Five Students Receive the 2024 Roy Crane Award for Their Achievements in Literary Arts

The Roy Crane Award for Outstanding Achievement in the Arts has been given to two students in the performing arts category. The award rotates annually between performing, literary, and visual arts, and all undergraduate and graduate students at UT Austin from any major or area of study may compete for the award.

This year 57 applications were submitted. Awardee portfolios included written pieces from both undergraduate and graduate students.

2024 Roy Crane Award recipients:

Poetry Category

Winner: Gavin Gao

Graduate Student, Writing

• Gavin’s portfolio included a total of 5 poems: “Itinerant”, “At the Subway Station”, “In the Dreamers’ Orchard”, “Ode to Sleep”

Semi-finalist: Kyle Okeke

Graduate Student, Creative Writing

• Kyle’s portfolio included a total of 5 poems: “Sugar Land, Texas”, “Butterfly Weed”, “In the Image of God”, “Voices in the Soil”, and “BLACK OUT”

Semi-finalist: Chae Christy

Undergraduate student (Sophomore), Psychology

• Chae’s portfolio included at total of 7 poems: “Self-Loathing, as in Chicken”, “COMMIT ME”, ‘The Newfangled Suffragist”, “Cherry Menthol Cult”, “Dull Knives Still Kill”, “To Anger Gods and Sleep with Spirits”, and “Twisting Silver, Twisting Nylon”

Fiction Category

Graduate Winner: Sam Parrish

Graduate Student, Russian, East European and Eurasian Studies

• Sam’s Portfolio included 2 works: “Braids” and “A Wonderful World”

Undergraduate Winner: Sruthi Keerthipati

Undergraduate Student (Senior), Plan II Honors Program

• Sruthi’s Portfolio included a piece titled “Death to Sucrose”

To be considered for the award a student must submit an application and a portfolio.

The 2025 Roy Crane Award will be given in the Visual Arts. Click here for more information.