Beowulf scholar to receive book award
<p>ASU English Professor Robert Bjork will receive the 2009 Best Edition Award by the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists (with R.D. Fulk and John D. Niles) for "<a href="http://www.utppublishing.com/pubstore/merchant.ihtml?pid=9023&step=… Beowulf and the Fight at Finnsburg</a>," 4th edition, also known as "Klaeber 4."</p><separator></separator><p>Bjork, a professor in ASU's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, is director of the Arizona Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies.</p><separator></separator><p>In the words of the publication prize committee: "This book was judged by the committee to exemplify the very highest standards of the profession, and to qualify as the ‘best edition (in any medium) of an Anglo-Saxon (Latin or vernacular) text,' which appeared in print between the ISAS conference in London in 2007 and the ISAS conference in Newfoundland in 2009.... It will come as no surprise to any of you, I hope, that the committee's decision was virtually spontaneous and required no debate and practically no discussion. Klaeber 4 is already a legendary accomplishment that will exert a powerful influence on Beowulf studies for years to come. In precision and detail and accessibility and command of an enormously vast and complex subject, the book is first-rate, and it is a pleasure to work with."</p><separator></separator><p>The award will be officially announced and presented July 31 at the general membership meeting of the International Society of Anglo-Saxonists conference in Newfoundland.</p>