The Christopher Hewitt Award is an annual literary award given each June by A&U magazine for writing that addresses or relates to HIV/AIDS. One award is given in each of four categories: fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, and drama. Awards were first given in 2013. The winners for 2013 were Lisa Sandlin (fiction), Dorothy Alexander (poetry), Terry Dugan (creative nonfiction), and Evan Guilford-Blake (drama).
A&U (originally, Art & Understanding) was established in 1991 as a response to the ongoing loss of members of the creative community due to HIV/AIDS and as a forum for documenting their work. Today, the nonprofit magazine focuses on a variety of aspects of the global pandemicâÂÂincluding advocacy, prevention, and careâÂÂin addition to literature and the arts. Notable artists, activists, and writers are interviewed and featured in each issue. Examples include Anjelica Huston, Janet Jackson, Tony Kushner, George Takei, and Lupe Ontiveros.
The award was initiated by Brent Calderwood, A&U<nowiki/>'s literary editor from 2011 to 2015, along with Chael Needle, A&U's editor. It was named for Christopher Hewitt (1946âÂÂ2004), who served as A&Us first literary editor. Born in Worcestershire, England, Hewitt immigrated to the United States in 1974. His poems and translations appeared in The New Yorker, American Poetry Review, The Advocate, The James White Review, BENT, and in the anthology Queer Crips: Disabled Gay Men Tell Their Stories. At the time of his death at the age of fifty-eight, he was working on a memoir titled âÂÂBrittle Bones,â in part about living with osteogenesis imperfecta.
Christopher Hewitt Award Winners 2020
Nonfiction: âÂÂThe Handsomest Man in New Yorkâ by Patrick Mulcahey
Drama: âÂÂThe Toe Incidentâ by Katherine Gleason
Poetry: âÂÂIt Was Never Supposed to Be Oursâ by Ben Kline
Fiction: âÂÂSoul Cowboyâ by Cris Eli Blak
Christopher Hewitt Award Winners 2019
Nonfiction: âÂÂHow Online Dating Empowers Women with HIVâ by Claire Gasamagera
Drama: âÂÂMy Darling Loveâ by Joe Gulla
Poetry: âÂÂElegy for Ken Meeksâ by Travis Chi Wing Lau
Fiction: No winning entry
Christopher Hewitt Award Winners 2018
Nonfiction: âÂÂThe Custody Visit (1987)â by Andrea Laiacona Dooley
Drama: âÂÂNancy F@&*ing Reaganâ by Daniel Hurewitz
Poetry: âÂÂSan Francisco Generalâ by Greg Casale
Fiction: âÂÂThe Pondâ by John Whittier Treat
Christopher Hewitt Award Winners 2017
Nonfiction: âÂÂWe Blessedâ by John Boucher
Drama: âÂÂThe War Yearsâ by Charles Stephens
Poetry: No winning entry
Fiction: âÂÂThe Love Whispererâ by Raymond Luczak
Christopher Hewitt Award Winners 2016
Nonfiction: âÂÂSave Tonightâ by Jennifer Sembler
Drama: No winning entry
Poetry: âÂÂDays of 1993, âÂÂ94, and âÂÂ95â by Benjamin S. Grossberg
Fiction: âÂÂAlbertâÂÂs Prayerâ by Marie Esposito
Christopher Hewitt Award Winners 2015
Nonfiction: âÂÂLong-Term Survivorâ by Victoria Noe
Drama: No winning entry
Poetry: âÂÂAt the LGBT History Museum in San Franciscoâ¦â by Sean Patrick Mulroy (tied with) âÂÂNew New Colossusâ by Noah Stetzer
Fiction: âÂÂDrowned Riverâ by Dale Corvino
Christopher Hewitt Award Winners 2014
Nonfiction: âÂÂVoicing That Inner Scream: Visibility and AIDS in LGBT Africaâ by Nick Hadikwa Mwaluko
Drama: No winning entry
Poetry: âÂÂBuilding Immunitiesâ by Stephen Mead
Fiction: âÂÂAfter the Cureâ by Stephen S. Mills
Christopher Hewitt Award Winners 2013
Nonfiction: âÂÂLike Taking Blood from a Babyâ by Terry Dugan
Drama: âÂÂCowboy Nocturneâ by Evan Guilford-Blake
Poetry: âÂÂTrip to Wyukaâ by Dorothy Alexander
Fiction: âÂÂGreyhound, 1984â by Lisa Sandlin