Each year, University of Michigan faculty are invited to nominate outstanding written work produced by students in their First-Year and Upper-Level writing courses for consideration for Undergraduate Writing Prizes. Once nominated, winners are then selected by the Writing Prize committee consisting of Sweetland Center for Writing and ULWR faculty. This exceptional winning work is compiled and printed in the form of the "Excellence in First-Year Writing" and "Excellence in Upper-Level Writing" prize books (also available for download on our Writing Prizes page after April 18th).

This year's winners will be honored at our Writing Prize ceremony Wednesday, April 18th.

First-Year Writing Prizes

Matt Kelley/Granader Family Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing

Deng, Wisteria  "Six Reasons"
nominated by Leslie Stainton, RC 100 

Ferki, Zofia "As Time Ticks By"
nominated by Leslie Stainton, RC 100

Granader Family Prize for Excellence in Multilingual Writing

Pok Yu Chan "Snickers Got You Snickering"
nominated by Scott Beal, WRITING 120

Dorcas Li "Hey, where are you?"
nominated by Scott Beal, WRITING 120

Granader Family Prize for Outstanding Writing Portfolio

Rita Hathaway, "The Spectrum Center: Enriching the Campus Experience"
nominated by Simone Sessolo, WRITING 100

Wu, Ying-Hsuan "Past/Future of My Home" 
nominated by Jimmy Brancho, WRITING 100

Upper-Level Writing Prizes

Granader Family Prize for Excellence in Upper-Level Writing (Social Sciences)

Baer, Jessica "Modern Sports as Pre-Modern in Media" 
nominated by Emma Waitzman (GSI) Andrei Markovits (Faculty), PolSci 368 

Lyngklip, Kyra "Polarization and Lobbying Influence of the Dodd-Frank Act"
nominated by Eitan Paul (GSI) Nancy Burns (Faculty), PolSci 381

Granader Family Prize for Excellence in Upper-Level Writing (Sciences)

Evan Hoopingarner "Unreliable inhaler access plagues Detroit's asthmatics" 
nominated by Emilia Askari, Environ 320

Deirdre McGovern "What We Learn from the Mouse"
nominated by Andrew Bernard, Anthrbio 368

Granader Family Prize for Excellence in Upper-Level Writing (Humanities)

Mateusz Borowiecki "Human Agency and Control in the Shadow of Enlightenment"
nominated by Scott Spector, German 401 

Caitlyn Zawideh "Mother of Exiles"
nominated by Molly Beer, ENG 325