Sections

Hopwood award winners collect thousands in writing prizes

More than $42,000 in prizes were awarded to University students in the 65th annual Avery and Jule Hopwood Awards in Creative Writing on April 23.

"It's a very prestigious award with a distinguished list of alumni, including Arthur Miller," said winning fiction writer David Allen.

Allen said his career is headed in a number of different directions, including the release of his band's second CD and his participation in a Caribbean literature conference.

His winning piece, a novel called "All Fruits Ripe," is part of an effort to "give voice to a particular culture." The award, he said, "is a validation of those cultures and subcultures."

The Hopwood Awards are funded by University alums and Broadway playwright Avery Hopwood. Prizes are awarded to essay, fiction, poetry and drama pieces.

This year 22 students won Hopwoods and another 13 won other prizes administered by the Hopwood committee.

Scott Beal, a Rackham student in English, won for his portfolio of poems called "If Music."

"It's obviously very flattering to have your work selected," he said.

Beale said that while many writers continue working "in total obscurity, never getting a lift," this award encourages him to continue.

Beal said the money was helpful because it is difficult to make a living writing poetry. He said he hopes to publish an extended version of "If Music" and is looking for a teaching job.

The largest prize was $3,500 in the essay category and went to Rackham student Carolyn Wells Kraus for "Survivors."

"My two kids were very happy," Kraus said.

Kraus said she was most surprised by the award because when she called to find out if she had won, she was mistakenly told she had not.

"I was telling myself, 'it doesn't mean it's not a good essay.' I was doing some soul-searching," she said.

When she walked to the Hopwood office to pick up her "losing essay," she realized she had won. "That was quite a shock," she said.

Kraus' essay was about different kinds of survivors, including Holocaust survivors. She said she knows her future may include writing a book.