The Glendon English Department is proud to announce that our student, Brenda Martinez Castro, is the winner of the Odessa Prize competition for 2021-2022. The Odessa Prize was originally established through the generosity of York alumnus Irvin Studin, and the competition seeks to reward the best paper written in a fourth-year course at York University during the past academic year. Brenda won the competition with her essay entitled And food was the dead giveaway: The Metaphor of Food in What We All Long For that she wrote for Dr. Lee Frew’s course “Writing Toronto” (EN4643 3.0) offered by the Glendon English program.

In its citation, the prize committee writes:

“This is a well written and well-argued paper. This essay is highly original since it deals with a commodity, food. However, food is more than a commodity. In her sophisticated analysis, Brenda Martinez Castro explores the connections between food (its preparation and consumption), Canadian multiculturalism, and negotiations of identity and belonging among first- and second-generation immigrants in the diaspora. Members of the award committee want to congratulate the award winner.”

Congratulations, Brenda!