“Two years in a row, I was nominated for a Hippo Award in the Best Overall category, and two years in a row I lost. I consider this to be one of the greatest failures of my life.”

Justin Catanoso, Author of My Cousin the Saint

Every year, we celebrate the best of The Monti by holding the Hippo Awards. The event is held every February after The Monti’s Board of Directors pores over the entire catalog of stories told at The Monti from January to December of the previous calendar year. Stories are nominated in three categories: Comedy, Drama, and Overall. Once the nominations are set, it’s The Monti’s fan base that determines the winners by listening to the stories online and voting via Ballots.

2017 Hippo Winners Label — From left: Evelyn RoHo (Drama), Eryk Pruitt (Comedy), Hannah Strom (Overall)

The Monti

Comedy

2008: Melissa Delbridge, Desperately Seeking Step-Ins
2009: Fabienne Worth, The Barrel and the Bidet
2010: Montek Singh, Mr. Singh Goes to Spring Break
2011: Drew Perry, The Hum
2012: Daniel Wallace, Letters to Mom
2013: Sarah Ford
2014: Drew Perry
2015: Andrew Aghapour
2016: Sheila Simpson
2017: Eryk Pruitt
2018: Montek Singh

Drama

2008: Andrea Selch, Replacement Child
2009: Dave VanHook, Beat It!
2010: Greg Taylor, Stop Light
2011: Cathy Maready, In the Arms of Orion
2012: Julie MacDonald, Finding God
2013: Page Crawford
2014: Ray Christian
2015: Darius Williams
2016: Erin Duffy
2017: Evelyn RoHo
2018: Betsy Bertram

Overall

2008: Tanya Olson, Lemon Pig
2009: Lori Hensley, All You Need Is Lust
2010: Tiffany Lopez, Cancelling Christmas
2011: Jon Mozes, Nothing
2012: Carter Kersh, Beer Tab Curtains
2013: Aaron Nelson
2014: Sarah Ford
2015: Mandy Hitchcock / Montek Singh
2016: Steve Daugherty
2017: Hannah Strom
2018: Ami Meyer

The Monti StorySLAM

GrandSLAMpions:

2010: Diane Bryson
2011: Billy Sugarfix
2012: Graig Meyer
2013: Clare Fieseler
2014: David Freifeld
2015: Brian Murray
2016: Blakely Lord
2017: Steve Daugherty
2018: Curtis Taylor and Blakely Lord