Thurber Prize for American Humor

The Thurber Prize for American Humor, named after American humorist James Thurber, recognizes outstanding contributions in humor writing. The prize is given out by the Thurber House. It was first awarded irregularly, but since 2004 has been bestowed annually. In 2015, the finalists were for the first time, all women.^[1]

Award winners

• 1997: Ian Frazier (winner) — Coyote v. Acme

Al Franken (finalist) — Rush Limbaugh is a Big Fat Idiot and Other Observations

David Sedaris (finalist) — Naked

• 1999: The Onion editorial staff (winner) — Our Dumb Century
• 2001: David Sedaris (winner) — Me Talk Pretty One Day

Henry Alford (Special Honor Book) — Big Kiss

Andy Borowitz (finalist) — The Trillionaire Next Door

Bill Bryson (finalist) — In a Sunburned Country

Brett Leveridge (finalist) — Men My Mother Dated

Jim Mullen (finalist) — It Takes a Village Idiot^[2]

• 2004: Christopher Buckley (winner) — No Way to Treat a First Lady

Robert Kaplow (finalist) — Me and Orson Welles

Dan Zevin (finalist) — The Day I Turned Uncool

• 2005: Jon Stewart, Ben Karlin, David Javerbaum and the writing staff of The Daily Show (winner) — America (The Book)

Andy Borowitz (finalist) — The Borowitz Report: The Big Book of Shockers

Firoozeh Dumas (finalist) — Funny in Farsi

• 2006: Alan Zweibel (winner) — The Other Shulma

Kinky Friedman (finalist) — Texas Hold 'Em: How I Was Born in a Manger, Died in the Saddle, and Came Back as a Horny Toad

Bill Scheft (finalist) — Time Won't Let Me

• 2007: Joe Keenan (winner) — My Lucky Star^[3]

Merrill Markoe (finalist) — Walking In Circles Before Lying Down

Bob Newhart (finalist) — I Shouldn't Even Be Doing This!: And Other Things That Strike Me As Funny

• 2008: Larry Doyle (winner) — I Love You Beth Cooper

Patricia Marx (finalist) — Him Her Him Again The End of Him

Simon Rich (finalist) — Ant Farm: And Other Desperate Situations

• 2009: Ian Frazier (winner) — Lamentations of the Father

Sloane Crosley (finalist) — I Was Told There'd Be Cake

Bruce Ducker (finalist) Dizzying Heights: The Aspen Novel

Don Lee (finalist) — Wrack and Ruin

Laurie Notaro (finalist) — The Idiot Girl and the Flaming Tantrum of Death

• 2010: Steve Hely (winner) — How I Became a Famous Novelist

Jancee Dunn (finalist) — Why Is My Mother Getting a Tattoo?

Rhoda Janzen (finalist) — Mennonite in a Little Black Dress

• 2011: David Rakoff (winner) — Half Empty

Mike Birbiglia (finalist) — Sleepwalk With Me and Other Painfully True Stories

Rick Reilly (finalist) — Sports from Hell

• 2012: Calvin Trillin (winner) — Quite Enough of Calvin Trillin: Forty Years of Funny Stuff^[4]

Nate DiMeo (finalist) — Pawnee

Patricia Marx (finalist) — Starting from Happy

• 2013: Dan Zevin (winner) — Dan Gets a Minivan

Shalom Auslander (finalist) — Hope: A Tragedy

Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel (finalists) — Lunatics: A Novel

• 2014: John Kenney (winner) — Truth In Advertising^[2]

Liza Donnelly (finalist) — Women on Men

Bruce McCall and David Letterman (finalists) — This Land Was Made for You and Me (But Mostly Me)

• 2015: Julie Schumacher (winner) — Dear Committee Members^[5]

Roz Chast (finalist) — Can't We Talk About Something More Pleasant?

Annabelle Gurwitch (finalist) — I See You Made an Effort: Compliments, Indignities, and Survival Stories from the Edge of 50

References

1. Armao, Mark (25 August 2015). "Thurber Prize for American Humor Announces First All-Female Trio of Finalists". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
2. "Past Thurber Prize Winners". Thurber House. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
3. "'Frasier' writer wins literary award". USA Today. The Associated Press. 3 October 2007. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
4. "Humorist Calvin Trillin wins Thurber Prize". MassLive.com. The Associated Press. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 28 September 2015.
5. "Native Delawarean first woman to win humor award". The News Journal. The Associated Press. 25 September 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2015.

External links

• Thurber Prize for American Humor at Thurber House