Cumings, Calista Award
An Akron schoolteacher who taught math with poetry, Calista Cumings created and edited Akron's earliest successful literary magazine, The Akron Offering. Working with limited assistance, inadequate funding, and an inexperienced local publishing industry, she provided a forum for Midwestern authors to exchange original literature in 1849 and 1850. Her magazine only survived for twelve monthly numbers, but Cumings' editorial work, characterized by a "clear head" and a "kind heart," was fondly remembered for many decades.
To honor Calista Cumings, $100 will be awarded to the student at The University of Akron who authors the best scholarly work on American literature before 1900. Submissions will be limited to works written within the calendar year previous to the call for submissions, and a committee of English Department faculty will judge the essays. The winner will be recognized at the annual English Awards Reception.
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