Palamountain Prose Award
About the Competition
The Palamountain Prose Awards annual student writing competition honors the late President Joseph C. Palamountain, Jr., in recognition of his dedication to academic excellence and achievement. Two awards (one for first-year and sophomore submissions, another for junior and senior entries) in the amount of $750 each have been made possible through the generosity of the late Admiral Gene Markey (USNR), whose interest in Saratoga Springs and in writing led him to provide this forum for distinguished writing at Skidmore. The awards are presented at the Honors Convocation after the end of the spring semester.
Entries may be essays on any subject, and may have been written for a specific course in the fall or spring semester or just for this occasion. If the paper was written for a specific course, the Award Committee would appreciate receiving from the nominating faculty member a description of the assignment.
All entries must be nominated by a member of the faculty. Typically, the Committee has awarded this prize to essays that do more than successfully fulfill an assignment. These essays speak to a larger audience than the writer’s classmates or instructor; they are notable for a strong voice and sense of literary style. The committee reserves the right to choose two prize papers from one category, i.e., first-year/sophomore or junior/senior, or to confer only one award from either category.