Announcing the Deadline and Guidelines for the 2023 Big Other Book Awards!

We are excited to announce the deadline and guidelines for the 2023 Big Other Book Awards! The awards aim to recognize excellence in literature and to promote and support the work of innovative writers and adventurous presses.

The winners will be announced at the 2023 Big Other Book Awards Ceremony, which will be aired virtually in 2024.

Here are the submission guidelines:

1. Books must be published between January 1, 2023 and December 31, 2023. E-books, audiobooks, and reissued editions will not be considered.

2. We will select one winner in each of the following categories:

Fiction
Nonfiction
Poetry
Translation

3. Books can be submitted by publishers and authors, although we reserve the right to honor any eligible book. Chapbooks are eligible in every category. There’s no limit to the number of titles a publisher or author may enter.

4. Two finished copies of each submitted entry should be mailed here:

John Madera
218 E. Park Avenue, #415
Long Beach, NY 11561

Galleys will not be considered.

5. The fee is $40 for each entry. Payment can be made HERE. Be sure to attach a cover letter with a press release.

6. Publishers are urged to send their submissions as soon as possible. Packages must be postmarked by March 31, 2024.

7. Finalists will be announced in the spring of 2024. Winners will be announced at the 2023 Big Other Book Awards ceremony in the summer of 2024.

On September 15, 2023, we announced the winners of the 2022 Big Other Book Awards. Click on the link to view the ceremony, where awards for lifetime achievement and outstanding service to the literary community were also presented.

John Madera is the author of Nervosities (Anti-Oedipus Press, 2024) and Nomad Science (Spuyten Duyvil Press, forthcoming in 2026). His fiction is also published in Conjunctions, Salt Hill, Hobart, The &Now Awards 2: The Best Innovative Writing, and many other journals. His poetry is also published in elimae, Sixth Finch, Contrapuntos, and elsewhere. His criticism is published in American Book Review, Bookforum, The Review of Contemporary Fiction, Rain Taxi: Review of Books, The Believer, The Brooklyn Rail, and many other venues. Recipient of an M.F.A. in Literary Arts from Brown University, two-time New York State Council on the Arts awardee John Madera lives in New York City, where he runs Rhizomatic and manages and edits Big Other.

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