The Distinguished Artist Award in Creative Writing

The awards are scholarships for $2500 per year, renewable for four years, if the recipient maintains a 3.0 grade point average and enrolls in a creative writing class each year.

The awards are extremely competitive—we offer only four each year, so inevitably some very good writers are disappointed. But we think there is value in applying even for those who are not selected, since it gives faculty a chance to get to know them and their work before they arrive on campus and begin taking creative writing courses here.

Below is an application for the award. The writing sample and 500-word essay are the most important factors in the selection process. Your previous academic record is not as important as your future promise and ability to express yourself with words.

Please don’t hesitate to call the English department office (616.395.7620) or David Klooster, Chair of the English Department (616.395.7619), if you have any questions.

Application Form

Comments from Previous Recipients

"The DAA program has been great. I knew I wanted to be a writer before coming to Hope College, but getting the scholarship kind of gave me an "in" in the department, and I've loved all of my writing classes so far. I have definitely kept up with those, being a writing major. I've had a great experience as a DAA." —Corrie Smith ’06

"The DAA Creative Writing program allowed me to take Poetry 355 as a freshman, which has been an amazing experience so far. The class far exceeds any expectations I had of what a poetry class would be like; every day I learn a new application of meter, scansion, or form as it applies to the writing of contemporary poetry. I was initially nervous about presenting my poetry to a class, but the workshop sessions have proved to be an exhilarating experience, with classmates giving intelligent, insightful critiques of my work and constructive suggestions for revision. It is a unique experience to be involved in the creation process of the poetry of seven other people. I am glad that the DAA opened the door for me to dive into this upper-level creative writing course in my first term at Hope." —Bethany Richardson ’09

"I was planning on majoring in English or communications, so the English with a writing emphasis major seemed like a good track to head for given I already needed to take writing classes and had AP credit for lit classes. . . . The best opportunity being a DAA opened up for me was that it gave me a place the 255 poetry class the first semester of my freshman year. I couldn't have asked for a better first experience of writing at Hope. I was very seriously considering transferring, but the poetry classes I took helped me through the year and made me realize that I belong at Hope. . . . Thanks for offering this award; I probably wouldn’t have chosen to come to Hope if I hadn’t received it, and I’d be missing out if I wasn’t here." —Anna West ’08

"When I came to Hope as a DAA recipient, I knew I would have an immediate connection in the English department since I would be taking a lot of writing courses. I also thought professors might recognize my name ahead of time, which can never hurt! Beyond that, I thought professors might expect higher quality work in their classes from me since I had been awarded the scholarship."

"I was able to take English 255, Beginning Poetry, my freshman year, a course which I later learned was hard to get into even for seniors and which always has a wait list. I met the other DAA recipients in this class. It was nice to connect with other first-year writers as well as be in a class of mixed ages. Another great result of being awarded the DAA scholarship was that I got an email from Heather Sellers the summer before freshman year regarding the Visiting Writers Series. I emailed her back about my interest and have been involved with the series ever since."

"I am very involved with the English department. I am an English major with a writing emphasis, I continue to be heavily involved in VWS as a student intern, and I work in the department office three days a week." —Kristin Olson ’07