Mississippi State University Assistant Professor Kemeshia Swanson is this year’s recipient of the Eudora Welty Prize for her new book “Maverick Feminist: To Be Female and Black in a Country Founded upon Violence and Respectability,” a 2024 University Press of Mississippi publication.

Mississippi State University’s Shalyn Claggett, professor of English, is the awardee of the 2024 South Atlantic Modern Language Association Book Award for her publication “Equal Natures: Popular Brain Science and Victorian Women’s Writing” (SUNY Press, 2023). This honor is the most prestigious accolade presented by the association, recognizing scholarly excellence in literary studies and celebrating critical works that further understanding of various aspects of language and culture.

Mississippi State Associate Professor Sol Pelaez is the university’s 2025 Mississippi Humanities Council Teacher of the Year.