The Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Awards were

literary award A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...

s given out each year between 1985 and 2008 by the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights. (Both the awards and the center sometimes had different variations on their names.) Each year ten works were so noted for their treatment of the subjects of bigotry, intolerance, and inequitable power arrangements in society.

Purpose and history

The purpose of the awards was initially described as being "an annual award for the best scholarship published on the subject of intolerance in the U.S." This definition was later stated as being for the purpose of "commend ngworks published in a given year which extend our understanding of the root causes of bigotry and the range of options we as humans have in constructing alternative ways to share power." Each year, ten books were selected to win the award. In some years a list of honorable mentions was also announced. The center was founded in 1984, but the first awards do not appear to have been given until 1985. Awards were announced on December 10 of each year, to coincide with Human Rights Day. Nominations were solicited, or winners announced, in academic journals such as '' Women's Studies Quarterly'', '' Hypatia'', '' NWSA Journal'', ''

The Radical Teacher ''Radical Teacher'' is a socialist, feminist, and anti-racist peer-reviewed academic journal dedicated to the theory and practice of education. The journal examines the root causes of inequality and promotes progressive social change in the field ...

'', and others. Reviewers were formed on a selection committee to read and report on nominated works. One newspaper columnist who acted as a reviewer reported that he was given a list of books to pick two from, which once received he was to write a one-page review of each. It is not clear what the funding sources were for either the center or its awards process. The awards received significant visibility, with many authors including having received one in their biographies.See for example the results o
this Google Books search
In the final year they were given, the books that received awards were said to have been selected from a field of nearly 400 nominations."News and Events: Pollock's Everyday Antiracism Wins Gustavus Myers Award"
Harvard Graduate School of Education, December 8, 2008. Recipients of the award include Toni Cade Bambara,

Paula Giddings Paula J. Giddings (born 1947 in Yonkers, New York) is an American writer, historian, and civil rights activist. She is the author of ''When and Where I Enter: The Impact of Black Women on Race and Sex in America,'' ''In Search of Sisterhood: Delta ...

Joy Harjo Joy Harjo ( ; born May 9, 1951) is an American poet, musician, playwright, and author. She served as the 23rd United States Poet Laureate, the first Native American to hold that honor. She was also only the second Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetr ...

Joe L. Kincheloe Joe Lyons Kincheloe (December 14, 1950 – December 19, 2008) was a professor and Canada Research Chair at the Faculty of Education, McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and founder of The Paulo and Nita Freire International Project for ...

, Walter LaFeber, Ruben Martinez, Nell Irvin Painter, Steven Salaita, Shirley R. Steinberg, Clarence Taylor,

Harriet A. Washington Harriet A. Washington is an American writer and medical ethicist. She is the author of the book ''Medical Apartheid'', which won the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction. She has also written books on environmental racism and the ...

and Kenji Yoshino. The awards ceased when the center closed in 2009 due to a lack of funds.Loretta J. Williams
"With Sadness, Myers Center Closes: Announces Awards for Outstanding Titles in Human Rights,"
''Peacework Magazine,'' New England Office of the American Friends Service Committee, Cambridge, Massachusetts, issue no. 396. Retrieved July 18, 2010.

Awards

References

{{reflist

External links

Gustavus Myers Outstanding Book Award Winners entry at Goodreads
American literary awards American history awards Awards established in 1985 Awards disestablished in 2009 1985 establishments in the United States 2009 disestablishments in the United States

Purpose and history

Awards

See also

References

External links