2009 Literary Awards Program

Well, it’ll be a while before I get around to updating sfwpawards.com, but I’ll go ahead and make an early announcement for the 2009 Awards Program right here.

The judge for 2009 will be our very own Pagan Kennedy.

The Awards Program will, once again, cater to fiction and creative nonfiction of any genre. For this, Pagan’s a perfect choice. She’s an Orange Prize-nominated fiction author and her nonfiction work is gifted and daring. From the wonderful Black Livingstone, to the controversial First Man Made Man, Pagan doesn’t pull any punches. She’s one of those authors who follows the story – whether she’s creating the universe or not. Of course, I'm very proud of the current SFWP title from Pagan -- so this is where I send you to Dangerousjoy.com to read all about it. It's her tenth book, but I think it might be the best introduction to her work. It's a collection of 14 short articles, capturing the finest of Pagan's journalistic ability.

For years, Pagan has privately tutored many authors and, starting in September, she’ll be pioneering a brand new creative nonfiction department at Dartmouth University. With each Awards Program, I look for an author who has some teaching experience. Pagan certainly brings that to the table.

Usually, the Awards Program starts in the summer. But we need to work with Pagan’s teaching schedule, so the program will begin in January of 2009 and run through July, with the winners being selected in late summer.

I’ve not worked out the prize amounts yet, but I will be lowering the reading fee. I’ve certainly become aware of the rising price of…well, everything. So maybe it’ll be nice to actually have a place where the prices are dropping. Instead of the $30, as in previous years, it’ll be $25. And, if you have a student ID, then the reading fee will be $20.

So start getting your work together. Fiction and nonfiction, any genre.

I often hear from folks who are working on children’s books. Unfortunately, we won’t be able to accept them this time around. I try to cater the Awards Program to the particular specialties of each judge. It’s very much their show, so do spend some time getting to know Pagan.

The page limit will be the same as last year – 25 pages. You can submit a portion of a novel, a selection of excerpts, or multiple short stories as long as you don’t exceed the page limit. That limit does not include cover letter or synopsis. Multiple entries will be accepted.

Since Pagan has taught students in the past, and will be doing so this year, all entries will be blinded.

I’ll update with more details as we develop the program. SFWP will not be releasing a book in 2009, so all focus will be on the Awards Program.