The Thurber Prize for American Humor, named after

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

humorist A humorist (American) or humourist (British spelling) is an intellectual who uses humor, or wit, in writing or public speaking, but is not an artist who seeks only to elicit laughs. Humorists are distinct from comedians, who are show business e ...

James Thurber, recognizes outstanding contributions in

humor Humour (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humorism, humoral medicine of the ancient Gre ...

writing. The prize is given out by the Thurber House. It was first awarded irregularly, but since 2004 has been bestowed annually. In 2015, the finalists were for the first time, all women. Winners of the Thurber Prize have included authors from an array of diverse backgrounds, from '' The Daily Show'' hosts Jon Stewart and Trevor Noah to '' The New Yorker'' staff writers Calvin Trillin and Ian Frazier, as well as university professors Julie Schumacher and Harrison Scott Key.

Award winners

*1997:

Ian Frazier Ian Frazier (born 1951 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American writer and humorist. He wrote the 1989 non-fiction history ''Great Plains'', 2010's non-fiction travelogue ''Travels in Siberia'', and works as a writer and humorist for ''The New Yorker ...

(winner) — ''Coyote v. Acme'' : Al Franken (finalist) — '' Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations'' : David Sedaris (finalist) — '' Naked'' *1999: '' The Onion'' editorial staff (winner) — ''

Our Dumb Century ''Our Dumb Century: The Onion Presents 100 Years of Headlines from America's Finest News Source'' is a satirical humor book written by the staff of ''The Onion'' and published by Three Rivers Press in 1999. The chief editor of the book was Scott ...

'' *2001: David Sedaris (winner) — '' Me Talk Pretty One Day'' :

Henry Alford Henry Alford (7 October 181012 January 1871) was an English churchman, theologian, textual critic, scholar, poet, hymnodist, and writer. Life Alford was born in London, of a Somerset family, which had given five consecutive generations of cl ...

(Special Honor Book) — ''Big Kiss'' :

Andy Borowitz Andy Borowitz (born January 4, 1958) is an American writer, comedian, satirist, and actor. Borowitz is a ''The New York Times''-bestselling author who won the first National Press Club award for humor. He is known for creating the NBC sitcom ''Th ...

(finalist) — ''The Trillionaire Next Door'' : Bill Bryson (finalist) — ''

In a Sunburned Country ''Down Under'' is the British title of a 2000 travelogue book about Australia written by best-selling travel writer Bill Bryson. In the United States and Canada it was published titled ''In a Sunburned Country'', a title taken from the famous Aust ...

'' :Brett Leveridge (finalist) — ''Men My Mother Dated'' :Jim Mullen (finalist) — ''It Takes a Village Idiot'' *2004: Christopher Buckley (winner) — ''

No Way to Treat a First Lady ''No Way to Treat a First Lady'' is a satirical novel by Christopher Buckley, first published in 2002. The novel follows the trial of Elizabeth Tyler MacMann, a fictional First Lady accused of murdering her husband, the President of the United ...

'' :

Robert Kaplow Robert Kaplow (born 1954) is an American novelist and teacher whose coming-of-age novel was made into a film titled ''Me and Orson Welles''. The story is about "youthful creative ambition" and has received positive reviews from ''The New York Ti ...

(finalist) — '' Me and Orson Welles'' :Dan Zevin (finalist) — ''The Day I Turned Uncool'' *2005:

Jon Stewart Jon Stewart (born Jonathan Stuart Leibowitz; November 28, 1962) is an American comedian, political commentator, and television host. He hosted ''The Daily Show'', a satirical news program on Comedy Central, from 1999 to 2015 and now hosts ''Th ...

Ben Karlin Ben Karlin (born c. 1971) is an American television producer and writer. He has won eight Emmy awards, and is best known for his work in ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart'' and ''The Colbert Report''. He is one of three co-creators of ''The Colbe ...

, David Javerbaum and the writing staff of '' The Daily Show'' (winner) — ''

America (The Book) ''America (The Book): A Citizen's Guide to Democracy Inaction'' is a 2004 humor book written by Jon Stewart and other writers of ''The Daily Show'' that parodies and satirizes American politics and worldview. It has won several awards, and gene ...

'' :

(finalist) — ''The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers'' :

Firoozeh Dumas Firoozeh Dumas ( fa, فیروزه دوما) (born June 26, 1965, in Abadan, Iran) is an Iranian-American writer who writes in English. She is the author of the memoirs ''Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing up Iranian in America'' (2003) and ' ...

(finalist) — '' Funny in Farsi'' *2006: Alan Zweibel (winner) — ''The Other Shulma'' : Kinky Friedman (finalist) — ''Texas Hold 'Em: How I Was Born in a Manger, Died in the Saddle, and Came Back as a Horny Toad'' :

Bill Scheft Bill Scheft (born February 15, 1957, Boston) is an American comedy writer and novelist. He is best known for being a staff writer for David Letterman from 1991–2015, during which time he was nominated for 15 Emmy awards. He ran a weekly humor c ...

(finalist) — ''Time Won't Let Me'' *2007: Joe Keenan (winner) — '' My Lucky Star'' : Merrill Markoe (finalist) — ''Walking In Circles Before Lying Down'' : Bob Newhart (finalist) — ''I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things That Strike Me As Funny'' *2008: Larry Doyle (winner) — ''

I Love You Beth Cooper ''I Love You, Beth Cooper'' is a comedy novel written by former ''Simpsons'' writer Larry Doyle. ''I Love You, Beth Cooper'' follows a high school graduate who confesses his love for a cheerleader during his valedictorian speech. The novel was m ...

'' :

Patricia Marx Patricia Marx is an American humorist and writer. She currently works as a staff writer for ''The New Yorker'', and teaches at Columbia University, Princeton University and 92nd Street Y. Born in Abington, Pennsylvania, she earned her B.A. from H ...

(finalist) — ''Him Her Him Again The End of Him'' : Simon Rich (finalist) — ''Ant Farm: And Other Desperate Situations'' *2009:

(winner) — ''Lamentations of the Father'' :

Sloane Crosley Sloane Crosley (born August 3, 1979) is an American writer living in New York City known for her humorous essays, including the collections '' I Was Told There'd Be Cake'', ''How Did You Get This Number'', and ''Look Alive Out There''. She has al ...

(finalist) — ''

I Was Told There'd Be Cake ''I Was Told There'd Be Cake'' is a ''New York Times'' best-selling collection of essays by American writer and literary publicist Sloane Crosley, published in 2008. Reception Author Jonathan Lethem called Crosley "another mordant and mercurial ...

'' :

Bruce Ducker Bruce Ducker (born 1938) is a prize-winning American novelist, short story writer, and poet. Born in Brooklyn, NY. Ducker was educated at Dartmouth and Columbia. He has written eight novels and a volume of short stories. His poetry and short fict ...

(finalist) ''Dizzying Heights: The Aspen Novel'' : Don Lee (finalist) — ''Wrack and Ruin'' : Laurie Notaro (finalist) — ''The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death'' *2010: Steve Hely (winner) — ''How I Became a Famous Novelist'' :

Jancee Dunn Jancee Dunn (born May 18, 1966) is a journalist, author and former VJ. She is now a contributing editor at O, The Oprah Magazine but is mostly known for her work at ''Rolling Stone'', where she worked from 1989 to 2003. Background She grew u ...

(finalist) — ''Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?'' :

Rhoda Janzen Rhoda Marie Janzen Burton née Rhoda Marie Janzen is an American poet, academic and memoirist, best known for her memoir ''Mennonite in a Little Black Dress'' which was a finalist for a Thurber Prize for American Humor in 2010. Early life and e ...

(finalist) — ''Mennonite in a Little Black Dress'' *2011:

David Rakoff David Benjamin Rakoff (November 27, 1964 – August 9, 2012) was a Canadian-born American writer of prose and poetry based in New York City, who wrote humorous and sometimes autobiographical non-fiction essays. Rakoff was an essayist, journ ...

(winner) — ''Half Empty'' : Mike Birbiglia (finalist) — '' Sleepwalk With Me and Other Painfully True Stories'' : Rick Reilly (finalist) — ''Sports from Hell'' *2012: Calvin Trillin (winner) — ''Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of Funny Stuff'' :

Nate DiMeo Nate DiMeo is an American podcaster, screenwriter, and author based out of Los Angeles, and the host of his award-winning podcast, ''The Memory Palace''. He is also the author (although the fictional character Leslie Knope is listed as the author ...

(finalist) — '' Pawnee'' :

(finalist) — ''Starting from Happy'' *2013: Dan Zevin (winner) — ''Dan Gets a Minivan'' :

Shalom Auslander Shalom Auslander (born 1970) is a prominent American novelist, memoirist, and essayist. He grew up in a strict, Orthodox neighborhood in Monsey, New York, where he describes himself as having been "raised like a veal", a reference to his strict re ...

(finalist) — ''Hope: A Tragedy'' :

Dave Barry David McAlister Barry (born July 3, 1947) is an American author and columnist who wrote a nationally syndicated humor column for the ''Miami Herald'' from 1983 to 2005. He has also written numerous books of humor and parody, as well as comic ...

and Alan Zweibel (finalists) — ''Lunatics: A Novel'' *2014: John Kenney (winner) — ''Truth In Advertising'' : Liza Donnelly (finalist) — ''Women on Men'' : Bruce McCall and

David Letterman David Michael Letterman (born April 12, 1947) is an American television host, comedian, writer and producer. He hosted late night television talk shows for 33 years, beginning with the February 1, 1982 debut of ''Late Night with David Letterman' ...

(finalists) — ''This Land Was Made for You and Me (But Mostly Me)'' *2015: Julie Schumacher (winner) — ''Dear Committee Members'' : Roz Chast (finalist) — ''Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?'' : Annabelle Gurwitch (finalist) — ''I See You Made an Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories from the Edge of 50'' *2016: Harrison Scott Key (winner) — ''The World's Largest Man'' :Jason Gay (finalist) — ''Little Victories'' : Mary Norris (finalist) — ''Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen.'' *2017:

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African-born comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and former television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news progra ...

(winner) – ''

Born a Crime ''Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood'' is an autobiographical comedy book written by South African comedian Trevor Noah, published in 2016. A film adaptation is being produced by Paramount Players. Narrative The book details T ...

'' :Ken Pisani – ''Amp'd'' :Aaron Thier – ''Mr. Eternity'' *2018: Patricia Lockwood (winner) – ''

Priestdaddy ''Priestdaddy'' is a memoir by American poet Patricia Lockwood. It was named one of the 10 best books of 2017 by ''The New York Times Book Review'' and was awarded the 2018 Thurber Prize for American Humor. In 2019, the ''New York Times'' inclu ...

'' :

Jenny Allen Jenny may refer to: * Jenny (given name), a popular feminine name and list of real and fictional people * Jenny (surname), a family name Animals * Jenny (donkey), a female donkey * Jenny (gorilla), the oldest gorilla in captivity at the time of h ...

(finalist) – ''Would Everybody Please Stop?'' : John Hodgman (finalist) – ''Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches'' *2019: Simon Rich (winner) - ''Hits and Misses'' :

(finalist) – ''Look Alive Out There'' :John Kenney (finalist) – ''Love Poems for Married People'' *2020:

Damon Young Damon Young (born 1975 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian philosopher, writer and commentator, and author of the books ''Distraction'', ''Philosophy in the Garden'' and ''How to Think About Exercise''. He is an Honorary Fellow in Philo ...

(winner) - ''What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Blacker'' :

(finalist) – ''Lessons from Lucy'' :Kira Jane Buxton (finalist) – ''Hollow Kingdom'' *2021: James McBride (winner) — ''Deacon King Kong'' :

Alexandra Petri Alexandra Attkisson Petri (, born March 15, 1988) is an American humorist and newspaper columnist. In 2010, she became the youngest person to have a column in ''The Washington Post''. Petri runs the ComPost blog on the paper's website, on which ...

(finalist) — ''Nothing Is Wrong and Here Is Why'' : Mike Birbiglia (finalist) — ''The New One: Painfully True Stories from a Reluctant Dad''

References

External links

Thurber Prize for American Humor
at Thurber House {{Thurber Prize for American Humor American literary awards Awards established in 1997 Comedy and humor literary awards American comedy and humor awards 1997 establishments in Ohio