Katherine Soniat honored with emeritus status
Katherine T. Soniat, associate professor of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech, was conferred the "associate professor emeritus" title by the Virginia Tech Board of Visitors during the board's quarterly meeting on June 20.
The title of emeritus may be conferred on retired professors and associate professors, administrative officers, librarians, and exceptional staff members who have given exemplary service to the university and who are specially recommended to the board of visitors by Virginia Tech President Charles W. Steger. Nominated individuals who are approved by the board of visitors receive an emeritus certificate from the university.
A member of the Virginia Tech community since 1991, Soniat brought recognition to the university by maintaining a consistent and excellent publishing record in prestigious national journals of literature and art, and by publishing six highly regarded collections of poetry.
A Shared Life won the Iowa Prize and a Virginia Prize for Poetry. Notes of Departure received the Camden Poetry Prize. She is the recipient of two Virginia Commission for the Arts fellowships, a William Faulkner Award, a Jane Kenyon Award, Anne Stanford Award, and a fellowship and scholarship to Bread Loaf Writers Conference. Her work has been published in such journals as TriQuarterly, Gettysburg Review New England Review, Witness, Kenyon Review, The Nation, New Republic and Southern Review.
As a member of the faculty, Soniat contributed to the university literary community by serving on the Creative Writing Committee and by coordinating the Visiting Writers Series. She helped to develop the Master in Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing and taught its first classes of students.
