Diverse Book Awards for Adults

Please visit the following websites for lists of recent winners of awards recognizing diversity in their subject focus and/or authorship. This list emphasizes awards geared toward adult readers, although some of the following associations and prizes also recognize excellence in children's literature. Descriptions in quotes, below, come from the award websites themselves. See the BTC guide to Diverse Children's Literature for children's book awards on diverse subjects and by diverse authors.

African Studies Association - the "flagship membership organization devoted to enhancing the exchange of information about Africa." See the awards menu for their Best Book Prize, Bethwell A. Ogot Book Prize (for East African Studies), Paul Hair Prize (translation of primary sources), and more.

Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards - to "recognize books that have made important contributions to our understanding of racism and our appreciation of the rich diversity of human cultures."

Arab American Book Awards - for "outstanding books written by or about Arab Americans." Awards for nonfiction (scholarly and memoir/creative), fiction, poetry, and children's.

ASALH Book Prize - from the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, for the "best new book in African American History and Culture."

Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature - "to honor and recognize individual work about Asian/Pacific Americans and their heritage, based on literary and artistic merit."

Association for Asian Studies Book Prizes - multiple prizes reflecting outstanding scholarship on China, Inner Asia, Japan, Korea, South Asia, Southeast Asia, translations, and more.

Association for Queer Anthropology, Ruth Benedict Prize - for "excellence in a scholarly book written from an anthropological perspective about a lesbian, gay, bisexual, or transgender topic."

Barbellion Prize - "Awarded annually to an author whose work has best represented the experience of chronic illness and/or disability."

Before Columbus Foundation America Book Award - for "outstanding literary achievement from the entire spectrum of America’s diverse literary community."

Disability History Association - publication awards for outstanding books on disability history.

Disability in Society Award - from the American Sociological Association. Their award for outstanding publication includes books and articles.

Hurston-Wright Foundation Legacy Awards - "recognizing literary excellence by Black writers from the United States and around the world."

Jewish Book Council - for "out­stand­ing Eng­lish-lan­guage books of Jew­ish interest." Categories include autobiography/memoir, biography, contemporary Jewish life and practice, children's books, fiction, history, poetry, the Holocaust, and more.

Lambda Literary Awards - the Lammys have a "tradition of celebrating vibrant, dynamic LGBTQ storytelling."  Includes 24 categories of prizes for fiction and nonfiction.

Middle East Studies Association - three annual book prizes.

Modern Language Association (MLA) Prizes - awards in numerous categories, including United States Latina and Latino and Chicana and Chicano Literary and Cultural Studies and Studies in Native American Literatures, Cultures, and Languages.

National Women's Studies Association - prizes in various categories, including the Gloria E. Anzaldúa Book Prize ("multicultural feminist contributions to women of color/transnational scholarship"), Alison Piepmeier Book Prize (feminist disability studies), and the Sara A. Whaley Book Prize (women and labor).

Native American and Indigenous Studies Association (NAISA) Awards - for scholarly books "by one or two authors on any topic related to Native American and Indigenous Studies."  Includes prizes for first and subsequent books.