The editors of Early American Literature are pleased to announce the sixth annual Early American Literature Book Prize, which will be given for an author’s first academic monograph about American literature through the early national period (roughly 1830). EAL invites work treating Native American traditional expressions, colonial Ibero-American literature from North America, colonial American Francophone writings, Dutch colonial, and German American colonial literature as well as writings in English from British America and the US. The prize is offered in collaboration with the University of North Carolina Press, the Society of Early Americanists, and the MLA’s Forum on Early American Literature.

First monographs published in 2018 or 2019 are eligible for the 2020 prize, which carries a cash award of $2000. 

The deadline for nominations is March 1, 2020. Please send a single copy of any books nominated for the 2020 prize to:

EAL Book Prize
c/o Chinwe Morah
Editorial Assistant, Early American Literature
Department of English
University of Kentucky
1206 Patterson Office Tower
Lexington, KY 40506

Additional copies of books that make the short list may be requested from the publisher.

The book prize selection committee consists of the journal’s Editor, Advisory Editor, and Co-Editor for Reviews, as well as one representative from the SEA, appointed by the SEA executive committee, and one representative from the executive committee for the MLA’s forum on early American literature.

Inquiries may be directed to Chinwe Morah at chinwe.morah@uky.edu