KU News Release

KU English student wins Norton Scholar’s Prize for essay on ‘Coriolanus’

LAWRENCE — William Shakespeare’s words have become ingrained in the English language — all the world’s a stage, it’s Greek to me, to be or not to be, to thine own self be true.

But one word that hasn’t caught on — has never even been used — has earned a University of Kansas senior a national honor.

Garth Kimbrell, an English major from Wichita, is the recipient of the 2006 Norton Scholar’s Prize for his essay on Shakespeare’s play “Coriolanus.” The prize is awarded annually for an outstanding undergraduate essay on a literary topic and comes with a cash award of $2,500. Nearly 200 students from colleges and universities nationwide entered the competition this year.

Kimbrell’s essay began as a class assignment. David Bergeron, professor of English at KU, asked his students last spring to write a critical essay on a Shakespeare play they had not discussed in class. Kimbrell chose “Coriolanus,” one of Shakespeare’s later plays that focuses on the legendary Roman leader.

As he studied the play, Kimbrell’s attention was caught by the word “directitude.” He titled his essay “ ‘Directitude? What’s That?’: A Verbal Blunder and Unstable Identity in Coriolanus.”

“I looked in the Shakespeare concordance and found ‘Coriolanus’ was the only play where the word occurs,” Kimbrell said. “I checked the Oxford English Dictionary, and no one else had ever used the word. Under Professor Bergeron’s guidance, I looked into the Variorum edition of the play to see what former editors of the play thought of the word. Most thought it was a printer’s error, but this was debated. From there I began to develop my own ideas on the word, relating it to problems of identity.”

Bergeron said he was struck by the quality of the writing and imagination displayed in Kimbrell’s work. Kimbrell had never studied Shakespeare in depth before.

“I thought that this essay was so extraordinary that we had additional discussions about it, and the idea of submitting it to the Norton competition came into my mind. Garth agreed, met the specific requirements for submission and the rest is history, as they say,” said Bergeron.

Kimbrell was notified that he had won the prize a few days before Thanksgiving break at KU.

“I was a bit surprised to learn it had won and pleased,” he said. “I did not really expect to win, but I had confidence in the quality of the work.”

Kimbrell has won other awards for critical writing from the Department of English, a Nelson Humanities Scholarship from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and an Undergraduate Research Award. He is the son of Tom and Doris Kimbrell and a graduate of Wichita East High School.

After graduation, Kimbrell plans to attend graduate school.

“This is a major coup and achievement not only for Garth Kimbrell but also for the English department and KU,” said Bergeron.

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