Dos Passos Prize

The Dos Passos Prize Annually, the English department at Longwood University awards the prestigious John Dos Passos Prize For Literature.

The Prize was founded at Longwood University in 1980 and is meant to honor one of the greatest--and most often ignored--American writers of the twentieth century by recognizing other writers in Dos Passos' name. The prize is administered by a committee from the Department of English and Modern Languages; the chair of the committee also serves as the chair of the prize jury. Other members on the committee include the immediate past recipient and a distinguished critic, editor, or scholar.

Recipients of the prize are American creative writers who have produced a substantial body of significant publication that displays characteristics of John Dos Passos's writing: an intense and original exploration of specifically American themes, an experimental approach to form, and an interest in a wide rage of human experiences.

Notable past recipients:

• Graham Greene, 1980 (Only non-American recipient.)
• Tom Wolfe, 1984
• Shelby Foote, 1988
• Paule Marshall, 1989
• Ernest J. Gaines, 1993
• E. Annie Proulx, 1996
• Richard Powers, 2002