Kenwood High Grad Named Sophie Kerr Prize Finalist

MacKenzie Brady, a 2017 graduate of Kenwood High School and a senior at Washington College, is one of only six 2021 finalists for the Sophie Kerr Prize in literature, worth $65,580 this year.

The winner of the nation’s largest undergraduate literary prize will be announced on Friday, May 21, at 7:30 p.m. during a ceremony livestreamed on YouTube. The prize is awarded each year to the Washington College graduating senior demonstrating the greatest literary promise.

“The achievements of our graduates bring honor to and reflect the strengths of our schools,” said Baltimore County Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Darryl L. Williams. “We will be listening for MacKenzie Brady’s name to be called on Friday, and we look forward to her literary endeavors.”

Brady, an English and studio art major at Washington College, is editor-in-chief of the student newspaper, The Elm; poetry editor for the student literary and arts magazine, Collegian; managing editor of the student journal of liberal arts and sciences, Washington College Review; president of Writers’ Union; a poetry screener for the national literary journal, Cherry Tree; and a member of the National English Honor Society, Sigma Tau Delta.

Brady’s portfolio contains poems, flash fiction, and essays. Last year, Brady participated in a summer journalism experience, funded by the Harwood Journalism Endowment Fund, at the Kent County News. After graduation, she will join the newspaper staff as a reporter, with plans to pursue a Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry.