2022 Award Nominations

Nominations are open for the following 2022 ALA awards:

  • Graduate Student Best Essay Award For an outstanding paper in African literary studies by a graduate student.
  • Book of the Year Award—Creative Writing For an outstanding book of African literature (novel, non-fiction prose, play, or poetry collection).
  • Book of the Year Award—Scholarship For an outstanding book in African literary studies published in the preceding calendar year.
  • First Book Award—Scholarship For an outstanding book in African literary studies, which is the first book by the author.
  • Abioseh Porter Best Article Award For an outstanding article in African literary studies published in a major peer-reviewed journal in the preceding calendar year.
  • Best Short Story For an outstanding African short story.
  • ALA Distinguished Member Award For outstanding record of service to the ALA and commitment to teaching and scholarship in African literature.
  • Fonlon-Nichols Award For excellence in creative writing and contributions to the struggle for human rights and freedom of expression.

**Each book, article, graduate student essay, and short story award comes with a $250
cash prize and a certificate of recognition.

Basic requirements:

  • the book, article, or short story should have been published in 2020
  • the author must be a member of the African Literature Association at the time of submission
  • a short biography of the author and abstract of the book should accompany the submission (sent via e-mailed)

Authors or their publishers can make nominations. Send six hard copies of each book and a pdf copy of the article, graduate student essay, or short story no later than July 31, 2021 to:

Director, African Literature Association Headquarters
202 Demarest
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
300 Pulteney Street
Geneva, New York 14456
Email: mccorkle@hws.edu

Nominations for the “Distinguished Member Award” and the “Fonlon-Nichols Award” should include: (1) a biographical profile of the nominee and (2) a detailed justification for the nomination. This should not be more than two single spaced or four double-spaced pages. Please email nominations by October 31, 2021 to the ALA Vice President Gaurav Desai (desaig@umich.edu). Self-nominations (and nominations from the publisher of the nominee of the Fonlon-Nichols Award) are not accepted. Both awards come with a plaque, and the Fonlon-Nichols Award comes with a $1000 cash prize.