In 1962, the Edward Lewis Wallant Award was established at the

University of Hartford The University of Hartford (UHart) is a private university in West Hartford, Connecticut. Its main campus extends into neighboring Hartford and Bloomfield. The university attracts students from 48 states and 43 countries. The university and it ...

, in Connecticut, USA by Fran and Irving Waltman. It is presented annually to a writer whose fiction is considered to have significance for American Jews. The award is named for Jewish American writer

Edward Lewis Wallant Edward Lewis Wallant (October 19, 1926 – December 5, 1962) was an American novelist who wrote '' The Pawnbroker'' (1961). It was adapted into an award-winning film of the same name, directed by Sidney Lumet and starring Rod Steiger. He also wor ...

Awards

*1963 -

Norman Fruchter Norman Fruchter (August 11, 1937 – January 4, 2023) was an American writer, filmmaker, and academic. Life and career Fruchter was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 11, 1937. He graduated from Rutgers University, in 1959, where he e ...

, ''Coat Upon a Stick'' *1964 - Seymour Epstein, ''Leah'' *1965 -

Hugh Nissenson Hugh Nissenson (March 10, 1933 in New York City – December 13, 2013 in Manhattan) was an American author. Nissenson drew heavily on his Jewish background in his writing, exploring themes of mysticism, Israel, and the Holocaust. Biograp ...

, ''A Pile of Stones'' *1966 - Gene Hurwitz, ''Home Is Where You Start From'' *1967 -

Chaim Potok Chaim Potok (February 17, 1929 – July 23, 2002) was an American author and rabbi. His first book ''The Chosen'' (1967), was listed on ''The New York Times’'' best seller list for 39 weeks and sold more than 3,400,000 copies. Biography H ...

, ''The Chosen'' *1968 - no award *1969 - Leo Litwak, ''Waiting for the News'' *1970 - no award *1971 -

Cynthia Ozick Cynthia Ozick (born April 17, 1928) is an American short story writer, novelist, and essayist. Biography Cynthia Ozick was born in New York City, the second of two children. She moved to the Bronx with her Belarusian-Jewish parents from Hlusk, ...

, ''The Pagan Rabbi'' *1972 -

Robert Kotlowitz Robert Kotlowitz (November 21, 1924 - August 25, 2012) was a television producer, documentary filmmaker, and writer. His 1972 novel ''Somewhere Else'' won the National Jewish Book Award. While a producer at WNET, WNET/THIRTEEN, he helped created ...

, ''Somewhere Else'' *1973 -

Arthur A. Cohen Arthur Allen Cohen (June 25, 1928 – September 30, 1986) was an American scholar, art critic, theologian, publisher, and author. Scholar David M. Stern has written of Cohen: "Though he was best known as a novelist and theologian, he also pursue ...

, ''In the Days of Simon Stern '' *1974 - Susan Fromberg Schaeffer, ''Anya'' *1975 -

Anne Bernays Anne Fleischman Bernays (born September 14, 1930) is an American novelist, editor, and teacher. Life Bernays attended the Brearley School on New York City's Upper East Side, graduating in 1948. A 1952 graduate of Barnard College, she was managi ...

, ''Growing Up Rich'' *1976 - no award *1977 -

Curt Leviant Curt Leviant (born 1932, ViennaHarry Zohn, ''Österreichische Juden in der Literatur'' (Olamenu, 1969), p. 37.) is a retired Jewish Studies professor, as well as a novelist and translator. Personal life and career His parents were Jacques and Fen ...

, ''The Yemenite Girl'' *1978 - no award *1979 - no award *1980 -

Johanna Kaplan Johanna is a feminine name, a variant form of Joanna that originated in Latin in the Middle Ages, including an -h- by analogy with the Latin masculine name Johannes. The original Greek form ''Iōanna'' lacks a medial /h/ because in Greek Spiritus ...

, ''O My America!'' *1981 - Allen Hoffman, ''Kagan's Superfecta'' *1982 - no award *1983 -

Francine Prose Francine Prose (born April 1, 1947) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She is a visiting professor of literature at Bard College, and was formerly president of PEN American Center. Life and career Born in Brookl ...

, ''Hungry Hearts'' *1984 - no award *1985 -

Jay Neugeboren Jay Neugeboren (born Jacob Mordecai Neugeboren; May 30, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York, United States) is an American novelist, essayist, and short story writer. Education Jay Neugeboren was born In Brooklyn, New York and raised in Flatbush. He we ...

, ''Before My Life Began'' *1986 -

Daphne Merkin Daphne Miriam Merkin (born in New York City) is an American literary critic, essayist and novelist. Merkin is a graduate of Barnard College and also attended Columbia University's graduate program in English literature. She began her career as ...

, ''Enchantment'' *1987 - Steve Stern, ''Lazar Malkin Enters Heaven'' *1988 -

Tova Reich Tova is a given name, nickname and a surname. Notable people with this name include: Given name * Saint Tova of Thorney (died ), Anglo-Saxon martyr * Tova of the Obotrites (, Slavic princess and queen consort of Denmark * Tova Beck-Friedman ( ...

, ''Master of the Return'' *1989 -

Jerome Badanes Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian priest, confessor, theologian, and historian; he is comm ...

, ''The Final Opus of Leon Solomon'' *1990 - no award *1991 - no award *1992 -

Melvin Jules Bukiet Melvin Jules Bukiet is an author and literary critic. He has written a number of novels, including ''Sandman's Dust'', ''After'', ''While the Messiah Tarries'', ''Signs and Wonders'', ''Strange Fire'', and ''A Faker's Dozen''. He edited the col ...

, ''Stories of an Imaginary Childhood'' *1993 - Gerald Shapiro, ''From Hunger'' *1994 - no award *1995 -

Rebecca Goldstein Rebecca Newberger Goldstein (born February 23, 1950) is an American philosopher, novelist, and public intellectual. She has written ten books, both fiction and non-fiction. She holds a Ph.D. in philosophy of science from Princeton University, and ...

, ''Mazel'' *1996 -

Thane Rosenbaum Thane Rosenbaum (born 1960) is an American novelist, essayist, and Distinguished University Professor. He is the director of the Forum on Life, Culture, & Society, hosted by Touro College. Rosenbaum is also the Legal Analyst for CBS News Radio ...

, ''Elijah Visible'' *1997 -

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 ...

, ''The Quarry'' *1998 - no award *1999 -

Allegra Goodman Allegra Goodman (born 1967) is an American author based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Goodman wrote and illustrated her first novel at the age of seven. Biography Allegra Goodman was born in Brooklyn, New York, and raised in Hawaii. The daughter ...

, ''Kaaterskill Falls'' *2000 -

Judy Budnitz Judy Budnitz (born 1973) is an American writer. She grew up in Atlanta, Georgia, attended Harvard University, was a fellow at Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center, and in 1998 received an MFA in creative writing from New York University. Bibliograp ...

, ''If I Told You Once'' *2001 -

Myla Goldberg Myla Goldberg (born November 19, 1971) is an American novelist and musician. Biography Goldberg was born into a Jewish family. She was raised in Laurel, Maryland, and graduated from Eleanor Roosevelt High School, where she was one of the Schola ...

, ''Bee Season'' *2002 -

Dara Horn Dara Horn (born 1977) is a Jewish American novelist, essayist, and professor of literature. She has written five novels and in 2021, released a nonfiction essay collection titled ''People Love Dead Jews'', which was a finalist for the 2021 Kirku ...

, ''In the Image'' *2003 - Joan Leegant, ''An Hour in Paradise'' *2004 - Jonathan Rosen, ''Joy Comes in the Morning'' *2005 -

Nicole Krauss Nicole Krauss (born August 18, 1974) is an American author best known for her four novels '' Man Walks into a Room'' (2002), ''The History of Love'' (2005), ''Great House'' (2010) and '' Forest Dark'' (2017), which have been translated into 35 l ...

, ''The History of Love'' *2006 - no award *2007 -

Ehud Havazelet Ehud Havazelet (July 13, 1955 – November 5, 2015) was an American novelist and short story writer. Ehud Havazelet was born in Jerusalem, Israel. His father, Meir Havazelet, a rabbi and emeritus professor at Yeshiva University, emigrated to the ...

, ''Bearing the Body'' *2008 - Eileen Pollack, ''In the Mouth'' *2009 - Sara Houghteling, ''Pictures at an Exhibition'' *2010 -

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 ...

, ''The Invisible Bridge'' *2011 - Edith Pearlman, ''Binocular Vision'' *2012 - Joshua Henkin, ''The World Without You'' *2013 - Kenneth Bonert, ''The Lion Seeker'' *2014 -

David Bezmozgis David Bezmozgis ( lv, Dāvids Bezmozgis; born 1973) is a Canadian writer and filmmaker, currently the head of Humber College's School for Writers. Life and career Educational background Born in Riga, Latvia, he came to Canada with his family ...

, ''The Betrayers'' *2015 - Rebecca Dinerstein, "The Sunlit Night" *2016 -

Ayelet Tsabari Ayelet Tsabari is an Israeli-Canadian writer. Biography She was born in Israel into a large family of Yemeni descent. She studied at the Simon Fraser University Writers' Studio and the University of Guelph MFA program in Creative Writing. Her fir ...

, "The Best Place on Earth" *2017 - Margot Singer, "Underground Fugue" *2018 -

Eduardo Halfon Eduardo Halfon (born 1971) is a Guatemalan writer. Career Eduardo Halfon was born in Guatemala City, moved to the United States at the age of ten, went to school in South Florida, studied industrial engineering at North Carolina State University, ...

, "Mourning" *2019 -

Peter Orner Peter Orner is an American writer. He is the author of two novels, two story collections and a book of essays. Orner holds the Professorship of English and Creative Writing at Dartmouth College and was formerly a professor of creative writing at ...

, "Maggie Brown & Others" *2020 - Lee Conell, "The Party Upstairs"

References

''The Edward Lewis Wallant Award'', The University of Hartford
{{University of Hartford American fiction awards Jewish literary awards Jews and Judaism in the United States Awards established in 1962 University of Hartford Literary awards honoring minority groups 1962 establishments in Connecticut