The ALSCW is pleased to announce that Chad Davidson is the winner of the 2016 Meringoff Prize for the essay. Professor Davidson’s “Not Being Original” is an exciting and penetrating exploration of contemporary American self-hood and its relationship to scenic (and tourist oriented) modern Italy. The award includes a cash prize of $2,000 and publication in Literary Matters or Literary Imagination.
Chad Davidson is the author of From the Fire Hills (2014), The Last Predicta (2008), and Consolation Miracle (2003), all from Southern Illinois UP, as well as co-author with Gregory Fraser of the textbook Writing Poetry: Creative and Critical Approaches (Palgrave Macmillan, 2009). He is a professor of literature and creative writing at the University of West Georgia near Atlanta and co-directs Convivio, a summer writing conference in Umbria, Italy.