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The application period for the Susan Kamil Emerging Writers Prize, administered by the Book Industry Charitable (Binc) Foundation, opens today and runs through April 22. The prize awards two aspiring writer-booksellers or creator-comic retailers $12,500 each to focus on a full-length manuscript. Any writer working on a full-length manuscript, graphic novel, or comic who is currently employed at a physical book or comic store in the U.S. and has been for a minimum of three months is eligible. To learn more about eligibility and to apply, click here.
The prize was established by Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter and author Charles Duhigg and his wife, Liz Alter, a professor of biology at California State University Monterey Bay. The award is in honor of Susan Kamil, who was executive v-p and publisher of Random House when she died in 2019 and was known for recognizing new literary voices and introducing them to the public.
Duhigg said, "Booksellers are the heart of not only our literary communities, but defenders of democracy and freedom. I hope this scholarship helps some writer, toiling away, know that there are legions cheering for their success."
The judges are:
- Emma Aprile, a copy editor of literary fiction, nonfiction, and poetry for independent presses, and a part-time bookseller at Carmichael's Bookstore, Louisville, Ky.
- Chriscynethia Floyd, v-p and publisher of Our Daily Bread Publishing, who joined Binc's board of directors in 2024.
- Jonathan Hawpe, a bookseller at Carmichael's Bookstore in Louisville, Ky., for more than 20 years, and a freelance writer and artist, who has published work in LEO weekly, Bejeezus magazine, and Louisville Cartoonist Society anthologies.
- James Killen, a longtime buyer at Barnes & Noble, who is now director of retail operations for the Manga Spot stores for Kadokawa World Entertainment and serves on Binc's board of directors.
- Susan Hans O'Connor, owner of the Penguin Bookshop in Sewickley, Pa., who began her publishing career at Viking Penguin, where she was an associate editor.
- Jonathan Putnam, author of historical fiction, including the Lincoln & Speed Mystery series, who is a past board member of the Historical Novels Society of North America and is treasurer on Binc's board of directors.
- Christie Roehl, a former member of Binc's board of directors and current member of the Binc Program Committee. She was formerly a Borders Bookstore store manager and Borders Group Foundation volunteer, who now volunteers in the Walsh College mentor program.