From 1986 through 2010, the Cohen Awards honored the best short story and poem published in the literary journal ''

Ploughshares ''Ploughshares'' is an American literary journal established 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 Boston. ...

''. The awards were sponsored by longtime Ploughshares patrons Denise and Mel Cohen. Finalists were nominated by staff editors, and the winners were selected by the advisory editors. Each winner received a cash prize of $600. The journal has since replaced the award with the Alice Hoffman Prize for Fiction.

Past winners

{, class="wikitable sortable" , - !Year !Poetry !fiction !Nonfiction , - , 1986 , Tom Sleigh, Hope, ''Winter 1984'' ,

Gerald Duff Gerald is a male Germanic given name meaning "rule of the spear" from the prefix ''ger-'' ("spear") and suffix ''-wald'' ("rule"). Variants include the English given name Jerrold, the feminine nickname Jeri and the Welsh language Gerallt and Iri ...

, Fire Ants, ''Winter 1984'' ,

Domenic Stansberry Domenic is a given name. Notable persons with that name include: *Domenic Abounader (born 1995), American wrestler *Domenic Berry (born 1971), Australian footballer (Australian rules) *Domenic Carosa (born 1974), Australian businessman *Domenic Cas ...

, John Gardner: The Return Home, ''Fall 1984'' , - , 1987 ,

Al Young Albert James Young (May 31, 1939 – April 17, 2021) was an American poet, novelist, essayist, screenwriter, and professor. He was named Poet Laureate of California by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger from 2005 to 2008. Young's many books include ...

, from 22 Moon Poems, ''Fall 1986'' ,

Mona Simpson Mona Simpson (née Jandali; June 14, 1957) is an American novelist. She has written six novels and studied English at the University of California, Berkeley and Languages and Literature at Columbia University. She won a Whiting Award for her fi ...

, Lonnie Tishman, ''Spring 1986'' ,

Phillip Lopate Phillip Lopate (born 1943) is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate. Early life Phillip Lopate was born in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated with a BA degr ...

, Against Joie de Vivre, ''Spring 1986'' , - , 1988 , Carol Frost, In Scarecrow's Garden, ''Spring 1987'' , Linda Bamber, The Time-to-Teach-Jane-Eyre-Again Blues, ''Fall 1987'' , Gerald Shapiro, Evan S. Connell: A Profile, ''Fall 1986'' , - , 1989 , Dennis Sampson, The Commandment, ''Winter 1988'' , Josip Novakovich, The Apple, ''Fall 1988'' , Richard Yates, R.V. Cassill's Clem Anderson, ''Fall 1988'' , - , 1990 ,

Patricia Traxler Patricia Traxler, winner of the 2019 Kansas Book Award in Poetry, is an American poet, essayist, and fiction writer who lives in Salina, Kansas. She is the author of four volumes of poetry, a novel, and a short story collection. Born and raise ...

, from The Widow's Words, ''Winter 1989''
Michael Ryan, A Burglary, ''Spring 1989'' , Christopher Tilghman, In a Father's Place, ''Fall 1989'' , James Carroll, The Virtue of Writing, ''Fall 1989'' , - , 1991 ,

Susan Mitchell Susan Mitchell (born 1944) is an American poet, essayist and translator who wrote the poetry collections ''Rapture'' and ''Erotikon''. She is a recipient of the Lannan Literary Award for Poetry. Life Mitchell grew up in New York City, New York ...

, Night Music, ''Winter 1990-91'' , Carol Roh-Spaulding, Waiting for Mr. Kim, ''Fall 1990'' ,

William Kittredge William Kittredge (August 14, 1932 – December 4, 2020) was an American writer from Oregon, United States, who lived mostly in Missoula, Montana. Biography He was born in 1932 in Portland, Oregon, and grew up on a ranch in Southeastern Oregon's ...

, from Hole in the Sky, ''Winter 1990-91'' , - , 1992 , Tess Gallagher, from The Valentine Elegies, ''Spring 1991''
Richard McCann, Nights of 1990, ''Winter 1991-92'' ,

Eileen Pollack Eileen Pollack (born 1956) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. She is the former director of the Master of Fine Arts Program at the University of Michigan. Pollack holds an undergraduate degree in Physics from Yale Unive ...

, Neversink, ''Fall 1991'' ,

Dan Wakefield Dan Wakefield (born May 21, 1932) is an American novelist, journalist and screenwriter. His best-selling novels, ''Going All the Way'' (1970) and ''Starting Over'' (1973), were made into feature films. He wrote the screenplay for ''Going All th ...

, Lion: A Memoir of Mark Van Doren, ''Fall 1991'' , - , 1993 ,

Richard Garcia Richard Garcia (born 4 September 1981) is an Australian association football manager and former player. He is currently an assistant coach for Australia's U23 team, having previously managed A-League Men's side Perth Glory. As a player, Garc ...

, In the Year 1946, ''Spring 1992'' , Ron Carlson, Blazo, ''Spring 1992'' , Debra Spark, The Lure of the West, ''Spring 1992'' , - , 1994 , Cleopatra Mathis, The Story, ''Winter 1993-94'' , Fred Leebron, Lovelock, ''Fall 1993'' , - , 1995 , Mary Ruefle, Glory, ''Winter 1994-95'' , Marshall N. Klimasewiski, Snowfield, ''Spring 1994'' , Charles Baxter (author), Charles Baxter, Dysfunctional Narratives, ''Fall 1994'' , - , 1996 , Louise Glück, Penelope's Stubbornness, ''Winter 1995-96'' , Janet Desaulniers, After Rosa Parks, ''Winter 1995-96'' , , - , 1997 , Campbell McGrath, Praia dos Orixas, ''Winter 1996-97'' , Andrew Sean Greer, Come Live with Me and Be My Love, ''Fall 1996'' , , - , 1998 , Maxine Swann, Flower Children, ''Fall 1997'' , Mark Doty, Mercy on Broadway, ''Spring 1997'' , , - , 1999 , Herman Fong, Grandfather's Alphabet, ''Spring 1998'' , Chris Adrian, The Sum of Our Parts, ''Winter 1998-99'' , , - , 2000 , Jonah Winter, Sestina: Bob, ''Spring 1999'' , Judith Grossman, How Aliens Think, ''Spring 1999'' , , - , 2001 , Adrian C. Louis, This is the Time of Grasshoppers and All That I See is Dying, ''Winter 2000'' , Elizabeth Graver, The Mourning Door, ''Fall 2000'' , , - , 2002 , Caroline Finkelstein, Conjecture Number One Thousand, ''Fall 2001'' , Julie Orringer, Pilgrims, ''Spring 2001'' , , - , 2003 , Scott Withiam, Walk Right In, ''Spring 2002'' , Joan Silber, The High Road, ''Fall 2002'' , , - , 2004 , Jane Mead, Was Light, ''Spring 2003'' , Rebecca Soppe, The Pantyhose Man, ''Winter 2003-04'' , , - , 2005 , Daisy Fried, Shooting Kinesha, ''Spring 2004'' , Xu Xi (writer), Xu Xi, Famine, ''Winter 2004-05'' , , - , 2006 , R. T. Smith, Dar He, ''Spring 2005'' , Laura Kasischke, If a Stranger Approaches You about Carrying a Foreign Object with You onto the Plane . . ., ''Fall 2005'' , , - , 2007 , Victoria Chang, Proof, ''Spring 2006'' , Joan Wickersham, The Woodwork, ''Fall 2006'' , , - , 2008 , Jennifer Grotz, The Life and Times of George Van Den Heuvel, ''Winter 2007-08'' , Bret Anthony Johnston, Republican, ''Fall 2007'' , , - , 2009 , Tarfia Faizullah, from Interview with a Birangona, ''Winter 2008-09'' , Steven Schwartz (writer), Steven Schwartz, Bless Everybody, ''Fall 2008'' , , - , 2010 , Adrian Blevins, The Waning, ''Winter 2009-10'' , Andria Nacina Cole, Leaving Women, ''Spring 2009'' ,

References

External links

Ploughshares Home page
American literary awards