Special Collections & Archives recently sponsored the Hallman Writing Scholarship Prize (funded by a private donor) for Wake Forest University undergraduates who are interested in writing. Candidates submitted essays in the fall and submissions were reviewed anonymously by Wake Forest writing faculty. We extend our sincere thanks to everyone who participated.

We are pleased to announce the winner is Grace Jones, a junior at Wake Forest University. Grace was selected for her essay, “Mother Goose and the King.”

Born and raised in Memphis, Tennessee, Grace Jones graduated from St. Mary’s Episcopal School in the spring of 2023 and enrolled in Wake Forest University the following fall. Her high school teachers fostered her love for the humanities and encouraged her to declare a double major in English and Spanish. In the fall of her junior year, Grace spent a very memorable semester in Salamanca, Spain where she passed four months learning about Spanish culture and language. Upon returning to campus, she declared an additional minor in education spurred by her experiences interning in a school in Salamanca. Over the course of her time at Wake Forest, Grace became involved with several organizations on campus including Reformed University Fellowship, Wake ‘N Shake, club lacrosse, and Jam for Janey.

Grace’s winning essay will be published online in the near future, and a special cataloged edition will be added to Special Collections. This edition will be housed in a unique enclosure created by Preservation Librarian Craig Fansler.

For more information about Edwin Hallman, for whom the scholarship is named, please see his memorial website.