Ms. Davida Mottram-Epson, a student who has just finished her second year in Liberal Arts at Warwick, has won the award of “Highly Commended" as part of the Greg Wells Prize in the Centre for Renaissance Studies. This competitive prize is open to students from across the university for an essay between 2,000 and 5,000 words on any subject within the scope of Medieval or Renaissance Studies, and recognises undergraduate “scholarly work of outstanding merit, quality, and value” in the field.

Davida’s essay was submitted as an assessment in IP304: Posthumous Geographies I, Underworlds, and nominated for the prize by the module tutor, Dr. Bryan Brazeau. The essay, “Understanding the Sin of Lust in Canto V” focussed on Dante’s presentation of Francesca and Paolo in Inferno V, making a strong argument for Dante’s complex depiction of lust as an externally-rooted desire rather than physical love-making. The prize’s adjudicators noted that the essay made a “clear and direct argument,” that the style was clear and well-organised, and that it was “a pleasure to read.” The prize comes with a monetary award (perhaps to spend on a collectible edition of the Divine Comedy)?

Congratulations, Davida!