The Pinto Carver Essay Contest

Pinto Carver Essay Topic 2026

 

The Topic, courtesy of former LAH director, Larry Carver:

I first encountered and fell in love with the prose of Katherine Rundell from her articles in The London Review of Books, where she serves as a contributing editor. Her prize winning book, Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne, which I have read twice, was published in 2022. Her latest book, Impossible Creatures, was awarded the British Book Award Children’s Fiction Book of the year and best book in England.

Shortly after graduating from St. Catherine’s College, Oxford, in 2008, Rundell successfully applied to become a fellow in English Literature at All Souls College, Oxford. The application process had involved a three-hour written examination on the single word "novelty", and Rundell "wrote about Derridean deconstructionist theory and Christmas crackers…I feel like they might have let me in despite rather than because of it." Her doctoral thesis became the book on Donne. Your application to become a Fellow at All Soul’s College may be a few years away. But in the meantime for the Pinto Carver competition, write an essay on the single word, “novelty.”

Eligibility: Current Liberal Arts Honors First Years (Class of 2029) and Sophomores (Class of 2028).

Specifications: 750 words or less

Awards:

1st Prize: $1500

2nd Prize: $1000

3rd Prize: $500

Honorable Mention: $250

Submission Deadline: Submit your essay through the LASSO scholarship portal by Friday January 23, 2026 at 11:59 pm.

The scholarship committee reserves the right to withhold awards in the absence of prizeworthy essays.

Non Texas Residents who win this or other writing prizes will be considered for out of state tuition waivers.