WKU News

Dr. Sharon Cameron, William R. Kenan Jr. Professor Emerita at Johns Hopkins University, is the recipient of the Robert Penn Warren-Cleanth Brooks Award for literary scholarship and criticism for 2025 for her book The Likeness of Things Unlike: A Poetics of Incommensurability, published by The University of Chicago Press.

The selection committee was impressed with both how serious and interesting Dr. Cameron’s book is, stating that the work is that of a mature and accomplished critic. The readings are concerned with the use of things in texts that are so disparate that they can’t quite be part of a whole, and fraught with tensions that can’t be resolved or transcended. One judge stated that the combination of the interesting collection of works, the fascinating theory used, and the close reading employed makes this book a standout to which she will be returning frequently.

The Warren-Brooks Award is presented each year by the Robert Penn Warren Center at Western Kentucky University. The award was established by the Warren family to honor an outstanding work of literary scholarship that embodies the spirit, scope, and integrity of the work produced by Warren and his frequent collaborator, Brooks.

Contact: Nancy Dinan, rpw.center@wku.edu