Feminist Formations and NWSA Paper Award
NWSA is proud to announce a new award, in collaboration with Feminist Formations (formerly the NWSA Journal). The Feminist Formations - NWSA Scholarly and Creative Work Competition will open Spring 2024!
The Feminist Formations - National Women’s Studies Association annual competition will select one winner whose work will be published in Feminist Formations and who will also receive $500. The competition is open to scholars at all ranks, including independent scholars and artists. Multiple modes of knowledge production will be considered, including, but not limited to traditional scholarly articles, essays, poetry, and visual imagery. We are particularly interested in work that contributes to Black, Indigenous, and women of color feminisms; trans feminist studies; critical disability studies; and transnational feminisms. We also seek work that contributes to the journal’s mission to support “robust interdisciplinary, intersectional, and transnational feminist scholarship that can inspire incisive and politically meaningful analyses and action.”
Applicants must hold current active NWSA memberships.
Note: We do not accept submissions of work that has been previously published or is being reviewed by another journal. Feminist Formations is published three times a year by the Johns Hopkins University Press, and is currently housed in the Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies Program at Oregon State University. For more information, visit www.feministformations.org.
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Gloria E. Anzaldúa Book Prize
The prize includes $1,000 and recognition for groundbreaking monographs in women's studies that makes significant multicultural feminist contributions to women of color/transnational scholarship. The prize honors Gloria Anzaldúa, a valued and long-active member of the National Women's Studies Association.
Application Guidelines
- Must hold a current NWSA individual membership (including co-authors)
- Books considered must have a first date of US publication between May 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024
- Must complete the online application
- Presses cannot submit
- The committee seeks groundbreaking monographs in women's studies that make a significant multicultural feminist contributions to women of color/transnational scholarship
- Anthologies will not be considered
- Applicants must provide access to an electronic version of their book for up to 5 reviewers
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Alison Piepmeier Book Prize
NWSA offers an annual $1,000 Alison Piepmeier book award for a groundbreaking monograph in women, gender, and sexuality studies that makes significant contributions to feminist disability studies scholarship thanks to a gift from Susan Shaw, Patti Duncan, Jane Nichols, Kryn Freehling-Burton, and Nancy Barbour. The donation comes from the contributor budget from a four-volume reference collection, Women's Lives Around the World: A Global Encyclopedia (ABC-CLIO, 2018). This prize honors Alison Piepmeier, an active member and leader of NWSA whose scholarship examined the intersection of feminist and disability studies, with a particular emphasis on reproductive decisions and disabilities and parenting and disabilities.
Application Guidelines
- Must hold current NWSA individual membership (including co-authors)
- Books considered must have a first date of US publication between May 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024
- Must complete the online application
- Presses cannot submit
- Anthologies will not be considered
- Scholars with disabilities, scholars of color, and LGBTQ scholars are especially encouraged to apply.
- Suggested topics for feminist disability studies include but are not limited to:
- Applicants must provide access to an electronic version of their book for up to 5 reviewers
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Sara A. Whaley Book Prize
Thanks to a generous bequest from Sara A. Whaley, NWSA will offer an annual $2,000 Sara A. Whaley book award on the topic of women and labor. This prize honors Sara Whaley, who owned Rush Publishing and was the editor of Women's Studies Abstracts. Each year NWSA will award a book prize ($2,000) for a monograph that addresses women and labor from intersectional perspectives.
Application Guidelines
- Must hold current NWSA individual membership (including co-authors)
- Books considered must have a first date of US publication between May 1, 2023 and April 30, 2024
- Must complete the online application
- Presses cannot submit
- Anthologies will not be considered
- Women of color of the U.S. and/or International origin are encouraged to apply.
- Suggested topics for feminist disability studies include but are not limited to:
- Applicants must provide access to an electronic version of their book for up to 5 reviewers
Apply Here
NWSA/University of Illinois Press First Book Prize
The University of Illinois Press (UIP) and the National Women's Studies Association (NWSA) are pleased to continue the annual competition for the best dissertation or first book manuscript by a single author in the field of women's and gender studies. Applicants must be National Women's Studies Association members. The Press and NWSA seek nonfiction manuscripts that exemplify cutting-edge intersectional feminist scholarship, whether the area of focus is historical or contemporary. The competition is open to scholars from all disciplinary backgrounds, but the sponsoring organizations especially encourage work that speaks effectively across disciplines, and projects that offer new perspectives on concerns central to the field of women's and gender studies.
Possible topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Activism
- Coloniality, postcoloniality and neo-imperialism
- Cultural production (media, film, music, literature)
- Feminist knowledge production
- Feminist pedagogy
- Feminist politics
- Feminist science and environmental studies
- Feminist theory
- Gender and disability
- Gender and globalization
- Gender and labor practices
- Gender and militarism
- Gender and queer sexuality
- Gender and violence
- Gendered experiences of people of color
- Girls studies
- Global and transnational feminisms
- Institutions and public policies
- Intersectionality
- Theories and practices of coalition
- Transgender studies
- Women of color feminisms
If a winner of the competition is selected, they will receive a publication contract with the University of Illinois Press. Runners up may also be considered for publication with the University of Illinois Press. Submitted dissertations must have been completed and defended within the three years prior to submission. All submissions must be must be timestamped by 11:59p (central time) on May 1st.
- Must hold a current/active individual membership with NWSA
- Cover letter (be sure to indicate if any material from the manuscript has been previously published)
- C.V.
- Proposal, including a 4-5 page overview of the scope of the project and analysis of competing titles
- Complete manuscript, at least 150 double spaced pages, 12 pt. Times New Roman font, saved as a PDF
Cover letters should mention the competition and indicate if any material from the manuscript has been previously published. All submissions must be exclusive submissions to the University of Illinois Press for the duration of the contest, and finalists will be notified by the end of September. Please visit the official site for more information.
About the University of Illinois Press:
The University of Illinois Press supports the mission of the university through the worldwide dissemination of significant scholarship, striving to enhance and extend the reputation of the university. Through its publishing programs, the Press promotes research and education, enriches cultural and intellectual life, and fosters regional pride and accomplishments. For more information, please visit www.press.uillinois.edu.
Please direct all questions to:
Dominique J. Moore
Acquisitions Editor
University of Illinois Press
moore53@uillinois.edu
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