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Student From Hunt Valley Wins $62,900 Literary Prize

BALTIMORE (AP) -- A senior at Washington College who grew up in Hunt Valley has been awarded a $62,900 literary prize.

Alexander Vidiani was named the Sophie Kerr winner Friday night on the college's Chestertown campus. It is the nation's largest literary prize for undergraduates.

Vidiani submitted a portfolio with poems about loss, masculinity, fatherhood and other topics. Washington College professors reviewed 25 writing portfolios for the prize.

Vidiani said in a phone interview that he is elated and honored to have been awarded the prize.

In the fall, Vidiani will start the master's program in poetry at the University of Maryland. He says he hopes to eventually earn a Ph.D. and return to Washington College to teach.

The award recognizes a graduating senior at the school who shows literary ability and promise.

(Copyright 2015 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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