Hewett has been called "one of Australia's best-loved and most respected writers". She is regarded as one of the success stories of the Australia Council programme of government grants to writers. She was awarded eight grants including a lifetime Emeritus Grant from the Literature Fund of the Australia Council. She was awarded a D.Litt. from the University of Western Australia in 1996. Her literary awards include: 1940: Meanjin poetry prize 1945 and 1965: ABC National Poetry Prize 1957: Mary Gilmore Award, for the short story "Joey" (published 1961) 1974 and 1982: Australian Writers' Guild Award 1976: International Women's Year Grant 1986: The Australian Poetry Prize 1989: Grace Leven Prize for Poetry 1991: Mattara Poetry Prize 1991: Victorian Premier's Prize for Nonfiction 1993: Australian Artists Creative Fellowship 1994: Turnbull Fox Phillips Banjo Award. 1994, 1996, 2001: Western Australian Premier's Book Awards, for Poetry 1996: Christopher Brennan Award Other recognition includes: 1986: Hewett was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 1986 Australia Day Honours for service to literature 1990: A painting of Hewett by artist Geoffrey Proud won the Archibald Prize 1991: Writers Walk plaque at Circular Quay laid 2000: Western Australian Writers Hall of Fame 2000: New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards, Special Award 2007: Hewett Crescent, in Franklin a suburb of Canberra, is named for her 2015: Dorothy Hewett Award for an unpublished manuscript established by UWA Publishing in honour of Hewett, "as an outstanding writer who was born in this place and spent decades here as a writer, a university teacher, and a mentor to many" Works In her lifetime Hewett had 22 plays performed, and she published nine collections of poetry, three novels and many other prose works. There have been four anthologies of her poetry. Plays and music theatre Ballad of Women (with Nance Macmillan) (1961) This Old Man Comes Rolling Home (Sydney: Currency Press, 1967) Mrs Porter and the Angel (1969) The Chapel Perilous (Sydney: Currency Press, 1972) (first performed in January 1971) Bon-Bons and Roses For Dolly (Sydney: Currency Press, 1972) Catspaw (1974) The Knight of the Long Knives (1975) Miss Hewett's Shenanigans (1975) The Beautiful Miss Portland (1976) The Tatty Hollow Story (Sydney: Currency Press; London, Eyre Methuen, 1976) (written in 1974) The Golden Oldies (Sydney: Currency Press, 1977) Pandora's Cross (Budapest: Centre hongrois de l'I.I.T., 1978) The Man From Mukinupin (Fremantle Arts Centre Press; Sydney: Currency Press, 1980)