In 1962, the Edward Lewis Wallant Award was established at the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and ...

, in Connecticut, USA by Fran and Irving Waltman. It is presented annually to a writer whose fiction is considered to have significance for American Jews. The award is named for Jewish American writer Edward Lewis Wallant.

Awards

*1963 - Norman Fruchter, ''Coat Upon a Stick'' *1964 -

Seymour Epstein Seymour may refer to: Places Australia *Seymour, Victoria, a township *Electoral district of Seymour, a former electoral district in Victoria *Rural City of Seymour, a former local government area in Victoria *Seymour, Tasmania, a locality ...

, ''Leah'' *1965 - Hugh Nissenson, ''A Pile of Stones'' *1966 - Gene Hurwitz, ''Home Is Where You Start From'' *1967 -

Chaim Potok Chaim Potok (February 17, 1929 – July 23, 2002) was an American author and rabbi. His first book '' The Chosen'' (1967), was listed on ''The New York Times’'' best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,400,000 copies. Biography ...

, ''The Chosen'' *1968 - no award *1969 - Leo Litwak, ''Waiting for the News'' *1970 - no award *1971 -

Cynthia Ozick Cynthia Ozick (born April 17, 1928) is an American short story writer, novelist, and essayist. Biography Cynthia Ozick was born in New York City, the second of two children. She moved to the Bronx with her Belarusian-Jewish parents from Hlusk, ...

, ''The Pagan Rabbi'' *1972 - Robert Kotlowitz, ''Somewhere Else'' *1973 - Arthur A. Cohen, ''In the Days of Simon Stern '' *1974 -

Susan Fromberg Schaeffer Susan Fromberg Schaeffer (March 25, 1940 – August 26, 2011) was an American novelist and poet who was a Professor of English at Brooklyn College for more than thirty years. She won numerous national writing awards and contributed book rev ...

, ''Anya'' *1975 -

Anne Bernays Anne Fleischman Bernays (born September 14, 1930) is an American novelist, editor, and teacher. Life Bernays attended the Brearley School on New York City's Upper East Side, graduating in 1948. A 1952 graduate of Barnard College, she was managi ...

, ''Growing Up Rich'' *1976 - no award *1977 -

Curt Leviant Curt Leviant (born 1932, ViennaHarry Zohn, ''Österreichische Juden in der Literatur'' (Olamenu, 1969), p. 37.) is a retired Jewish Studies professor, as well as a novelist and translator. Personal life and career His parents were Jacques and Fen ...

, ''The Yemenite Girl'' *1978 - no award *1979 - no award *1980 - Johanna Kaplan, ''O My America!'' *1981 - Allen Hoffman, ''Kagan's Superfecta'' *1982 - no award *1983 -

Francine Prose Francine Prose (born April 1, 1947) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She is a visiting professor of literature at Bard College, and was formerly president of PEN American Center. Life and career Born in Brookl ...

, ''Hungry Hearts'' *1984 - no award *1985 -

Jay Neugeboren Jay Neugeboren (born Jacob Mordecai Neugeboren; May 30, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York, United States) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. Education Jay Neugeboren was born In Brooklyn, New York and raised in Flatbush. He ...

, ''Before My Life Began'' *1986 -

Daphne Merkin Daphne Miriam Merkin (born in New York City) is an American literary critic, essayist and novelist. Merkin is a graduate of Barnard College and also attended Columbia University's graduate program in English literature. She began her career as ...

, ''Enchantment'' *1987 -

Steve Stern Steve J. Stern (born 1947) is an author from Memphis, Tennessee. Much of his work draws inspiration from Yiddish folklore. Biography Stern was born in Memphis, Tennessee in 1947, the son of a grocer. He left Memphis in the 1960s to attend ...

, ''Lazar Malkin Enters Heaven'' *1988 -

Tova Reich Tova is a given name, nickname and a surname. Notable people with this name include: Given name * Saint Tova of Thorney (died ), Anglo-Saxon martyr * Tova of the Obotrites (, Slavic princess and queen consort of Denmark * Tova Beck-Friedman (b ...

, ''Master of the Return'' *1989 - Jerome Badanes, ''The Final Opus of Leon Solomon'' *1990 - no award *1991 - no award *1992 - Melvin Jules Bukiet, ''Stories of an Imaginary Childhood'' *1993 - Gerald Shapiro, ''From Hunger'' *1994 - no award *1995 -

Rebecca Goldstein Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (born February 23, 1950) is an American philosopher, novelist, and public intellectual. She has written ten books, both fiction and non-fiction. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy of science from Princeton University, and ...

, ''Mazel'' *1996 -

Thane Rosenbaum Thane Rosenbaum (born 1960) is an American novelist, essayist, and Distinguished University Professor. He is the director of the Forum on Life, Culture, & Society, hosted by Touro College. Rosenbaum is also the Legal Analyst for CBS News Radi ...

, ''Elijah Visible'' *1997 - Harvey Grossinger, ''The Quarry'' *1998 - no award *1999 - Allegra Goodman, ''Kaaterskill Falls'' *2000 - Judy Budnitz, ''If I Told You Once'' *2001 -

Myla Goldberg Myla Goldberg (born November 19, 1971) is an American novelist and musician. Biography Goldberg was born into a Jewish family. She was raised in Laurel, Maryland, and graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School (Maryland), Eleanor Roosevelt Hig ...

, ''Bee Season'' *2002 -

Dara Horn Dara Horn (born 1977) is a Jewish American novelist, essayist, and professor of literature. She has written five novels and in 2021, released a nonfiction essay collection titled ''People Love Dead Jews'', which was a finalist for the 2021 Kirkus ...

, ''In the Image'' *2003 - Joan Leegant, ''An Hour in Paradise'' *2004 - Jonathan Rosen, ''Joy Comes in the Morning'' *2005 - Nicole Krauss, ''The History of Love'' *2006 - no award *2007 - Ehud Havazelet, ''Bearing the Body'' *2008 - Eileen Pollack, ''In the Mouth'' *2009 -

Sara Houghteling Sara Houghteling (born 1977) is an American novelist and educator. Biography She was born in 1977 and graduated from Harvard magna cum laude in 1999. She received her Master's in Fine Arts in creative writing from the University of Michigan in ...

, ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' *2010 - Julie Orringer, ''The Invisible Bridge'' *2011 -

Edith Pearlman Edith Ann Pearlman (''née'' Grossman; June 26, 1936 – January 1, 2023) was an American short story writer.

, ''Binocular Vision'' *2012 - Joshua Henkin, ''The World Without You'' *2013 - Kenneth Bonert, ''The Lion Seeker'' *2014 -

David Bezmozgis David Bezmozgis ( lv, Dāvids Bezmozgis; born 1973) is a Canadian writer and filmmaker, currently the head of Humber College's School for Writers. Life and career Educational background Born in Riga, Latvia, he came to Canada with his family ...

, ''The Betrayers'' *2015 - Rebecca Dinerstein, "The Sunlit Night" *2016 - Ayelet Tsabari, "The Best Place on Earth" *2017 -

Margot Singer Margot Singer is an American short story writer and novelist. Her book ''The Pale of Settlement'' won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction in 2006 and her novel ''Underground Fugue'' was listed as "one of the most anticipated books by wom ...

, "Underground Fugue" *2018 - Eduardo Halfon, "Mourning" *2019 -

Peter Orner Peter Orner is an American writer. He is the author of two novels, two story collections and a book of essays. Orner holds the Professorship of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College and was formerly a professor of creative writing at ...

, "Maggie Brown & Others" *2020 - Lee Conell, "The Party Upstairs"

References

''The Edward Lewis Wallant Award'', The University of Hartford
{{University of Hartford American fiction awards Jewish literary awards Jews and Judaism in the United States Awards established in 1962 University of Hartford Literary awards honoring minority groups 1962 establishments in Connecticut