The Gosnell Prize commemorates and celebrates the life of first-year student Brett Gosnell, who passed away in August 2006 after a three-year battle with cancer. During his cherished year here, Brett enjoyed and thrived in his ENWR class with our former colleague Jill Rappoport, demonstrating a gift for and love of writing. The Gosnell family established this prize to honor Brett’s experience.
ENWR instructors can nominate any outstanding essays produced for a first-year writing class. Instructors may nominate more than one essay, but each nominated essay should display excellence in argumentation, style, and creativity. Instructors should advise and supervise the revision of nominated essays, just as they would help a student prepare any essay for the student’s final portfolio. This assistance and inspiration are precisely what meant so much to Brett during his ENWR class with Jill and what his family wishes to reward and remember in the form of the prize.
Past Winners:
| Year | Winner | Instructor | Essay |
| 2024 | Leo Dzema | Devin Donovan | “The Fear of Falling.” |
| 2024 | Baijun Zhang | Kate Kostelnik | “Calligraphy, Imagination and Dual Identities.” |
| 2023 | Ben Bressette | Gahl Pratt Pardes | "The Myth of the Golden Ticket" |
| 2022 | Daniel Freed | Jessica Walker | "Making Weight" |
| 2021 | Caroline Tyndall | Shalmi Barman | "The Story I Found in a Plotless Ballet" |
| 2021 | Hailey Robbins | Maayan Ornath | "Bottle People" |
| 2020 | Britney Cheung | Natalie Thompson | "To Paint a Memory" |
| 2019 | Lindsey Porter | Indu Ohri | "An Economic System More Paranormal than Supernatural Children" |
| 2018 | Anna Warner | Julia Fisher | "An Ode to Photography" |
| 2017 | William Hamilton | Hilary Holliday | "The Southhampton Massacre" |
| 2016 | Fiona Geiran | Theresa Kim | "How I Feel When I Think About Eight-Year-Old Me” |