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About this Journal

The Best Text Collection is one way the Writing Program (WP) works to highlight and circulate texts created by University of Massachusetts Amherst (UMass Amherst) students for writing courses at all undergraduate levels. Texts are reviewed and prepared for publication by graduate writing instructors, further deepening the WP focus on mentoring teachers of writing on inclusive pedagogical practices by extending these practices to graduate level instruction.

Published annually, each issue presents projects created for any Writing, Identity, & Power (ENGLWRIT111), College Writing (ENGLWRIT112/112H), or Junior Year Writing courses written by current UMass Amherst undergraduate students.

Students interested in submitting their work should visit the WP's Best Text Contest page.

Volume 4 • 2023

111: Writing, Identity, and Power


First Place: Colliding Words

Gloria Joung

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

First Place: Embracing the Literacy: A Celebration of Diversity

Fenghao Yu

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Second Place: My Khichdi Language

Kamalini Balamurugan

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Second Place: Lost In My Own Language: My Relationship With Chinese

Michael Ye

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Third Place: Whispers of A Young Writer: Influence of My First Childhood Novel

Tanush Santosh Deshpande

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Honorable Mention: Two Kinds of Special Languages in Film Studies

Sylvia Chen

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Honorable Mention: The Importance of the Therapy Discourse

Luke Kenawell

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

112/112H: College Writing


First Place: Importance of Intersectionality in Discussions of Menstrual Injustice and Period Poverty in the United States

Olivia Soolman

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Second Place: Black Women Maternal Mortality and Health Disparity Crisis

Tiffany Njugi

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Third Place: Preserving the World’s Truths Letter to the United Nations’ Secretary General

Anna Lin

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Honorable Mention: COVID-19 and Racism: A Dual Pandemic and the Mental Health of Asian American Youth

Nina Lei

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Honorable Mention: Social Media Influences Restrictive Eating Disorders

Rebecca Steere

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Honorable Mention: Trout Fishing in Massachusetts: How to Support Sustainable Fishing

DJ Chase

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

112/112H: Multimodal


First Place: Biomimicry throughout History

Tung Viet Le

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Second Place: Horror Movies Are Vital

Declan Carroll

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Third Place: Gender Expression in Relation to Sexual Assault

Hallie Farmer

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Honorable Mention: The "Evergreen" Hills

Fatima Anjum

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Junior Year Writing


Best Multimodal: Final Consonant Cluster Reduction in African American English

Sophia He

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Best Long: “Call the Midwife”: An Argument Against the Medicalization of Pregnancy and Childbirth

Savni Sarolkar

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Best Short: Foundation Chain

Erica Larsen

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Best Short: Umma

Jennifer Nadig

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023

Editorial Board


2023 Issue Editorial Board

Writing Program Admin

2023-06-21 Volume 4 • 2023