Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas
First Book Award Competition
Guidelines for 2008

Since 1992, the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas (NWCA), in conjunction with the Native Studies Program at the University of Oklahoma, has been conducting an annual First Book Awards competition. Judges serve each year to evaluate previously unpublished manuscripts in two categories, poetry and prose, before selecting the winners in each. Plans to formulate a consortium of universities and small presses are ongoing in which the winning manuscripts are to be published. The competition is open to writers of Native American background (full-blood, mixed-blood, enrolled, unenrolled, Metis, Canadian First Nations, Alaska Natives, Latin American Natives, etc.). Past winners of the competition, and the titles of their books, may be found on both the NWCA and the Native Storytellers web pages. Here are the guidelines for the upcoming competition for the year 2007-2008:

The acceptance period for manuscripts will be from November 1, 2007, to January 2, 2008.

Two copies of the manuscript must be sent to

Gwen Westerman Griffin
English Department
Minnesota State University, Mankato
Mankato, MN 56001

Judges (who shall remain anonymous) will then evaluate the submissions. The evaluation period will run from January 2, 2008 to March 1, 2008. The winners in the two categories will be announced soon after the evaluation period is ended.

First Book, for the purpose of the competition, means the first book, of any category, to be published by a particular author. If, for example, an author has previously published a nonfiction book (regardless of content and subject), an anthology, a novel, even a cookbook or a genealogical volume, etc., and then submits his/her first book of poetry, such a work cannot be considered in the competition. Self-published poetry chapbooks also count as previously published books.

For the purposes of determining the qualifications of a book for the competition, the following criteria should be observed:

Poetry: Manuscripts must be at least 50 pages of poetry (not including title
page, copyright page, blank pages for art and/or photographs, etc. 50 short
poems---one to a page---is permissible, or even a single 50-page poem, but
the poetry text must be a minimum of 50 pages (again, this does not include
prospective pages of illustrations or photos.)

Prose: Manuscripts must be at least 100 pages of fiction (a collection of
short stories, sketches, novel, or a short novel), or nonfiction (of any
category---history, autobiography, literary criticism, philosophy, etc.).
100 pages of a novel-in-progress or a nonfiction work-in-progress is
unacceptable. The submitted work must be a completed, self-contained draft.

Each submitted manuscript should include:

A) Author’s address(es), especially a mailing address and phone number(s), but email and FAX numbers may also be sent.

B) An acknowledgments page, to include the incorporation of possibly previously published work within the context of the submitted manuscript, with citations as thorough as possible.

C) A brief biographical note, including place of residence and professional background, tribal background, writing career notes (where published, etc.), of no more than a paragraph.

Please do not email your submitted manuscript to us as an attachment. It will not be accepted.

The winning authors will receive their award which will be bestowed during the Native Writers’ Circle of the Americas ceremony along with the NWCA Lifetime Achievement Award winner.