Institute for Immigration Research
New American Voices Award

Founded in 2018, Fall for the Book and the Institute for Immigration Research created an award to recognize recently published works that illuminate the complexity of the human experience as told by immigrants, whose work is historically underrepresented in writing and publishing.

Three jurors will judge all entries for the 2024 New American Voices Award and choose three finalists and then award the prize to one. Finalists will be announced in summer 2024 and all three finalists and the judges will appear at the Fall for the Book festival in October 2024 for the seventh annual presentation and read from and discuss their work. The winning writer will receive $5,000 and the two finalists each will receive $1,000.

If America is a country of immigrants as it is often described, then the quintessential American literature would be the literature of immigration... Hopefully these new voices will make us step back and look at ourselves with new eyes, and new hope and new meaning.

Helon Habila

2018 Judge

Award News

Shahnaz Habib Wins 7th Annual New American Voices Award

Shahnaz Habib, Carrie Sun, and Alex Espinoza Named 2024 Finalists

Judges Name 2024 Longlist

Twelve authors are named for the 2024 New American Voices Award Longlist.

Submission Guidelines

Submit to the Award

Starting December 4, 2024, publishers can enter immigrant writers* who have published no more than three books.
Entries must be prose: literary fiction or creative nonfiction. Please no journalism, plays, anthologies, or poetry.
Eligible books must have been (or will be) published between October 1, 2024 and September 30, 2025.
Four bound copies of the book (galleys/ARCs are acceptable) must be postmarked April 7, 2025 (deadline extended from March 29) and sent to Kara Oakleaf at 4400 University Drive, MS 3E4, Fairfax, VA 22030, along with a $20 entry fee. Checks can be made out to Fall for the Book, Inc.; entry fee may also be paid online here.
For accessibility reasons, please also submit your book digitally. Please email them to kara [at] fallforthebookorg. If no bound copies will be available by the deadline, you may submit digitally only.

*Writers should be immigrants to the U.S., living in the States. They can be first generation by either definition of the term (born elsewhere and immigrated to the U.S., or born in the states to parents who immigrated to the U.S.) Questions? Contact Kara Oakleaf – kara[@]fallforthebook.org