Sarton Memoir Award: Honoring Women's Lives
This award is named in honor of May Sarton (1912-1995), distinguished American poet, novelist, and author of twelve memoirs and journals. Readers have found Sarton's memoirs and journals to be inspiring, moving, and thought-provoking. She explores such universally significant themes as friendship, love, and nature; feminism and sexuality; the search for fulfilling work and the need for recognition; illness and aging; and the desire for a harmonious, peaceful life.
The Sarton Memoir Award is sponsored by the Story Circle Network, an international nonprofit association of women lifewriters. It will be given annually to the author of the best woman's memoir published in the United States and Canada and selected by a panel of professional librarians from works submitted. The 2011 winning author's name and the title of her book will be announced at Stories from the Heart, the biannual SCN National Memoir Conference, Austin TX, April 13-15, 2012.
Sarton Memoir Award: Guidelines
The Story Circle Network (SCN), an international nonprofit association of women interested in writing about their lives, sponsors this annual award. It is named in honor of May Sarton, who is remembered for her work as a memoirist, novelist, and poet.
The award is given annually to the author of the best woman's memoir published in the United States and Canada and selected from works submitted. Professional librarians not affiliated with SCN will select the winner. The author's name and the title of her book will be announced at Stories from the Heart, the biannual SCN National Memoir Conference, Austin TX, April 13-15, 2012.
Guidelines for 2011
Entry Deadline: December 15, 2011
* Memoirs by women authors published during 2011 in the United States and Canada are eligible.
o A book originally published as a hardcover and released later as a trade or mass-market paperback is eligible only if the original copyright date is 2011.
o Books released/published prior to Jan. 1, 2011, in any format (hardcover, softcover, e-books, CD, Internet downloads, POD, etc.) are not eligible.
* Memoirs by women authors written in collaboration are acceptable if both authors must have experienced the events described in the narrative (for example, a mother/daughter collaboration about their lives together).
* Ghostwritten or collaborative works (memoirs written by or with anyone other than the person who experienced the events therein) are NOT eligible.
* Anyone (author, publisher, SCN member, non-SCN member, other) may submit one or more eligible memoirs.
* The memoir must be submitted in its final, reader-ready form. Advance Reading Copies (ARCs) are not acceptable.
* E-book entries must be submitted in printed and bound form; spiral binding is acceptable.
* Loose manuscript pages or three-ring binders are NOT acceptable and will neither be acknowledged nor returned.
* The entry submission package consists of the application form, the entry fee, and three bound copies of the memoir.
* Entries received with incomplete submission packages will not be acknowledged or returned. The entry fee for an incomplete submission will not be returned.
* If you would like to check out our rubric (the scoring guide our jurors and judges will use to determine the winner), go here.
Questions? Contact us via email: sartonprize at storycircle.org or phone: 512-454-9833 or mail: Story Circle Network, P.O. Box 500127, Austin, TX 78750-0127
Application form >>
More information here.
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