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 the English Department Writing Program (EDWP) Sweetland Center for Writing, and U-M ULWR faculty. This exceptional winning work is compiled and released on our Writing Prize web pages.

Read the 2024 Writing Prize Essays

2024 Writing Prize Winners

First-Year Writing Prizes

Feinberg Family Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing

Analytic Argument
Amatullah Hakim, “Persuasive Rhetoric in “Ebonics, King, and Oakland”” 
Written for ENG 125, Instructor: Mariya Zilberman

Narrative Argument
Neel Marathe, “Mother’s Tongue Mutilated”
Written for ENG 125, Instructor: Olivia Cheng

Research-based Argument
Adrian Ngan, “Religion in Public Education: Teaching for a Change”
Written for ENG 125, Instructor: Jonathan Holland

Matt Kelley Prize for Excellence in First-Year Writing

Gabrielle Marsh, “Thailand and Tribulations”
Written for WRITING 160, Instructor: Allie Piippo

Ashley Wang, “I Keep Writing about Fish”
Written for LSWA 125, Instructor: Chris Crowder

Upper-Level Writing Prizes

Excellence in Upper-Level Writing (Social Sciences)

Anneliese Jackson, “Redefining Global E-Waste Management: How Can We Learn from Agbogbloshie?”
Written for AAS322/ENVIRON 335, Instructor: Omolade Adunbi and Ashley Jankowski

Nicholas Martens, “Plugging the [Brain] Drain”
Written for ECON 495, Instructor: Ana Reynoso

Excellence in Upper-Level Writing (Sciences)

Olivia Murphy, “Tepfirah Rushdan: an Unprecedented Appointment Gives Urban Agriculture in Detroit New Hope”
Written for ENVIRON 320, Instructor: Julie Halpert

Preston Parana, “Succinate Dehydrogenase: The Stylistic Interconnection of Aerobic Metabolism”
Written for CHEM 353, Instructor: Angeliz Soto Acevedo

Excellence in Upper-Level Writing (Humanities)

Hadley Fischer, “Graveyard”
Written for ENG 325, Instructor: John Buckley

Sophie Wolf, “Refusing Echo”
Written for ENG 425, Instructor: Kelly Hoffer