MSA Essay Prize for Contingent and Independent Scholars

The MSA seeks submissions for the inaugural Essay Prize for Contingent and Independent Scholars, sponsored by Clemson University Press.

Instructions: If you and your work match this description, please use this form to upload your (anonymized) submission by May 15th, 2026.

The winner will be announced this fall, and will receive $250 plus up to $600 toward travel expenses to the annual MSA conference (2027)

Eligibility: In order to be considered for the prize, the essay must meet the following criteria:

  • Author is a member of MSA
  • Author is an independent scholar or currently employed off the tenure track
  • Article was published in the calendar year 2025
  • Article was published in a peer-reviewed journal or edited volume
  • Article is between 5k and 10k words
  • Article is about modernism (as it is broadly defined within the MSA)

Call for MSA Book Prize Nominations

Each year, the Modernist Studies Association seeks nominations for its Book Prize and First Book Prize, awarded to books published in the previous year. In odd years, we seek nominations for the Edition, Anthology, or Essay Collection Prize, and in even years for the Translation Prize, each for works published in the previous two years. For the details of each prize and information about how to submit your book for consideration, see the relevant sections below.

Submissions for this year’s awards are due May 15, 2026. The shortlist and winners will be announced in the fall of 2026.

General queries about the prizes can be emailed to Robert Higney, MSA Second-Vice President.

MSA BOOK PRIZE

The Modernist Studies Association seeks nominations for this year’s MSA Book Prize, which will honor books with a copyright date of 2025. The prize is given each year to a work that makes a significant contribution to modernist studies. The winner will receive $1000 plus up to $600 toward travel expenses to the annual MSA conference and will be asked to chair the subsequent year’s award.

Instructions

To nominate a book for the MSA Book Prize, please send (or have the publisher send) a hard copy of the nominated book to each of three jurors:

  • Maebh Long
    Coolinea
    Aghabullogue
    Co. Cork, P12 HT96
    Ireland
  • Matthew Hayward
    20 Thames St
    Claudelands
    Hamilton 3214
    New Zealand
  • Adam McKible
    123 E Willow St
    Beacon, NY 12508
    USA

Books must be received by committee members no later than May 15, 2026. Books arriving after that date may be considered for the prize but are not guaranteed consideration. Self-nomination is encouraged, as it saves a step in the process and helps assure timely receipt of books. Whether a book is nominated by the author, by their publisher, or by someone else plays no role in the committee's deliberations.

Books published in years other than 2025 are ineligible. Such submissions will not be returned.

Eligibility

  • Nominated books should not be the author’s first published book. Authors and publishers of first books are encouraged to enter the MSA First Book Prize.
  • Scholarly editions, collections of essays, anthologies, and similar edited volumes are not eligible for the MSA Book Prize. Editors and publishers of such volumes should consider nominating them for the MSA’s Edition, Anthology, and Collections Prize.
  • Nominated books must bear a first copyright date of 2025, regardless of when the book actually appeared in print. This provision applies even if a new edition (paperback or revised, for example) was published in the award year.
  • Collaborative and multi-authored books are eligible.
  • Printed books and born-digital books are both eligible.
  • Nominated authors need not be members of the MSA.
  • A book may be nominated only once, either for this prize or for the MSA First Book Prize.

MSA FIRST BOOK PRIZE

The Modernist Studies Association seeks nominations for its First Book Prize, which will acknowledge first books by new authors published with a copyright date of 2025. The prize is given each year to a first published book that makes a significant contribution to modernist studies. The winner receives $1,000 plus up to $600 toward travel expenses to the annual MSA conference and will be asked to chair the subsequent year’s award.

Instructions

To nominate a book for the MSA First Book Prize, please send (or have the publisher send) a hard copy of the nominated book to each of this year’s three jurors:

  • Sonali Thakkar
    NYU Department of English
    244 Green St
    New York, NY 10003
  • Ian Afflerbach
    5620 Glenhaven Dr
    Cumming GA
    30041
  • Beth Blum
    12 Quincy St
    Barker Center, Harvard
    Cambridge MA
    02138

Books must be received by committee members no later than May 15, 2026. Books arriving after that date may be considered for the prize but are not guaranteed consideration. Self-nomination is strongly encouraged, as it saves a step in the process and helps assure timely receipt of books. Whether a book is nominated by the author, by their publisher, or by someone else plays no role in the committee's deliberations.

Books published in years other than 2025 are ineligible. Such submissions will not be returned.

Eligibility

  • Nominated books must be the author’s first published book.
  • Scholarly editions, collections of essays, anthologies, and similar edited volumes are ineligible for the MSA First Book Prize. Editors and publishers of such volumes should consider nominating them for the MSA’s Edition, Anthology, and Collections Prize.
  • Nominated books must bear a first copyright date of 2025, regardless of when the book actually appeared in print. This provision applies even if a new edition (paperback or revised, for example) was published in the award year.
  • Collaborative and multi-authored books are eligible.
  • Printed books and born-digital books are both eligible.
  • Nominated authors need not be members of the MSA.
  • A book may be nominated only once, either for this prize or for the MSA Book Prize.

 

MSA Translation Prize

The Modernist Studies Association seeks nominations for its Translation Prize, which will honor books published with a copyright date of 2024 or 2025. The prize is given every even-numbered year to a translation into English of literary works (poems, short stories, novels, criticism) that fall into the broad category of “modernism.” The winner receives $1,000 plus up to $600 toward travel expenses to the annual MSA conference and will be asked to chair the subsequent year’s award.

To nominate a book for the MSA Translation Prize, please send (or have the publisher send) a hard copy of the nominated book to each of this year’s three jurors:

  • Preetha Mani
    259 Harrison Ave.
    Highland Park, NJ
    08904
  • Kasia Bartozynska
    Dept of English
    Ithaca College
    953 Danby Rd
    Ithaca, NY 14850
  • Amr Kamal
    24222 Briones Dr
    Laguna Niguel, CA
    92677

Please include a brief biographical and professional note about the translator, and a copy of the translated work in its original language if possible.

Books must be received by committee members no later than May 15, 2026. Books arriving after that date may be considered for the prize but are not guaranteed consideration. Self-nomination is strongly encouraged, as it saves a step in the process and helps assure timely receipt of books. Whether a book is nominated by the author, by their publisher, or by someone else plays no role in the committee's deliberations.

Books published in years other than 2024 or 2025 are ineligible. Such submissions will not be returned.

Eligibility

  • Nominated books must bear a first copyright date of 2024 or 2025, regardless of when the book actually appeared in print. This provision applies even if a new edition (paperback or revised, for example) was published in the award year.
  • Translators need not be members of the association.
  • Collaborative translations are eligible.
  • Printed books and born-digital books are both eligible.