Trinity English Student Wins International Literary Prize

Posted on: 28 September 2010

School of English student Fionnuala Barrett has won the 2010 international Emory Elliott Memorial Prize, organised by the Literary Encyclopedia, for her essay To what extent is it helpful to understand ‘A Modest Proposal’ as a reflection on Swift’s perception of his failure to effect real economic or political change by means of his Irish writings 1720-1728?  Fionnuala beat off strong international competition from undergraduate students at Goldsmiths College, London; University College, London; and Harvard University to win the prize. 

The winning essay was praised by the judges as “an extraordinarily well-informed and astute reading of Swift’s Irish Tracts in their historical and biographical context, which produces an entirely new and persuasive reading of A Modest Proposal.  It is also written with elegance, concision and great argumentative force.”  Speaking about the award, Professor Ian Campbell Ross, Professor of Eighteenth-Century Studies, who taught the sophister option Jonathan Swift: in his age and ours, for which the essay was written, said: “Even on a sophister course that produced much first-class assessment work, Fionnuala Barrett’s essay was outstanding, entirely deserving of first prize in this international competition.”

The Literary Encyclopedia is an authoritative collection of specially commissioned articles written by scholarly expert in their fields.  It addresses literary works, writers, cultural movements and historical events around the world.  Its interactive features enable the user to place literature within its historical context in innovative ways.  The full list of prize winners can be seen on the Literary Encyclopedia website.