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JACKSON, Tenn. — Nov. 1, 2012 — 51���� English professor Bobby Rogers won the Arlin G. Meyer Prize in Imaginative Writing for his poetry book, “Paper Anniversary.”

“The Arlin G. Meyer Prize does important work recognizing Christian literary artists,” Rogers said. “The list of previous winners is an impressive one, and I’m thrilled to be on it.”

The award is given by the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts based at Valparaiso University, a program that seeks to strengthen the quality and shape the character of church-related institutions of higher learning. It is presented biennially to a full-time faculty member from a college or university in the Lilly Fellows Program’s national network.

The $3,000 prize honors Arlin G. Meyer, professor emeritus of English at Valparaiso University, who served as program director of the Lilly Fellows Program in Humanities and the Arts from its inception in 1991 until his retirement in 2002.

“Paper Anniversary” was published in 2010 as a result of Rogers winning the 2009 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize Competition from the University of Pittsburgh Press. The book is a collective work of 34 poems written over a 10-year span, mostly about families and the South.

“This is just a little more evidence that Union is an excellent place for students to come study creative writing,” Rogers said. “Every professor in the English department is doing work that embodies the ethos of this award.”