The Hopwood Awards are a major scholarship program at the

University of Michigan The University of Michigan (U-M, U of M, or Michigan) is a public university, public research university in Ann Arbor, Michigan, United States. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest institution of higher education in the state. The University of Mi ...

, founded by

Avery Hopwood James Avery Hopwood (May 28, 1882 – July 1, 1928) was an American playwright of the Jazz Age. He had four plays running simultaneously on Broadway in 1920, namely "The Gold Diggers," "The Bat" and "Spanish Love" and "Ladies' Night (In a ...

. Under the terms of the will of Avery Hopwood, a prominent

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

dramatist A playwright or dramatist is a person who writes plays, which are a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. Ben Jonson coined the term "playwri ...

and member of the class of 1905 of the University of Michigan, one-fifth of Mr. Hopwood's estate was given to the

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for the encouragement of creative work in writing. The first awards were made in 1931, and today, the Hopwood Program offers around $120,000 in prizes every year to aspiring writers at the University of Michigan. According to Nicholas Delbanco, UM English professor and former director of the Hopwood Awards Program, "This is the oldest and best-known series of writing prizes in the country, and it is a very good indicator of future success."

Contests and prizes

The Graduate and Undergraduate Hopwood Contests

Awards are offered in these genres: drama/screenplay,

essay An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

, the

novel A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...

short fiction A short story is a piece of prose fiction. It can typically be read in a single sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the old ...

nonfiction Non-fiction (or nonfiction) is any document or media content that attempts, in good faith, to convey information only about the real world, rather than being grounded in imagination. Non-fiction typically aims to present topics objectively ...

, and

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

. These awards are classified under two categories, graduate or undergraduate, except the novel and drama/screenplay, which are combined categories. Award amounts for this contest vary, but usually fall in the range of $1000 to $6000.

Summer Hopwood Contest

The Summer Hopwood Contest was discontinued in 2017, but archives of winning Summer Hopwood manuscripts continue to be held in the Hopwood Room. When it ran, the contest was open only to students who took writing courses during spring and summer terms. Awards were given in the categories of drama or screenplay, nonfiction, short fiction, and poetry. Novels were not eligible for the Summer Hopwood Contest.

Hopwood Underclassmen Contest

This contest is open only to freshmen and sophomores who are enrolled in writing courses. Awards are given in the categories of nonfiction, fiction, and poetry.

Hopwood Program

The Hopwood Program administers the Hopwood Award, and several other awards in writing. It is located in the Hopwood Room at the University of Michigan and serves the needs and interests of Hopwood contestants. The room was established by Professor Roy W. Cowden, director of the Hopwood Awards from 1933 to 1952, who generously contributed a part of his library, which has grown through the addition of many volumes of contemporary literature. In addition to housing the winning manuscripts from the past years of the contests, the Hopwood Room has a lending library of 20th-century literature, a generous supply of noncirculating current periodicals, some reference books on how to get published, information on graduate and summer writing programs, and a collection of screen plays donated by former Hopwood winner

Lawrence Kasdan Lawrence Edward Kasdan (born January 14, 1949) is an American filmmaker. He is the co-writer of the ''Star Wars'' films '' The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980), '' Return of the Jedi'' (1983), '' The Force Awakens'' (2015), and '' Solo: A Star Wars ...

Prizes administered by the Hopwood Program

The Hopwood Program also administers these writing contests:

Notable Hopwood winners

* Max Apple, (BA 1963). Author of: "The Oranging of America" (1976, short stories), "Zip: A Novel of the Left and the Right" (1978, novel), "Three Stories" (1983, short stories), "Free Agents" (1984, novel), "The Propheteers: A Novel" (1987, novel), "Roommates: My Grandfather's Story" (1994, biography, of Apple's grandfather) * Brett Ellen Block, (BFA) award-winning short story author and novelist. *

Victoria Chang Victoria Chang is an American poet, writer, editor, and critic. She has experimented with different styles of writing, including writing poems shaped in obituaries, for parts of her life, including her parents and herself, in ''OBIT'', letters in ...

, (BA 1992) poet and children's writer. Recipient of 2017

Guggenheim Fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

. *

John Ciardi John Anthony Ciardi ( ; ; June 24, 1916 – March 30, 1986) was an American poet, translator, and etymologist. While primarily known as a poet and translator of Dante's ''Divine Comedy'', he also wrote several volumes of children's poetry, pursu ...

, (MA 1939) author of: A Browser's Dictionary, A Second Browser's Dictionary, A Third Browser's Dictionary, The Collected Poems of John Ciardi, Good Words to You: An All-New Dictionary and Native's Guide to the Unknown, American Language, How Does a Poem Mean?, His translation of The Inferno, Limericks (with Isaac Asimov), You Read to Me, I'll Read to You, (illustrated by Edward Gorey) * Richard Cohen (BA 1973). Novelist. *

Harold Courlander Harold Courlander (September 18, 1908 – March 15, 1996) was an American novelist, folklorist, and anthropologist and an expert in the study of Haitian life. The author of 35 books and plays and numerous scholarly articles, Courlander speciali ...

, (BA 1931) First winner of the award & author of The African, on which much of

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

was later based. *

Christopher Paul Curtis Christopher Paul Curtis (born May 10, 1953)Judy Levin, Allison Stark Draper, ''Christopher Paul Curtis'' (The Rosen Publishing Group, 2005), , p. 84. Excerptsat Google Books. Retrieved 2015-07-25. is an American children's book author. His f ...

(BA 1999) Newbery and Coretta Scott King award-winning author of: The Watsons Go To Birmingham-1963 (1996, novel), Bud, Not Buddy (1999, novel), Elijah Of Buxton (2006, novel) * Rebecca Frazier, (BA 1998), bluegrass singer. Received the award twice. *

Mary Gaitskill Mary Gaitskill (born November 11, 1954) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. Her work has appeared in ''The New Yorker'', ''Harper's Magazine'', ''Esquire (magazine), Esquire'', ''The Best American Short Stories'' (1993, 20 ...

, (BA) Bad Behavior (1988), Two Girls, Fat and Thin (1991), Because They Wanted To (1997) (stories), Veronica (2005). *

Peggy Goodin Peggy Louise Goodin (May 18, 1923 – August 23, 1983) was a best-selling American novelist and three-time Hopwood Award winner. Two of her novels were adapted into films. Life and career Peggy Louise Goodin was born to Goldie Leona Shim ...

, (AB 1945) author of ''Clemetine'', ''Take Care of My Little Girl''; novels adapted multiple times to film * Steve Hamilton, (BA 1983), author of "Blood Is the Sky", "North of Nowhere", "A Cold Day in Paradise", "Winter of the Wolf Moon", "The Hunting Wind", "North of Nowhere", and "Ice Run". "A Cold Day In Paradise," won the 1999

Edgar Allan Poe Award The Edgar Allan Poe Awards, popularly called the Edgars, are presented every year by the Mystery Writers of America which is based in New York City. Named after American writer Edgar Allan Poe (1809–1849), a pioneer in the genre, the awards honor ...

, one of the mystery genre's most prestigious awards. * Cynthia Haven, author of "Czesław Miłosz: A California Life" (2021) nominated for a Northern California Book Award, and "Evolution of Desire: A Life of René Girard" (2018). *

Robert Hayden Robert Hayden (August 4, 1913February 25, 1980) was an American poet, essayist, and educator. He served as Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 1976 to 1978, a role today known as US Poet Laureate. He was the first African-Americ ...

, (M.A. 1944). Former

Poet Laureate of the United States A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writt ...

. * Garrett Hongo, a finalist for the 1989

Pulitzer Prize for Poetry The Pulitzer Prize for Poetry is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes awarded annually for Letters, Drama, and Music. The award came five years after the first Pulitzers were awarded in other categories; Joseph Pulitzer's will had not ment ...

and winner of the 1987 Lamont Poetry Prize. *

(MA) three-times

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

s-nominated screenwriter and director. *

Laura Kasischke Laura Kasischke is an American fiction writer and poet. She is best known for writing the novels ''Suspicious River'', ''The Life Before Her Eyes'' and '' White Bird in a Blizzard'', all of which have been adapted to film. Life and work She was ...

(BA 1983, M.F.A. 1987) winner of the

National Book Critics Circle Award The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".Pushcart prize The Pushcart Prize is an American literary prize published by Pushcart Press that honors the best "poetry, short fiction, essays or literary whatnot" published in the small presses over the previous year. Magazine and small book press editors are ...

. *

Jane Kenyon Jane Kenyon (May 23, 1947 – April 22, 1995) was an American poet and translator. Her work is often characterized as simple, spare, and emotionally resonant. Kenyon was the second wife of poet, editor, and critic Donald Hall who made her the subj ...

, (BA 1970, MA 1972). New Hampshire's poet laureate. Winner of a PEN/Voelcker Award for Poetry * Elizabeth Kostova, (MFA) Novel-in-Progress

The Historian ''The Historian'' is the 2005 debut novel of American author Elizabeth Kostova. The plot blends the history and folklore of Vlad Țepeș and his fictional equivalent Count Dracula. Kostova's father told her stories about Dracula when she was ...

Arthur Miller Arthur Asher Miller (October 17, 1915 – February 10, 2005) was an American playwright, essayist and screenwriter in the 20th-century American theater. Among his most popular plays are '' All My Sons'' (1947), '' Death of a Salesman'' (1 ...

(BA 1938)

Pulitzer Prize for Drama The Pulitzer Prize for Drama is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are annually awarded for Letters, Drama, and Music. It is one of the original Pulitzers, for the program was inaugurated in 1917 with seven prizes, four of which were a ...

winning playwright. *

Howard Moss Howard Moss (January 22, 1922 – September 16, 1987) was an American poet, dramatist and critic. He was poetry editor of ''The New Yorker'' magazine from 1948 until his death and he won the National Book Award in 1972 for ''Selected Poems''. B ...

, won the

for ''Selected Poems'' in 1971. *

Davi Napoleon Davi Napoleon, also known as Davida Skurnick and Davida Napoleon (born 1946), is an American theater historian and critic as well as a freelance feature writer. She is a regular contributor to '' Live Design'', a monthly magazine about entertainme ...

, (BA 1966, MA 1968; known then as Davi Skurnick), theater historian and critic, author of '' Chelsea on the Edge: The Adventures of an American Theater.'' *

Celeste Ng Celeste Ng ( ; zh, s=伍绮诗) (born July 30, 1980) is an American writer and novelist. She has released many short stories that have been published in a variety of literary journals. Ng's first novel, '' Everything I Never Told You'', releas ...

, (MFA) Novelist. Author of Little Fires Everywhere. *

Chigozie Obioma Chigozie Obioma (1986) was born in Akure, Nigeria. He is the author of three novels The ''Fishermen'' (2015), An ''Orchestra of Minorities'' (2019) and ''The Road to the Country'' (2024). The Fishermen and An Orchestra of Minorities were final ...

, (MFA) Nigerian writer. Finalist for 2015

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

and

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

First Book Award. *

Frank O'Hara Francis Russell "Frank" O'Hara (March 27, 1926 – July 25, 1966) was an American writer, poet, and art critic. A curator at the Museum of Modern Art, O'Hara became prominent in New York City's art world. O'Hara is regarded as a leading figure i ...

, (M.A. 1951), poet. Leading figure of the New York School. Author of: "A City Winter and Other Poems", "Oranges: 12 pastorals", "Second Avenue", "Odes", "Lunch Poems. Love Poems". * Patrick O'Keeffe, (MFA), winner of the Chamberlain Award for Creative Writing for "Above the Bar." (administered by the Hopwood Program) and instructor in the University of Michigan's Sweetland Writing Center has won the 2005

Story Prize The Story Prize is an annual book award established in 2004 that honors the author of an outstanding collection of short fiction with a $20,000 cash award. Each of two runners-up receives $5,000. Eligible books must be written in English and first ...

, the richest U.S. prize for short fiction, for "The Hill Road", a collection of four novellas set in a fictional Irish farming village. O'Keeffe's writing has been compared to the Irish short-story and novel writer

William Trevor William Trevor Cox (24 May 1928 – 20 November 2016) was an Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer. One of the elder statesmen of the Irish literary world, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest contemporary writers of sho ...

. *

Marge Piercy Marge Piercy (born March 31, 1936) is an American progressive activist, feminist, and writer. Her work includes '' Woman on the Edge of Time''; '' He, She and It'', which won the 1993 Arthur C. Clarke Award; and ''Gone to Soldiers'', a ''New ...

, (BA) Poetry and Fiction (1957); author of seventeen volumes of poems * Paisley Rekdal, (MFA) poet and essayist. Poet Laureate of Utah. *

Theodore Roethke Theodore Huebner Roethke ( ; May 25, 1908 – August 1, 1963) was an American poet. He is regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential poets of his generation, having won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1954 for his book '' The ...

, (B.A. 1930, M.A. 1932) regarded as one of the most accomplished and influential poets of his generation. Winner of a

and two

National Book Awards The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

for Poetry. *

Betty Smith Betty Smith (born Elisabeth Lillian Wehner; December 15, 1896 – January 17, 1972) was an American playwright and novelist, who wrote the 1943 bestseller '' A Tree Grows in Brooklyn''. Early years Smith was born Elisabeth Lillian Wehner on Dec ...

(B.A.) Author of '' A Tree Grows in Brooklyn'' * Danez Smith (MFA) Poet. Finalist for 2017

National Book Award The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...

for Poetry. *

Keith Waldrop Bernard Keith Waldrop (December 11, 1932 – July 27, 2023) was an American poet, translator, publisher, and academic. He won the National Book Award for Poetry for his 2009 collection ''Transcendental Studies: A Trilogy''. Early life and educ ...

(Ph.D. 1964) poet and translator. Winner of a

for Poetry. * Ronald Wallace *

Jesmyn Ward Jesmyn Ward (born April 1, 1977) is an American novelist and a professor of English at Tulane University, where she holds the Andrew W. Mellon Professorship in the Humanities. She won the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction for her second novel ...

, (MFA 2005), novelist. Two-time winner of

for Fiction (2011, 2017). * Nancy Willard (B.A. 1958; Ph.D.) author of eleven poetry books. Newbery Medal for "A Visit to William Blakes' Inn," finalist for National Book Award, O'Henry Award, Devins Poetry Award.

References

External links

Hopwood AwardsUniversity of Michigan
{{Avery Hopwood, state=collapsed University of Michigan 1931 establishments in Michigan American literary awards Awards established in 1931