We're still several weeks away from updating the page at
www.sfwpawards.com, so this is something of a sneak peek.
The 2009 Awards Program will start in January and run through July 15th. Our judge this year is our own Pagan Kennedy.
I worked off of a long list of potential judges, but Pagan really just hit all the right marks. In a judge, I look for someone skilled at both fiction and nonfiction, and someone with some teaching ability. Of course, Pagan's ten books in, she's an Orange Prize-nominated fiction writer, and a Lambda award winning nonfiction author. Mentoring authors independently for years, she has now been selected to spearhead the new creative nonfiction program at Dartmouth. (Which is why the schedule for the program has changed this year -- Pagan won't be free till the summer months.)
The guidelines will, pretty much, be the same next year. The old 2007 guidelines and FAQ's are currently up on the page, so check them out. No matter changes. Except the reading fee has been reduced -- $25 instead of $30. If you're a student, then the reading fee is $20.
There's a grand prize of $1750, and two runner up prizes of $1000 each.
I'll provide updates here in the forums, and on the SFWP Blog (
http://santafewritersproject.blogspot.com/) in the coming weeks. I'll also be taking a closer look at some of the FAQ's and other topics.
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