Submissions are open for the inaugural Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing. A prize of $10,000 and publication by Restless Books will be given annually for a book of prose by a first-generation resident of the United States. The prize will alternate between fiction and nonfiction; the 2015 prize will be given in fiction.
Writers who were born in another country and have relocated to the United States, as well as American-born residents whose parents were born in another country are eligible. Writers who have not published a full-length book of fiction with a U.S. publisher are eligible. Using the online submission system, submit a fiction manuscript of at least 45,000 words with a curriculum vitae by December 31. There is no entry fee.
The winners will be announced in May 2016. Restless Books will also publish the work of five finalists as a digital chapbook. Maaza Mengiste, Javier Molea, and Ilan Stavans will judge.
“We are looking for extraordinary unpublished submissions from emerging writers of sharp, culture-straddling writing that addresses American identity in a global age,” said Restless Books publisher Ilan Stavans, who is an immigrant from Mexico and an expert on Latino literature. “In novels, short stories, memoirs, and works of journalism, immigrants have shown us what resilience and family devotion we’re capable of, and have expanded our sense of what it means to be American. In these times of intense xenophobia, it is more important than ever that these stories reach the broadest possible audience.”
Established in 2013, the Brooklyn, New York–based Restless Books is committed to publishing international literature that “reflects the restlessness of our multiform lives.” Recent and forthcoming titles include Alfred MacAdam’s translation from the Spanish of Alejandro Jodorowsky’s novel Where the Bird Sings Best, Tim Wilkinson’s translation from the Hungarian of Györgo Spiró’s novel Captivity, and Githa Hariharan’s essay collection Almost Home: Finding a Place in the World From Kashmir to New York.