Stanley A. Galloway, a professor of English at Bridgewater College, has won the 2015 Emyl Jenkins Award from the James River Writers. The annual award is given to a person in Virginia who exhibits “enthusiasm and care for all writers and readers.”
Galloway’s work on the Bridgewater International Poetry Festival was cited as the primary determinant of the award. The poetry festival, which was held in January, drew poets and publishers from around the world to celebrate poetry, creativity and the global exchange of ideas.
The James River Writers noted that the event provided a rich literary community with valuable networking opportunities and allowed contemporary poetry to come alive for students and area residents.
Galloway’s personal attention to the participants was also cited as an “invaluable part of the festival.”
“This award is a lovely surprise, a humbling honor, to know I was chosen from the many, many people across the state that support a literate community,” Galloway said.
Galloway began the Bridgewater International Poetry Festival in 2013 as a way to bring global awareness through poetry to the Bridgewater College campus. The festival runs in alternate years and will convene next in 2017.
“The festival has no keynote speaker,” said Galloway. “The poets each pay their own way to attend and are presented without rank – the closest I can come to poets each receiving equal treatment, from writers who have just begun publication to veterans with a dozen books to credit.”
The festival has an application process for the limited number of speakers.
The award, established to honor the memory of Emyl Jenkins, who passed away in 2010, is given to an outstanding individual who inspires a love of writing and writing education in Virginia.
The Emyl Jenkins Award will be presented to Galloway in Richmond on Oct. 18, as the culminating event of the James River Writers Conference.
Bridgewater College is a private, four-year liberal arts college located in the Central Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Founded in 1880, it was the state’s first private, coeducational college. Today, Bridgewater College is home to more than 1,800 undergraduate students.
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