The University of Michigan announced the winners of the 2025 Avery and Jule Hopwood Awards and other writing contests administered by the Hopwood Program.

This year’s contests received 1,096 submissions from 350 students at all three campuses, the second-highest number of submissions in Hopwood history. The 146 prizes totaled more than $277,000.

An awards ceremony was held last week at Rackham Auditorium. In addition to the presentation of the writing awards, professor emeritus and longstanding Kasdan Scholarship preliminary judge Frank Beaver was honored with the first-ever Avery Award for outstanding service to the Hopwood Program. Poet, novelist and clinical psychologist Hala Alyan delivered the Hopwood Lecture.

The Hopwood Awards were established by a bequest from Avery Hopwood, a 1905 graduate and successful Broadway playwright, and Jule Hopwood, his mother. Past winners include Arthur Miller, Robert Hayden, Jesmyn Ward, Celeste Ng and Pemi Aguda.