Dactyl Foundation offers a $1000 award to any literary fiction author, writing in English, who has published a book-length work, novel or collection of short stories. To be considered for the 2016 award, an author must be nominated by a peer, another published literary fiction author who must submit a review of one of the author’s works to Dactyl Review by December 31, 2015.

The Dactyl Foundation Literary Award is designed to encourage authors to work together to promote literary fiction.  The way the publishing and awards system is currently organized, too few people are in control of what books become known to the public. Too often the people making the decisions are more interested in the expected market performance of the work than in its literary merits. Dactyl Foundation wants to make it possible for more literary fiction writers to have a voice in deciding which works are recognized as literary. Dactyl Review does not have a staff of reviewers or judges; instead the literary fiction community is called upon to review and judge the works considered for the award.

On the one hand, we make it easy for any author to be considered for the award by removing financial barriers. Entrants do not have to send in their work; Dactyl Foundation actually purchases copies of all qualifying entries. There is no entry fee. On the other hand, the requirement that another literary fiction writer must nominate a work by writing a review, prevents some authors from being considered. However, this ensures that at least one other published writer believes the work is worthy of recognition and worth the considerable time it takes to read and review the book. The quality of the reviewer’s own writing will either recommend the nominated work or not, and the reviewer has to provide evidence from the writing itself to support the opinions stated in the review.  (See reviewing guidlelines.) Unfortunately, these review requirements tend to reduce the number of entries, and in some years, we have had too few qualifying entries to award the prize.  Fortunately, the entries we do get tend to be of a very high quality.

If you are a literary fiction writer, please contribute to your community. Write and submit a review of any book length literary fiction, written in any year, by any living author writing in English. The recipient of the 2015 award will be selected in January 2016. See complete award guidelines.

Forward this announcement to any and all literary fiction authors you know. And whether you are a writer of literary fiction or just a reader of literary fiction, please donate to Dactyl Foundation to support this important work.  100% of your tax-deductible donation will be used to finance the award and/or to purchase copies of qualifying entries. Thank you!

-VN Alexander, editor