Spartanburg Methodist College Professor of English, Dr. Jill Coyle, recently won the Emrys Poetry Award presented by the Hub City Writers Group for her piece entitled “Walker Creek.”

Ms. Marjory Wentworth, poet laureate of South Carolina, served as judge for the competition.  She said of Coyle’s poem, “I admire everything about this poet. The attention to specific image detail is superb and reminds me of Elizabeth Bishop’s work. The poems are beautifully crafted; there isn’t a spare syllable. What an accomplishment.”

Coyle earned her PhD in Classical Studies from Duke University and her MA in English from N.C. State University. Her poems have appeared in Blueline, Avocet, Main Street Rag, and Pinesong.

Through providing workshops to enhance writing skills, offering symposia for writers to present their work and awarding scholarships and fellowships, the Emrys Foundation nurtures creativity among emerging and established writers, seeks to expand the impact of the literary arts, and collaborates across a variety of art forms to give voice to the written word.

As a result of her award, Coyle, of Travelers Rest, will receive a scholarship to the week-long Wildacres Writers Workshop in Little Switzerland, N.C. in July. The SMC Division of English hosted a reading of Dr. Coyle’s original poetry in Ellis Hall on April 24.