Winterhouse Awards for Design Writing & Criticism

2008 recipients

David Barringer

The Writing Award—open to writers, critics, scholars, historians, journalists and designers, in the amount of $10,000—was awarded to David Barringer for his three submissions:

David Barringer grew up in Michigan and now lives in North Carolina. He is the author of the novels American Home Life (2007) and Johnny Red (2005); the fiction collections Twisted Fun (2006) and We Were Ugly So We Made Beautiful Things (2003); and the book of design criticism American Mutt Barks in the Yard (Émigré, 2005). He has written for Émigré, I.D., Eye, Voice: AIGA Journal of Design, Details, Mademoiselle, The American Prospect, Nerve.com, The Detroit Free Press, the ABA Journal and many others.

Annie Simpson

One Education Award—open to high school, undergraduate or graduate students whose use of writing, in the interest of making visual work or scholarship or cultural observation, demonstrates extraordinary originality and promise, in the amount of $1,000—was awarded to Annie Simpson, for her submission:

Annie Simpson recently completed her MA in Histories and Theories at the Architectural Association. She received her BA in 2001 from Columbia University, where she studied comparative literature and religion. After graduating, she freelanced as a ghostwriter, a researcher and a legal assistant for various writers, artists and political activists. Presently, she lives in Chicago, where she works on special projects at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill.

Joshua Yaffa

One Education Award, in the amount of $1,000, was also awarded to Joshua Yaffa, for his submission:

Joshua Yaffa is a freelance writer who lives in Brooklyn. In addition to “The Road to Clarity,” his story about the highway typeface Clearview published in The New York Times Magazine, he is a frequent contributor to other sections of The New York Times, and has also written for Good magazine, The Forward and McSweeney’s online. He grew up in San Diego, spent several years in Moscow, and recently completed graduate degrees in journalism and international affairs at Columbia University.