Karen Osney Brownstein Prize
The Karen Osney Brownstein Prize is a gift of approximately $2,000 per year, to be awardedto a graduating Columbia College senior who has written a single piece or a body of work in prose fiction or playwriting while at Columbia "so distinguished in its originality of concept and excellence of execution that it fairly demands the award, support and recognition that the prize intends".
The Prize is not given in a year in which there is no worthy recipient upon whom the Selection Committee can agree. Following a year in which no award is given, two equal prizes may, at the discretion of the committee, be awarded to deserving candidates.
"Because Mrs. Brownstein and the Donor recognize comedy to be one of the most difficult forms of writing, special consideration shall be given to a writer whose work exhibits the wit, warmth, and humor that inform successful comedic writing."
Submission guidelines
The work must be written in English and may not be a work of translation.
Submissions must include a cover sheet (which the applicants prepare; there is no pre-fab form) with the applicant’s (a) name and ID number, (b) local address and phone number, (c) permanent address and phone number; the cover sheet must also indicate that the submission is for the Brownstein Prize.
Each submission must also be accompanied by an autobiographical essay of not more than a page discussing the writer's future plans and the use to which he/she intends to put the Prize money. Applicants must submit four (4) copies of their work, each copy bearing a cover sheet, accompanied by a copy of the autobiographical essay.
Past winners
- 2009: Crystal Kim and Elizabeth Straus
- 2008: Sara Davis, Julia Kalow, and Margie Abigail Rosebrock
- 2007: Anne Berke
- 2006: Daniel Elkind
- 2005: none awarded
- 2004: Brian Platzer
- 2003: David Gerrard
- 2002: Michael Weiss
- 2001: Kate Cortesi
- 2000: Noam Cohen
