May 20, 2010 — Elliott Woods has been recognized with a citation from the Overseas Press Club for his essay, "Hope's Coffin," published in the Virginia Quarterly Review's summer 2009 issue.

The essay focuses on the plight of children growing up in the Gaza Strip. The citation, similar to an honorable mention, comes in the category for "best international reporting in the print medium showing a concern for the human condition," with the winner honored with the Madeline Dane Ross Award.

Virginia Quarterly Review is a literary journal published by the University of Virginia.

Woods, who graduated from the College of Arts & Sciences with a bachelor's degree in English in 2008, worked as a VQR intern while a student. In January 2009, he received a grant from the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting to work in the Gaza Strip.

Woods is a writer and photographer currently living in Palestine, where he works for a humanitarian organization. Before moving there, he studied Arabic and covered arts and culture in Cairo. His work has been featured in the San Francisco Chronicle, GlobalPost, the Daily News Egypt and the Washington Times, as well as the Virginia Quarterly Review.

The Overseas Press Club, founded in 1939, gave out 20 awards at its annual dinner April 22.