EALC is pleased to announce the winners of the 2026 David Holloway Memorial Essay Prize. Prizes are awarded to essays exploring issues of gender in Japanese literature/culture in the categories of Best Undergraduate Essay and Best Graduate Essay. 

The 2026 Best Undergraduate Essay Prize goes to Campbell Clark for her paper "Modernity and Narration of Female Figures in Sanshiro and Naomi."

Morgan Steuck won the 2026 Best Graduate Essay Prize in the MA category for "Submerging into ‘Traditional’ Postwar Japan Gender Role and Expectations in Japan Sinks" and Sadahisa Watanabe in the PhD category for his paper "Misrepresentation of the Gendered Dichotomy: Nagai Kafū’s Translation of Charles Baudelaire’s Poem "Une Charogne"."