The Dedalus Foundation is pleased to announce its inaugural Robert Motherwell Book Award for First-Time Authors. This annual award will recognize the authors of outstanding first books that make significant contributions to the history and criticism of modernism in the arts – including the visual arts, literature, music, and the performing arts. The award will carry a prize of $10,000.
Nominations will be made by publishers, and the winner will be chosen by a jury of three distinguished scholars and writers. Nomination Deadline: December 15, 2024
Nomination Criteria
To qualify for the 2025 Robert Motherwell Book Award for First-Time Authors, a book must be a first book by the author and have been published in 2023 or 2024, in English. The book must make a significant contribution to the history and criticism of modernism in the arts – including the visual arts, literature, music, and the performing arts. (For this award, modernism will be broadly defined, and books will be considered that deal with art created between the mid-nineteenth century and the present.) An eligible book will have been written by a single author; and will be their first book-length publication as a sole author.
Nomination Timeline & Procedure
Nominations by publishers may be submitted starting October 15, 2024, and will be accepted until December 15, 2024. Publishers of books that the jury wishes to consider for the award will be contacted in February 2025, and asked to ship review copies directly to each of the three members of the jury.
