Alumnus Philip J. Metres III Selected as Inaugural Recipient of Hunt Prize for Excellence in Journalism, Arts & Letters

College of the Holy Cross alumnus Philip J. Metres III ’92, professor of English at John Carroll University, is featured in America Magazine as the recipient of the inaugural George W. Hunt, S.J. Prize for Excellence in Journalism, Arts & Letters.

An established author and poet, Metres was selected for the award by the boards of trustees of America Media and the Saint Thomas More Chapel and Center at Yale University. His writing – which has appeared widely, including in Best American Poetry – has been called “beautiful, powerful, magnetically original.”

After graduating from Holy Cross, he spent the following year in Russia on a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship, pursuing an independent project called “Contemporary Russian Poetry and Its Response to Historical Change.” Since receiving a Ph.D. in English and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Indiana University in 2001, Metres has written a number of books, including his most recent, Sand Opera (2015).

In 2014, the Hunt  Prize was created through a generous gift from Fay Vincent, Jr., a long-time, cherished friend of the late Fr. George Hunt, S.J., the longest –tenured editor-in-chief of America Magazine. In September, Metres will be awarded a $25,000 prize at a reception at the Saint Thomas More Chapel and Center where he will deliver an original lecture. The lecture will be published as the cover story in a subsequent issue of America Magazine.

“Philip Metres’ work encapsulates both the breadth and the spirit of the Hunt Prize,” said Father Malone, S.J., president and editor-in- chief of America Media. “His poetry, literature, and translations are infused with a deep sense of justice and concern for others, the kind of graceful sympathy that characterized George Hunt’s writing.”

Read the full article in America Magazine.

This “Holy Cross in the News” item by Kelly Ethier.