WHEELING, WV, Feb. 18, 2009 - Wheeling Jesuit University senior Jenna Derrico earned top honors for her efforts at the 17th Annual West Virginia Undergraduate Literature Symposium held on Saturday, Feb. 14 at West Virginia University.

Her paper, "'Based on a True Story': The Leeway and Limits of Literary Memoir" examines the aesthetic and ethical responsibilities of creative writers working in literary memoir. The paper she presented is a significant reduction of the senior thesis she wrote to complete her bachelor's in English this past fall, which studied memoirs by recent author of dubious acclaim, James Frey “A Million Little Pieces,” and established author Dave Eggers, “A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.”

(At left are Jenna Derrico and professor John Whitehead, who directed her thesis.)

An English literature major with a psychology minor, Derrico received an honorarium of $100 for her scholarly efforts. She will present her winning paper again at Wheeling Jesuit's upcoming Student Research Day on April 7, which is open to the public.

A native of Canonsburg, Pa., she graduated from Canon-McMillan High School and is the daughter of Cynthia and Jeffrey Derrico of Canonsburg, Pa. Derrico is also a Laut Scholar at the university, having received a full scholarship based upon a competitive in-coming student testing program held annually every January at Wheeling Jesuit.

Post-commencement, Derrico has plans to serve in the Jesuit Volunteer International for a two-year commitment when she graduates in May, with the potential of law or graduate school in the future.

Taking place at WVU's Mountainlair, the daylong Undergraduate Literature Symposium got its start on the campus of Wheeling Jesuit University in the early 1990s when now-retired English professor Paul Orr and current English professor Joe Brumble, agreed that their students needed an opportunity to meet and present their senior essays to other English majors.

For the past 15 years, the literature symposium has been sponsored by the West Virginia University Department of English and the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences.

This year the symposium featured a total of 17 papers from students at four schools. The keynote address at the luncheon delivered by Professor Kayode Ogunfolabi of West Virginia University, was entitled "Fictionalizing the Crisis of the Environment in Ben Okri's 'The Famished Road' and 'Songs of Enchantment.'"