Elinor Lipman

LOWELL – The Pollard Memorial Library Foundation announced that the winner of the fifth Elinor Lipman Award for Writing is Paul Kram, and Kacy Zurkus as the recipient of the Elinor Lipman Distinguished Mention Award. Both are residents of Lowell, MA.

The Lipman Award will be presented on Thursday, November 19, at 6:00 p.m., in the Community Room of the Pollard Memorial Library.

This annual award honors Elinor Lipman, a distinguished, prolific, and much-loved author born and raised in Lowell, by awarding a prize of $1,000 for a work of fiction or creative non-fiction written by a Lowell resident or a student at Middlesex Community College or the University of Massachusetts, Lowell.

The judges selected the story entitled “Why Randi Got Rid of Her Van” by Paul Kram. Ms. Lipman writes that the story “is a smart, unprettified page-turner that feels authentic, cinematic, and often arresting. Told from a murderer’s point of view, the novel’s literary bravery surprised and impressed the judges.”

Kacy Zurkus’s “Aimee,” an excerpt from a longer work entitled “No One Believed Her,” was selected for the Distinguished Mention Award. “Grappling with urgent subjects in a confident and nuanced way,” writes Ms. Lipman, “Aimee” is a moving piece that encourages us to think deeply about shame, guilt, and how we show up for others and ourselves.”

The Lipman Award recognizes the importance of literacy and learning in the City of Lowell for the lives of its residents.  The prize is funded by the Pollard Memorial Library Foundation.

The submissions were reviewed in a blinded manner by the judges:  Elinor Lipman; literary editor Pilar Garcia-Brown; and the 2022 Lipman Award winner, poet Lillian-Yvonne Bertram.

For more information about the judges, please see:  https://lowelllibrary.org/get-involved/foundation/elinor-lipman-award/.

For more information, please email LipmanAward@gmail.com