The Dana Award is a literary award presented in

short fiction A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one 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 oldest ...

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek ''poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meanings i ...

and novels. It was founded in 1996 by literature professor and poet Mary Elizabeth Parker with the financial backing of Michael Dana.''Poets & Writers'', September/October 2000 The competition is based in

Greensboro, North Carolina Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

. The judges for the competition include Scottish novelist

Margot Livesey Margot Livesey (born 1953) is a Scottish-born writer. She is the author of nine novels, a collection of short stories, a collection of essays on writing and the co-author, with Lynn Klamkin, of a textbook. Among other awards, she has earned a G ...

. Notable recipients include Michael Pritchett, Danielle Trussoni,

Tina Chang Tina Chang is an American poet, professor, editor, organizer, and public speaker. In 2010, she was named Poet Laureate of Brooklyn. Early life Chang was born in 1969 in Oklahoma to Taiwanese immigrants, who had met in Montreal, where her mother ...

, Paul Graham and Stephen Lovely.

Past winners

Novel

* 1996 – Ellen B. Coggeshall for ''The Rabies Tree'' * 1997 –

Jennifer Natalya Fink Jennifer Natalya Fink is an American author working in experimental feminist and queer fiction. She is best known for her novels ''Burn'', ''V,'' and ''The Mikvah Queen,'' which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in 2010. Her novel, ''Bhopal D ...

for ''The Mikveh Queen'' * 1998 – Owen Goodwyne * 1999 – Joette Hayashigawa * 2000 – Michael Pritchett for ''The Final Effort of the Archer'' * 2001 – Danielle Trussoni for ''Tunnel Rat'' * 2002 – B. K. Loren for ''Thicker Than Water'' * 2003 – Tatjana Soli for ''The Lotus Eaters'' * 2004 – Stephen Lovely for ''Irreplaceable'' * 2005 – Paul Graham for ''A Trained Voice'' * 2006 –

Harvey Grossinger Harvey Grossinger is an American short story author and novelist. Life He holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from New York University, a Master of Arts from Indiana University, and a Master of Fine Arts from American University. He teaches at ...

for ''The Caretaker’s Niece'' * 2007 – Thad Nodine for ''Going Home'' * 2008 – Rebecca Berg for ''Julio's Ghost'' * 2009 – Tippets Jensen for ''The Good Deed'' * 2010 – Patrick E. Horrigan for ''Portraits at an Exhibition'' * 2011 – Sean Murphy for ''Wilson's Way'' * 2012 – Scott Lambridis for ''The Many Raymond Days'' * 2013 – N.S. Keonings for ''Goatsong'' * 2014 – Boman Desai for ''The Elephant Graveyard'' * 2015 – Nancy Swan for ''Escalante Moon'' * 2016 �
Misha Rai
for ''Blood We Did Not Spill''

Short fiction

* 1999 – Jacob M. Appel * 2000 – Robert C. Goodwin * 2001 – Laren Stover * 2003 –

Alma Garcia Alma García (born 1970) is an American short story writer. Life Alma Garcia grew up in West Texas, and has lived most of her life in New Mexico. She graduated from the University of Arizona with an MFA, and afterward worked at the Secret Garden ...

* 2004 –

Glori Simmons Glori Simmons is an American poet, and short story writer. Simmons graduated from the University of Washington and from the University of Michigan with an MFA. She was a 2003 Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. She is the author of ''Graft/P ...

* 2005 – Catherine Gentile * 2006 – Paula W. Peterson * 2007 – Deanne Lundin * 2008 – Patricia Brieschke * 2009 – Matthew Pitt * 2010 – Nicole Louise Reid * 2011 – Rebecca Givens Rolland * 2012 – Paul Hastings * 2013 – Skye Anicca * 2014 – BD Feil * 2015 – Brenda Peynado * 2016 – Allison Alsup

Poetry

* 1996 –

* 1997 – Sandra Stone * 1999 – Catherine M. Stearns * 2000 – K.E. Allen * 2001 – Ronald G. Wardall * 2002 – Laura Gray-Street * 2003 – Simeon Berry * 2004 – Evan Oakley * 2005 –

Sam Witt Sam Witt (born 1970) is an American poet and tenured English professor who currently lives in Brookline, Massachusetts. Life Born in 1970 in Wimbledon, England. He studied as an undergraduate at the University of Virginia and went on to receive ...

* 2006 – Camille Dungy * 2007 – Sandra Stone * 2008 – Allen Braden * 2009 –

Jeanne Marie Beaumont Jeanne Marie Beaumont is an American poet, author of four poetry collections, most recently, "Letters from Limbo" (CavanKerry Press, 2016), and ''Burning of the Three Fires'' (BOA Editions, Ltd. 2010), ''Curious Conduct'' ( BOA Editions, Ltd., 200 ...

* 2010 – Julie Weber * 2011 – Jeannie Gambill * 2012 – Tom Daley * 2013 – Brandi George * 2014 – John Blair * 2015 – Rachel Dilworth * 2016 – Mark Wagenaar

Essay

* 2011 – Peter Selgin

Notes