Samyak Shertok, a Hughes Fellow in Creative Writing from 2022-2024, has been awarded the prestigious Donald Hall Prize for Poetry, a remarkable recognition within the poetry community. This national award, which is part of the Association of Writers & Writing Program’s Award Series, celebrates exceptional emerging poets, and Samyakâs achievement is a testament to the creative talent nurtured here at SMU. Samyak’s winning book No Rhododendron will be published by the University of Pittsburgh Press and was described by prize judge Kimiko Hahn as “a species of magic […] an elegant and sophisticated collection that is full of hybridity in form and subject.”