The Connecticut Book Awards – on hiatus since 2011 – are back because the need for them exists!

So Zen. Or something.

But through what other avenue can we recognize outstanding Connecticut-based authors?

Nowhere.

There is a void in the Connecticut literary landscape for this kind of recognition of home grown authors. Several other awards and prizes in the state exist, awards such as The Nutmeg Awards, New Voices in Children’s Literature: Tassy Walden Awards, The Windham Campbell Prize, and a small handful of others, but these awards have specific criteria and don’t necessarily focus on Connecticut-based authorship. Without the Connecticut Book Awards, there is no statewide recognition of Connecticut authors who craft words and convey ideas in a compelling way.

Authors stand on the shoulders of giants, of course. Connecticut has a long history of remarkable authors – Mark Twain, Arthur Miller, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Clare Booth Luce – and more recently, Annie Proulx, Suzanne Collins, and Elizabeth Gilbert.

Don’t we need a way to recognize authors of that stature? Who have valuable things to say? Who say it in an elegant way? Who make us think? Who make us smile? Who make us examine ourselves and how we relate to others around us?

We do. So we’re bringing the Connecticut Book Awards back.

Because they are important.

To submit to the 2017 Connecticut Book Awards, please visit here.