Asian American Literary Awards

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Each year, The Asian American Writers' Workshop honors outstanding achievement in Asian American literature through the Annual Asian American Literary Awards. Now in their eighth year, the literary awards are again taking submissions for eligible works in fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction.

The postmark deadline for submitting work is Friday, April 22, 2004. Please read through the guidelines below to see if your work is eligible.

Books may be nominated by literary agents, publicists, or authors. All entries must be accompanied by an application form. To download an application, please check this page.

To find out more about the literary awards, visit the AAWW website.

2005 Application Guidelines for The Asian American Literary Awards

The Award

The purpose of the Asian American Literary Award is to recognize an individual work written by an Asian American, on the basis of artistic and literary merit, published during the calendar year of 2004.

The Award will be presented to a maximum of three works considered by the Judging Committee to be the best among all entries eligible for the Award.

The Award consists of a crystal artpiece etched with the name of the work, author and year; an opportunity to read at the Eighth Annual Literary Awards Ceremony; additional media notification through press releases; and the possibility of going on a national award tour (up to five U.S. cities) sponsored in part by The Asian American Writers' Workshop.

Eligible Works

Works eligible must have had premiere publication during the calendar year 2004 (January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004) and must have been published for general commercial release in the United States.

The types of genres eligible are as follows: fiction, a short story collection by a single author, novellas, a poetry collection by a single author, creative nonfiction, memoir and plays.

Works must have been written by a person of Asian descent currently residing or who has resided in the continental U.S., Alaska and Hawaii. “Asia” is defined as the regions of East, South and Southeast Asia as well as the Pacific Islands. The Asian American Writers' Workshop and the Judging Committee reserve the right to take the term “Asian descent” on a case-by-case basis if need be.

Works must have been published by large, trade or small presses/publishers. Self-published works, ‘zines or vanity publications are not eligible. Anthologies or books containing more than one author are not eligible.

Works must be originally written in English.

The Award may be awarded to works that have previously won other prizes or recognition.

Entry of Works

Entries may only be submitted by the author, agent, publicist or publisher of the work.

A completed application form must be submitted with each entry. Four copies of the work (clear photocopies and galleys are acceptable) must also be submitted for review by the Judging Committee. No books will be returned. Additional copies may be requested for shortlisted works. All entries become the property of The Asian American Writers' Workshop or members of the Judging Committee.

Authors, publicists, publishers or agents may submit more than one entry, but a separate application form must be completed for each entry.

A $100.00 entry fee must accompany each separate entry. Checks should be made payable to “The Asian American Writers' Workshop.” In the event that a participant cannot pay this fee, a waiver may be granted upon approval. Participants requesting a waiver must contact the Workshop prior to submitting an entry.

Entries must be received by Friday, April 22, 2005. No exceptions will be made. The Asian American Writers' Workshop will accept entries via First Class Mail, FedEx, UPS or hand delivery. The Workshop is not responsible for lost entries.

Participants are urged to submit eligible works as soon as possible. As soon as entries are received, the Workshop will mail participants acknowledgment cards. Please contact the Workshop via telephone or email if participants do not receive a card four (4) weeks after an entry was submitted.

Please do not contact The Asian American Writers' Workshop or the Judging Committee to inquire about the status of your entry once you have received the acknowledgment card.

Judging

The Judging Committee is selected by the Workshop.

The Judging Committee will be divided into three (3) subcommittees. These subcommittees are responsible for compiling a shortlist of entries submitted for the Award. Once shortlists have been compiled, all nine (9) judges will individually rank shortlisted works on a 1–10 point system (10 being highest) on literary and artistic merit. The works with the highest overall ranking will be awarded Annual Asian American Literary Awards.

The decision of the Judging Committee is final.

Contact Information

The Asian American Literary Award
The Asian American Writers’ Workshop
16 West 32nd Street, Suite 10A
New York, NY 10001
tel: 212.494.0061
fax: 212.494.0062
email desk@aaww.org
web site