Cohen Awards (Ploughshares)
Encyclopedia
The Cohen Awards honor the best short story and poem published in Ploughshares
. The awards are sponsored by Denise and Mel Cohen. Finalists are nominated by staff editors, and the winners are selected by the advisory editors. Each winner receives a cash prize of $600.
Ploughshares
Ploughshares is an American literary magazine founded in 1971 by DeWitt Henry and Peter O'Malley in The Plough and Stars, an Irish pub in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Since 1989, Ploughshares has been based at Emerson College in the heart of Boston...
. The awards are sponsored by Denise and Mel Cohen. Finalists are nominated by staff editors, and the winners are selected by the advisory editors. Each winner receives a cash prize of $600.
2010
- Poetry: Adrian BlevinsAdrian BlevinsAdrian Blevins is an American poet. Author of three collections of poetry, her most recent is Live from the Homesick Jamboree .-Life:...
, The Waning, Winter 2009-10 - Fiction: Andria Nacina Cole, Leaving Women, Spring 2009
2009
- Poetry: Tarfia Faizullah, from Interview with a Birangona, Winter 2008-09
- Fiction: Steven Schwartz, Bless Everybody, Fall 2008
2008
- Poetry: Jennifer GrotzJennifer GrotzJennifer Grotz is an American poet and translator who teaches English and creative writing at the Warren Wilson College MFA Program for Writers and at the University of Rochester, where she is Assistant Professor...
, The Life and Times of George Van Den Heuvel, Winter 2007-08 - Fiction: Bret Anthony JohnstonBret Anthony JohnstonBret Anthony Johnston is an American author best known for his multi-award winning debut story collection, Corpus Christi: Stories. He is also the editor of the bestselling Naming the World and Other Exercises for the Creative Writer.-Career:...
, Republican, Fall 2007
2007
- Poetry: Victoria ChangVictoria ChangVictoria Chang is an American poet. Her most recent poetry collection isSalvinia Molesta . Her first book, Circle , won the Crab Orchard Series in Poetry.-Life:...
, Proof, Spring 2006 - Fiction: Joan Wickersham, The Woodwork, Fall 2006
2006
- Poetry: R. T. SmithR. T. SmithR. T. Smith is an award-winning poet, fiction writer, and editor. The author of twelve poetry collections and a collection of short fiction, Smith is the editor of Shenandoah, a prestigious literary journal published by Washington and Lee University...
, Dar He, Spring 2005 - Fiction: Laura KasischkeLaura KasischkeLaura Kasischke is an American fiction writer and American poet with poetry awards and multiple well reviewed works of fiction. Her work has received the Juniper Prize, the Alice Fay di Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America, the Pushcart Prize, the Elmer Holmes Bobst Award for...
, If a Stranger Approaches You about Carrying a Foreign Object with You onto the Plane . . ., Fall 2005
2005
- Poetry: Daisy FriedDaisy Fried-Life:She graduated from Swarthmore College in 1989.Her work has appeared in The Nation, Poetry, The New Republic, American Poetry Review, Antioch Review, Threepenny Review, Triquarterly....
, Shooting Kinesha, Spring 2004 - Fiction: Xu XiXu XiXu Xi, Xu Xi, Xu Xi, (originally named Xu Su Xi(许素细) (born 1954) is an English language novelist from Hong Kong.She is also the Hong Kong regional editor of Routledge's Encyclopedia of Post-colonial Literature (second edition, 2005) and the editor or co-editor of the following anthologies of Hong...
, Famine, Winter 2004-05
2004
- Poetry: Jane MeadJane MeadJane Mead is an American poet, author of three poetry collections. Her most recent is The Usable Field . Her honors include fellowships from the Lannan and Guggenheim Foundations, and a Whiting Writer's Award...
, Was Light, Spring 2003 - Fiction: Rebecca Soppe, The Pantyhose Man, Winter 2003-04
2003
- Poetry: Scott Withiam, Walk Right In, Spring 2002
- Fiction: Joan SilberJoan SilberJoan Silber is an American novelist and short story writer. She is the author of Household Words , which won a PEN/Hemingway Award, and Ideas of Heaven: A Ring of Stories , which was a finalist for both the 2004 National Book Award and the Story Prize...
, The High Road, Fall 2002
2002
- Poetry: Caroline FinkelsteinCaroline Finkelstein-Life:As a girl, Finkelstein led what she calls “a bifurcated life, half American, half some idea of upper bourgeois European society...This upbringing maintains itself in many of my poems as mood, or attitude, or actual subject matter”....
, Conjecture Number One Thousand, Fall 2001 - Fiction: Julie OrringerJulie OrringerJulie Orringer , is an American writer and lecturer born in Miami, Florida. Her first book, How to Breathe Underwater, was published in September 2003 by Knopf Publishing Group...
, Pilgrims, Spring 2001
2001
- Poetry: Adrian C. LouisAdrian C. LouisAdrian C. Louis is a Lovelock Paiute author from Nevada now living on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He has taught at Oglala Lakota College. His novel Skins discusses reservation life and issues such as poverty, alcoholism, and social problems and was the basis for the 2002 film,...
, This is the Time of Grasshoppers and All That I See is Dying, Winter 2000 - Fiction: Elizabeth GraverElizabeth Graver-Life:Graver was born in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She received her B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1986, and her M.F.A. from Washington University in St. Louis in 1999. She also did graduate work at Cornell University...
, The Mourning Door, Fall 2000
2000
- Poetry: Jonah Winter, Sestina: Bob, Spring 1999
- Fiction: Judith GrossmanJudith GrossmanJudith Grossman is an American writer. She earned a scholarship to Oxford, from which she received a First Class degree in English in 1958. She received a PH.D. from Brandeis University, in 1968. She taught at Bennington College. She also taught in the Creative Writing MFA programs at U. C. Irvine ...
, How Aliens Think, Spring 1999
1999
- Poetry: Herman Fong, Grandfather's Alphabet, Spring 1998
- Fiction: Chris AdrianChris AdrianChris Adrian is an American author. Adrian's writing styles in short stories vary a great deal, from modernist realism to pronounced lyrical allegory. His novels both tend toward surrealism, having mostly realistic characters experience fantastic circumstances. He has written three novels: Gob's...
, The Sum of Our Parts, Winter 1998-99
1998
- Fiction: Maxine SwannMaxine Swann-Life:Swann grew up on a farm in southern Pennsylvania, before attending Phillips Academy and then Columbia College, where she studied Comparative Literature and creative writing with Mary Gordon, graduating in 1994....
, Flower Children, Fall 1997 - Poetry: Mark DotyMark DotyMark Doty is an American poet and memoirist.-Biography:He was born in Maryville, Tennessee, earned his Bachelor of Arts from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and received his Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Goddard College in Vermont.In 1989, his partner Wally Roberts tested...
, Mercy on Broadway, Spring 1997
1997
- Poetry: Campbell McGrathCampbell McGrathCampbell McGrath is a notable modern American poet. He is the author of nine full-length collections of poetry, including his most recent, Seven Notebooks , Shannon: A Poem of the Lewis and Clark Expedition , and In the Kingdom of the Sea Monkeys .- Life :McGrath was born in Chicago, Illinois, and...
, Praia dos Orixas, Winter 1996-97 - Fiction: Andrew Sean GreerAndrew Sean GreerAndrew Sean Greer is an American novelist and short story writer.He is the bestselling author of The Story of a Marriage, which The New York Times has called an “inspired, lyrical novel,” and The Confessions of Max Tivoli, which was named one of the best books of 2004 by the San Francisco...
, Come Live with Me and Be My Love, Fall 1996
1996
- Poetry: Louise GlückLouise GlückLouise Elisabeth Glück is an American poet of Hungarian Jewish heritage. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 2003, after serving as a Special Bicentennial Consultant three years prior in 2000....
, Penelope's Stubbornness, Winter 1995-96 - Fiction: Janet Desaulniers, After Rosa Parks, Winter 1995-96
1995
- Poetry: Mary RuefleMary RuefleMary Ruefle is an American poet, essayist, and professor. She has published eleven collections of poetry, most recently, Selected Poems...
, Glory, Winter 1994-95 - Fiction: Marshall N. Klimasewiski, Snowfield, Spring 1994
- Nonfiction: Charles BaxterCharles BaxterCharles Baxter is an American author of fiction, nonfiction and poetry.-Life:Baxter was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to John and Mary Barber Baxter. He graduated from Macalester College in Saint Paul, and taught high school in Pinconning, Michigan, for a year. In 1974 he received his Ph.D...
, Dysfunctional Narratives, Fall 1994
1994
- Poetry: Cleopatra MathisCleopatra MathisCleopatra Mathis is an American poet who since 1982 has been the Frederick Sessions Beebe Professor in the English department at Dartmouth College, where she is also director of the Creative Writing Program...
, The Story, Winter 1993-94 - Fiction: Fred Leebron, Lovelock, Fall 1993
1993
- Poetry: Richard GarciaRichard GarciaRichard Garcia is an Australian association football player who plays for Hull City and internationally for Australia as a winger. He has previously played for West Ham United, Leyton Orient and Colchester United...
, In the Year 1946, Spring 1992 - Fiction: Ron CarlsonRon Carlson-Life:Carlson was born in Logan, Utah, and grew up in Salt Lake City. He received a masters degree in English from the University of Utah. He then taught at The Hotchkiss School in Connecticut, where he began his first novel....
, Blazo, Spring 1992 - Nonfiction: Debra SparkDebra SparkDebra Spark is an American short story writer, essayist, and editor. She teaches at Colby College and at Warren Wilson College.-Biography:Debra Spark was born in Boston, Massachusets in 1962...
, The Lure of the West, Spring 1992
1992
- Poetry: Tess GallagherTess GallagherTess Gallagher is an American poet, essayist, author and playwright. She attended the University of Washington, where she studied creative writing with Theodore Roethke and later Nelson Bentley as well as David Wagoner and Mark Strand...
, from The Valentine Elegies, Spring 1991 - Poetry: Richard McCannRichard McCannRichard McCann is a writer of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. He lives in Washington, D.C., where he is a long-time professor in the A gay writer, he is the author of , a collection of linked stories that novelist Michael Cunningham has described as unbearably beautiful. It won the 2005 from...
, Nights of 1990, Winter 1991-92 - Fiction: Eileen PollackEileen PollackEileen Pollack is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. She is the director of the Master of Fine Arts Program at the University of Michigan...
, Neversink, Fall 1991 - Nonfiction: Dan WakefieldDan WakefieldDan Wakefield is an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter. His best-selling novels, Going All the Way and Starting Over were made into feature films...
, Lion: A Memoir of Mark Van Doren, Fall 1991
1991
- Poetry: Susan MitchellSusan MitchellSusan Mitchell is an American poet, essayist and translator who wrote the poetry collections Rapture and Erotikon.-Life:...
, Night Music, Winter 1990-91 - Fiction: Carol Roh-Spaulding, Waiting for Mr. Kim, Fall 1990
- Nonfiction: William KittredgeWilliam KittredgeWilliam Kittredge is an American writer from Oregon, United States. He was born in Portland, Oregon, and grew up on a ranch in Southeastern Oregon's Warner Valley in Lake County where he attended school in Adel, Oregon, and later would attend high school in California and Oregon...
, from Hole in the Sky, Winter 1990-91
1990
- Poetry: Patricia Traxler, from The Widow's Words, Winter 1989
- Poetry: Michael RyanMichael Ryan- Sports :* Mike Ryan , former New Zealand marathon and long-distance runner* Michael Ryan , America baseball outfielder* Mike Ryan , former Major League Baseball player...
, A Burglary, Spring 1989 - Fiction: Christopher TilghmanChristopher Tilghman-Life:He graduated from Yale University. He served 3 years in the Navy.He worked at a sawmill in New Hampshire, moved back to Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was a corporate copywriter and journalist...
, In a Father's Place, Fall 1989 - Nonfiction: James CarrollJames CarrollJames Carroll may refer to:* James Carroll * James Carroll , Irish independent politician, represented Dublin South West from 1957–1965...
, The Virtue of Writing, Fall 1989
1989
- Poetry: Dennis Sampson, The Commandment, Winter 1988
- Fiction: Josip NovakovichJosip NovakovichJosip Novakovich is a Croatian American writer.His grandparents had immigrated from the Croatia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, to Cleveland, Ohio, and, after the First World War, his grandfather returned to what had become Yugoslavia...
, The Apple, Fall 1988 - Nonfiction: Richard YatesRichard Yates- People :*Richard Yates , English comic actor* Richard Yates , 13th Governor of Illinois , U.S. Senator from Illinois , U.S...
, R.V. Cassill's Clem Anderson, Fall 1988
1988
- Poetry: Carol Frost, In Scarecrow's Garden, Spring 1987
- Fiction: Linda Bamber, The Time-to-Teach-Jane-Eyre-Again Blues, Fall 1987
- Nonfiction: Gerald ShapiroGerald ShapiroThis article is about the author. Gerald Shapiro was an American writer who had published three prize-winning books and was Cather Professor of English at the University of Nebraska. He was also a reader for Prairie Schooner. He lived in Lincoln, Nebraska with his wife, the writer Judith...
, Evan S. Connell: A Profile, Fall 1986
1987
- Poetry: Al YoungAl YoungAl Young is an American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and professor. On May 15, 2005 he was named Poet Laureate of California by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. In appointing Young as Poet Laureate, the Governor praised him: "He is an educator and a man with a passion for the Arts...
, from 22 Moon Poems, Fall 1986 - Fiction: Mona SimpsonMona SimpsonMona E. Simpson is an American author. She is a professor of English at the University of California, Los Angeles and the Sadie Samuelson Levy Professor in Languages and Literature at Bard College. She won the Whiting Prize for her first novel, Anywhere but Here...
, Lonnie Tishman, Spring 1986 - Nonfiction: Phillip LopatePhillip LopateDoctor Phillip Lopate is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate.-Early life and education:...
, Against Joie de Vivre, Spring 1986
1986 (Inaugural Year)
- Poetry: Tom SleighTom SleighTom Sleigh is an American poet, dramatist, essayist and academic, who currently lives in New York City. He has published seven books of original poetry, one full-length translation of Euripides' Herakles and a book of essays. At least five of his plays have been produced...
, Hope, Winter 1984 - Fiction: Gerald Duff, Fire Ants, Winter 1984
- Nonfiction: Domenic Stansberry, John Gardner: The Return Home, Fall 1984