Some of the most famous writers associated with the University - playwright Arthur Miller among them - were aided in their rocky young careers by the Hopwood writing awards.

In a ceremony yesterday awards were presented to a new class of writers, this year's winners of the Hopwood Underclassmen Contest for fiction, nonfiction and poetry.

Eligibility for the Underclassmen Contest isn't required to join the ranks of professional writers, though. Linda Pastan, who read at yesterday's ceremony in Rackham Amphitheatre, said she hadn't taken any writing classes in college.

Pastan read from several volumes of her poetry, including her newest, "Queen of a Rainy Country." She was a finalist for the National Book Award in 1998 and served as the poet laureate of Maryland from 1991 to 1995.

The underclassmen contest is open to freshmen and sophomores enrolled in writing classes at the University. Nicholas Delbanco, an English professor and member of the Hopwood Committee, introduced the ceremony to the students, family members and friends in the audience and exlained the judging process that decides the awards.

A small panel of judges ranks the submitted works in each category. The score for high-ranking works determines the size of the award given. In this year's contest, the awards ranged from $100 to $1,500.

Many of the winners hail from Michigan, but others came from Missouri, New York and India. Among the many English majors were History of Art and Music majors, as well. Most were present to receive their award and check, but several were absent, either because they were studying abroad - in Thailand and Italy, for example - or simply didn't come.

In his introduction of Pastan, Delbanco said her works are characterized by their "succinctness - the great claims are couched modestly, the rhythms are unforced."

Pastan's readings were well-received by an attentive audience. Her poem "Ethics" drew a lot of laughter. Pastan interrupted herself in the middle of one of her poems: "'As if revision were the purest form of love' - and as you all know by now, it is."

Freshmen Jessica Vosgerchian of Westland, Mi., and Jennifer Leija of St. Clair Shores, Mich., were both awarded $1,250 dollars in the underclassman nonfiction category.

In the underclassman fiction category, LSA sophomore Rebecca Shafter of Evanston, Ill., and RC sophomore Clare Smith Marash of New York City, both won $1,500 dollars.

LSA sophomore Keilor Kastella from Gregory, Mich., won the top $1,500 dollar award in the underclassman poetry contest.