The Jimmy Gauntt Memorial Award
The award is designed to recognize outstanding graduating seniors who have majored in English at USC and demonstrated an interest in the arts. It was founded in 2009 by Professor David Román, a Professor in the Departments of English and American Studies & Ethnicity, in honor of his former student, Jimmy Gauntt, who majored in English and died tragically in 2008. Please consider making a
donation in support of USC’s multi-talented English majors.
News & Announcements
by The Jimmy Gauntt Award
2011 Recipients
I started writing when it occurred to me that I could write a much better mystery for the Boxcar Children than their author Gertrude Chandler Warner. My story involved vengeful ghosts and a near fatal fall from a cliff, and sadly remains unfinished. I started writing because I love reading, and I have loved reading […]
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by The Jimmy Gauntt Award
2011 Recipients
While at USC I began work on a chapbook entitled “Bending Buttons” which is written in imitation of and in response to Gertrude Stein’s “Tender Buttons,” a collection of short poems. When I began imitating Stein’s style I felt like a copycat or a thief and was terrified to bring my manuscript in for my […]
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by The Jimmy Gauntt Award
2011 Recipients
“For me, it started with a single story: a brief, overwritten work of fantasy fan-fiction that I suspected was awful even while I wrote it, back in the sixth grade. Remarkably though, the teacher to whom I showed my first story was generous enough to humor me — she took the time to read it, […]
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by The Jimmy Gauntt Award
2011 Recipients
I originally moved to Los Angeles to study film at USC. I would be the greatest storyteller in all of Hollywood! (So I said.) But after about three weeks, I found myself pulled in a different direction. Arriving from a small town in the northern suburbs of California, Los Angeles was like nothing I’d seen. […]
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by The Jimmy Gauntt Award
2010 Recipients
Janet Thielke graduated from Houston, TX’s High School for the Performing and Visual Arts theatre department in 2006. Soon after having a play produced there as part of a student festival, she abandoned a burgeoning career as a classically trained actress for the much more financially secure pursuit of creative writing. While at USC, she […]
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by The Jimmy Gauntt Award
2010 Recipients
I was drawn to USC for many reasons, but two of the most persuasive were its palpably creative atmosphere and its location right in the nerve center of Los Angeles. Over four years, those reasons have remained sturdy. I have grown tremendously as a writer since I arrived. Coached by our writing faculty and rubbing […]
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by The Jimmy Gauntt Award
2010 Recipients
Aliviana Sanders’ first writing project (around the age of 7) was a sequel to the Little House on the Prairie series. However, the project went unfinished and Aliviana turned to other hobbies, focusing mainly on playing different musical instruments. Growing up in the suburbs of Los Angeles, thousands of artistic opportunities were available; she dabbled […]
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by The Jimmy Gauntt Award
2010 Recipients
I was born in Russia, a country with a very strong theatrical tradition, and my parents had always made a point of taking me to as many plays and showing me as many classic movies as possible. As a result my childhood heroes were a Russian actor named Vladimir Visotsky, most famous for his portrayal […]
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by The Jimmy Gauntt Award
2010 Recipients
My name is Zachary Wolf and I am a graduating senior majoring in English with an emphasis on Creative Writing and minoring in the Music Industry. I am truly honored to be one of the five recipients for the first Jimmy Gauntt Memorial Award at USC. My interest in the arts is neither a recent […]
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by The Jimmy Gauntt Award
2011 Recipients
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