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A poet, author and educator, English Professor Sandra Lim was recently named the 2023 UMass Lowell Distinguished University Professor.
The annual award honors selected professors for exemplary teaching, research and service to the university. It is the highest accolade bestowed on a UMass Lowell faculty member.
“This honor is a vote of confidence for the study of imaginative language and narrative art,” said Lim, a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and the University of California Berkley. “This recognition impels me in my own work and inspires me to think afresh about ways to bring my students into the electrifying life of a poem.”
Recognized for dedication to her craft and excellence in the classroom, Lim stands out among her peers, said Chancellor Julie Chen.
“Sandra not only sees the world differently, collecting her observations in beautiful verse, she takes her students on that journey and teaches them to view their surroundings with a keen eye as well,” said Chen. “The university is extremely lucky to call her one of our own and we look forward to the many ways in which she will continue to enrich our community.”
In his letter nominating Lim for the honor, English Professor Jonathan Silverman wrote, “In a university, college and department with brilliant scholars, writers, and teachers, [Lim’s] work stands out in its recognition not only among poets and creative writers but in the university at large.
Lim’s published works include three books of poetry—a “The Curious Thing,” “The Wilderness” and “Loveliest Grotesque.” Her poems have appeared in a range of magazines and literary journals, including The New York Review of Books, Poetry, The New Republic, The Baffler, The Yale Review and The New York Times Magazine.
Earlier this year, Lim was recognized with the 2023 Jackson Poetry Prize by Poets & Writers Magazine. The award does not accept applications and is bestowed by prior winners and fellow poets. Her other honors include a 2021 Guggenheim Fellowship, an American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature, the Levis Reading Prize for The Wilderness, a Pushcart Prize, as well as residency fellowships from MacDowell, the Vermont Studio Center and the Getty Foundation.