Oxford Kafka Research Centre Prize 2024

We are delighted to congratulate the joint winners of the Oxford Kafka Research Centre Prize 2024!

Winning essays:

Ciara Beale - ‘Beyond the individual. Discuss the role and depiction of groups and collectives in Kafka's fictional and/or personal writings.’

Violet McKinney - ‘Beyond Kafka. How do Kafka's stories chime with the works of other writers and/or creative artists, either contemporary to him or working afterwards?’

About the winners: 

Ciara Beale has just finished her undergraduate degree in English and German at Oxford and begins her Master’s in German back in Oxford in October. Her interests in German literature are quite broad, but she particularly loves poetry from Romanticism to the late 20th century, and modernist and postmodern fiction. About her essay she explains:‘I find Kafka extraordinarily funny and have spent a lot of time trying to figure out why this is the case. Writing about Kafka’s groups and collectives was one attempt: his individuals are presented with a group voice which bears no relation to logic as we understand it, but, faced with the majority, they have to just go with the flow.’

Violet McKinney has just finished her second year at the University of Bristol studying Comparative Literatures and Cultures and German. She loves learning about culture and language, and is very interested in literary translation. Violet explains that ‘As a student of Comp Lit, the idea of comparing a Kafka work with a modern novel was instantly attractive, especially considering the universality and openness of interpretation that underpins so much of Kafka. I also wanted to hopefully encourage people to read Isabel Waidner!’

Runners-up:

Alastair McLelland – ‘Beyond the human. Discuss the role of animals and/or other non-human agents (including objects) in Kafka’s writings.’

Guy Griffiths – ‘Beyond Prague. Explore the role of travel and/or non-European locations in Kafka’s fiction.’

Highly commended:

Archie Turner – ‘Beyond the individual. Discuss the role and depiction of groups and collectives in Kafka’s fictional and/or personal writings.’

Duoya Li – ‘ Beyond Prague: the role of travel in Kafka’s fiction.’

Edward Gill – ‘Beyond Kafka. How do Kafka's stories chime with the works of other writers and/or creative artists, either contemporary to him or working afterwards?’

Emma Hinde – ‘Beyond the individual. Discuss the role and depiction of groups and collectives in Kafka's fictional and/or personal writings.’

Susan Justham Bello – ‘Beyond the human. Discuss the role of animals and/or other non-human agents (including objects) in Kafka’s writings.’