Work by Associate Professor of English Mary Unger wins Award for Outstanding Essay

Mary Unger, associate professor of English and chair of the department, has been honored for a recent essay.

“The Book Circle: Black Women Readers and Middlebrow Taste in Chicago, 1943-1953,” is the winner of the 2020 David D. Anderson Award for Outstanding Essay in Midwestern Literary Studies from the Society for the Study of Midwestern Literature. The society supports the study and dissemination of work in Midwestern literature, art, film and scholarly study. The David D. Anderson Award recognizes a scholarly article that makes a substantial contribution to exploring ideas, authors and places related to Midwestern literature.

Unger’s essay was judged as “the most compelling, not least because of the way it articulates the goals and legacies of Midwestern black readership,” said Dr. Andy Oler, president of the society.

Unger also is managing editor of Legacy: A Journal of American Women Writers.