Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award
The annual Vázquez-Valarezo Poetry Award is sponsored by Dr. Jeanneth Vázquez, professor of Spanish, and the Women's and Gender Studies program.
In addition to recognizing excellence, the award is designed to encourage student poets to submit their work for consideration. Entries are judged on the basis of originality, creative imagination, characterization and artistic quality.
The award is named in honor of two educators, the late Honorato Vazquez and the late Angelica Valarezo, writers who worked in the field of education in Ecuador for 35 years.
"My parents were a source of great inspiration to me," Dr. Vázquez said. "They were reading poetry to me even before I was able to read and write. I could not think of a better way of honoring their memory than naming the award after them."