The Jedediah Brownbread, Esq. Award

When ÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï was 10 years old, it was like the Wild West - a freewheeling canal town full of gamblers, counterfeiters, and idle young men who drifted from place to place, looking for work as store clerks. Connecticut-born Samuel Alanson Lane (1815-1905) arrived in ÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï as one of those "counter-jumpers" and soon founded a small four-page newspaper, "The ÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï Buzzard." Ostensibly devoted to cleaning the "filth" off the streets of ÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï, "The Buzzard" attacked vicious and criminal behavior in the voice of Lane's country-bumpkin alter-ego, Jedediah Brownbread, Esq. Brownbread wrote with startling honesty, comical spelling errors, and an abundance of humor. For this, Lane can be regarded as ÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï's first humor writer. Later in life, Lane would serve ÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï as sheriff, editor of the "ÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï Daily Beacon," mayor, and historian.

To honor the humor of ÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï, $100 will be awarded to a student at TÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï who authors the most humorous paper or a paper that best uses or studies humor. Submissions will be limited to works written for University of ÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï courses within the calendar year previous to the call for submissions. A committee of English Department faculty will judge the essays. 

Prize:

• TBD, but historically around $100.

Who can enter:

• Currently enrolled UA undergraduate and graduate students who have authored a humorous paper or a paper that best uses or studies humor. Both academic and creative work will be considered. 

Submission:

• Upload a copy of a humorous paper you have written for a University of ÿÈÕ³Ô¹Ï course within the preceding calendar year.
• The paper must be double-spaced in 12-point font, preferably Times New Roman.
• The document must include your name, email address, and student ID number.
• Save the title of your document in “LAST NAME-Award Title” format (for example, SMITH-Brownbread Award).
• Upload your document in PDF form.
• The submission window is currently closed. It will reopen in Spring 2026.