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 Debra Spark (born 1962) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and editor. She teaches at Colby College and at Warren Wilson College. Biography Debra Spark was born in Boston, Massachusetts in 1962. She graduated from Yale Unive ...

, The Lure of the West, ''Spring 1992'' , - , 1994 ,

Cleopatra Mathis Cleopatra Mathis (born 1947 in Ruston, Louisiana) 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. Her mo ...

, 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, Dysfunctional Narratives, ''Fall 1994'' , - , 1996 ,

Louise Glück Louise Elisabeth Glück ( ; born April 22, 1943) is an American poet and essayist. She won the 2020 Nobel Prize in Literature, whose judges praised "her unmistakable poetic voice that with austere beauty makes individual existence universal". He ...

, Penelope's Stubbornness, ''Winter 1995-96'' , Janet Desaulniers, After Rosa Parks, ''Winter 1995-96'' , , - , 1997 ,

Campbell McGrath Campbell McGrath (born 1962) is an American poet. He is the author of nine full-length collections of poetry, including ''Seven Notebooks'' (Ecco Press, 2008), Shannon: A Poem of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (Ecco Press, 2009), and In the Kingdom ...

, Praia dos Orixas, ''Winter 1996-97'' ,

Andrew Sean Greer Andrew Sean Greer (born November 1970) is an American novelist and short story writer. Greer received the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for his novel ''Less''. He is the author of ''The Story of a Marriage'', which ''The New York Times'' has ...

, Come Live with Me and Be My Love, ''Fall 1996'' , , - , 1998 ,

Maxine Swann Maxine Swann (born February 11, 1969) is an American fiction author. Life Swann grew up on a farm in southern Pennsylvania, before attending Phillips Academy and then Columbia College, where she studied Comparative Literature (French and German ...

, Flower Children, ''Fall 1997'' ,

Mark Doty Mark Doty (born August 10, 1953) is an American poet and memoirist best known for his work ''My Alexandria.'' He was the winner of the National Book Award for Poetry in 2008. Early life Mark Doty was born in Maryville, Tennessee to Lawrence an ...

, Mercy on Broadway, ''Spring 1997'' , , - , 1999 , Herman Fong, Grandfather's Alphabet, ''Spring 1998'' ,

Chris Adrian Chris Adrian (born November 7, 1970) is an American author. Adrian's writing styles in short stories vary greatly; from modernist realism to pronounced lyrical allegory. His novels both tend toward surrealism, having mostly realistic characters ...

, The Sum of Our Parts, ''Winter 1998-99'' , , - , 2000 ,

Jonah Winter Jonah or Jonas, ''Yōnā'', "dove"; gr, Ἰωνᾶς ''Iōnâs''; ar, يونس ' or '; Latin: ''Ionas'' son of Amittai, is a prophet in the Hebrew Bible and the Quran, from Gath-hepher of the northern kingdom of Israel in about the 8th cent ...

, Sestina: Bob, ''Spring 1999'' ,

Judith Grossman Judith Grossman is an American writer. She earned a scholarship to Somerville College, Oxford, from which she received a First Class degree in English in 1958. She received a Ph.D. from Brandeis University, in 1968. She has taught at Bennington Co ...

, How Aliens Think, ''Spring 1999'' , , - , 2001 ,

Adrian C. Louis Adrian C. Louis (April 24, 1946 – September 9, 2018) was an American author. Hailing from Nevada, Louis was a member of Lovelock Paiute tribe who lived on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota. He has taught at Oglala Lakota College. H ...

, This is the Time of Grasshoppers and All That I See is Dying, ''Winter 2000'' ,

Elizabeth Graver Elizabeth Graver (born 1964) is an American writer and academic. Early life and education Graver was born in Los Angeles on July 2, 1964, and grew up in Williamstown, Massachusetts. She received her B.A. from Wesleyan University in 1986, and her ...

, The Mourning Door, ''Fall 2000'' , , - , 2002 , Caroline Finkelstein, Conjecture Number One Thousand, ''Fall 2001'' ,

Julie Orringer Julie Orringer (born June 12, 1973) is an American writer and lecturer. She attended Cornell University and the Iowa Writer's Workshop, and was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. She was born in Miami, Florida and now lives in Brooklyn with ...

, Pilgrims, ''Spring 2001'' , , - , 2003 , Scott Withiam, Walk Right In, ''Spring 2002'' , Joan Silber, The High Road, ''Fall 2002'' , , - , 2004 ,

Jane Mead Jane Mead (August 13, 1958 – September 8, 2019) was an American poet and the author of five poetry collections. Her last volume was ''To the Wren: Collected & New Poems 1991-2019'' (Alice James Books, 2019). Her honors included fellowships from ...

, Was Light, ''Spring 2003'' , Rebecca Soppe, The Pantyhose Man, ''Winter 2003-04'' , , - , 2005 ,

Daisy Fried Daisy Fried (born 1967, Ithaca, New York) is an American poet. Life Fried graduated from Swarthmore College in 1989. Her work has appeared in ''The London Review of Books'', ''The Nation'', ''Poetry'', ''The New Republic'', ''American Poetry ...

, Shooting Kinesha, ''Spring 2004'' , Xu Xi, Famine, ''Winter 2004-05'' , , - , 2006 ,

R. T. Smith Rodney T. Smith (born 1947 in Washington, D.C.) is an American 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 p ...

, Dar He, ''Spring 2005'' ,

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 b ...

, If a Stranger Approaches You about Carrying a Foreign Object with You onto the Plane . . ., ''Fall 2005'' , , - , 2007 ,

Victoria Chang Victoria Chang is an American poet 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 crea ...

, Proof, ''Spring 2006'' , Joan Wickersham, The Woodwork, ''Fall 2006'' , , - , 2008 ,

Jennifer Grotz Jennifer Grotz (born 1971) is an American poet and translator who teaches English, creative writing, and literary translation at the University of Rochester, where she is Professor of English. In 2017 she was named the seventh director of the Bread ...

, 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, Bless Everybody, ''Fall 2008'' , , - , 2010 ,

Adrian Blevins Adrian Blevins (born 1964 in Abingdon, Virginia, United States) Adrian Blevins">Ausable Press > Author Page > Adrian Blevins is an American poet. Author of three collections of poetry, her most recent is ''Appalachians Run Amok'', winner of the ...

, The Waning, ''Winter 2009-10'' , Andria Nacina Cole, Leaving Women, ''Spring 2009'' ,

References

External links

Ploughshares Home page
American literary awards