As early as age 4, Elwin Cotman realized he wanted to be a writer.
Drawn to fantastical stories he saw in video games and read at the library, the Pittsburgh native first typed his own stories on his father’s typewriter and later, his mom’s word processor. From age 8 until high school, he spent summers at Pitt with the Young Writers Institute where, he said, he gained the tools and inspiration to be a writer.
Today, his decadeslong embrace and development of those tools has earned the University of Pittsburgh alumnus a Whiting Award, which recognizes excellence and promise among emerging talent, giving most winners the chance to devote themselves full time to their writing, or to take bold new risks in their work.
He is one of 10 writers who will receive a $50,000 grant on the 40th anniversary of the honors. Past winners include National Book Award winner Terrance Hayes (A&S ’97G) and Hill District native and Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson, whose archive lives in Pitt’s University Library System.
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