The Berkshire Conference invites submissions from presses or authors for its First Book Prize, which carries with it a $1000 award to the author. The prize is for a first book in any field of history written by a woman who is normally resident in North America. Books need not focus on women's history, and many past winners have not. Only books published in 2009 (as indicated on the title page or the reverse side of the title page) will be considered. There are no exceptions to this rule. The following categories are not eligible for consideration: textbooks, juveniles, documentary collections, fiction, poetry, or collections of essays.

If you are the author of a book that might qualify for the prize, please direct your publisher to submit ONE COPY of your book directly to the address listed below. If you are a publisher we urge you, if you have not already done so, to review your list and submit entries soon. Presses may submit multiple entries. The deadline for submitting entries is January 15, 2010.

Please send one copy of the book to:
Lisa Cody
Department of History
Claremont McKenna College
Claremont, CA 91711

Please note that only one copy of the book is requested for the first round. Presses are not required to send a nomination letter, but each press must include a cover letter indicating that the book or books are prize submissions, and bearing the name, telephone number and e-mail of the appropriate contact person on the staff. If your press's book reaches the shortlist we will contact the press and ask that they submit another four (4) copies.

The 2009 award will be announced in Summer 2010, and in a full-page advertisement in Perspectives, the newsletter of the American Historical Association. For more information on the book prize please contact Professor Cody at lisa.cody@claremontmckenna.edu .