Wagner College English Professor Ann Hollinshead Hurley has won the 2008 John Donne Society Award for Distinguished Publication for her book, “John Donne’s Poetry and Early Modern Visual Culture” (Selinsgrove, Pa.: Susquehanna University Press, 2005).

 

The prize, considered the top award for academic publishing in its field, was announced at the 24th John Donne Society Conference in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

 

The John Donne Society Award recognizes Professor's Hurley's book as “distinguished” in that “it make[s] a significant contribution to Donne studies,” according to the prize committee’s criteria. In any given year, the award may be earned by a book, an article, or one of each; but those selected are “not just the best book or article of the year,” according to Donne Society President Theresa DiPasquale. “We do not have to give the award at all if we decide nothing is sufficiently distinguished.”

 

This is the first time the prize has been awarded since 2005.

 

“John Donne’s Poetry and Early Modern Visual Culture” links the writing of the 17th century English poet to the “visual culture” of his day — not just the painting and sculpture, but the whole pattern of imagery common to Donne’s culture. The chapters are in roughly chronological order. In her book, Professor Hurley asserts that Donne’s handling of the materials of visual culture in his verse suggests both a wariness about that visual culture and an attentiveness to its place and potential, both practically and politically.

 

Ann Hurley earned her bachelor’s degree from Wellesley College, her master’s from Brown University, and her Ph.D. from SUNY Albany. Among her academic interests are Early Modern studies, the intersections of literature with the visual arts and visual culture, 17th century non-dramatic literature, Donne studies, women writers of the 17th century, and the study of rare books and manuscripts.