poetry Prize
Ajibola Tolase · English
2000 Blacks
~ Winner of the 2024 Cave Canem Poetry Prize and Gold Medal in Poetry from the 2024 Florida Book Awards.
Publisher page — University of Pittsburgh Press | USF CAS award announcement
Florida Book Award
Julia Koets · English
PINE
~ Winner of a 2022 Florida Book Award and a 2022 American Book Fest Best Book Award.
Publisher page | USF faculty biography
Florida Book Awards — Poetry
Heather Sellers · English
Field Notes from the Flood Zone
~ Winner of the 2022 Florida Book Awards Bronze Medal in Poetry.
Publisher page | USF CAS award announcement
Lambda Literary Award Finalist
Julia Koets · English
The Rib Joint: A Memoir in Essays
~ Finalist for a Lambda Literary Award, recognizing excellence in LGBTQ+ literature and Red Hen Press Nonfiction award winner.
Publisher page -- Red Hen Press | Julia Koets’s author website