Submissions Now Being Accepted for the 2020 South Asia Book Award
Award Rationale
In recent years, an increasing number of high-quality children’s and young adult books have been published that portray cultures, histories, and contemporary issues in South Asia or dealing with South Asians living abroad. To encourage and commend authors and publishers who produce such books, and to provide librarians and teachers with recommendations for educational use, the South Asia National Outreach Consortium (SANOC) will offer a yearly book award to call attention to outstanding works on South Asia.
Eligible Works
- Eligible works for the 2020 award must have been published during the preceding year (January 1 – December 31, 2019).
- Books reprinted for sale in the U.S. will be considered under the U.S. copyright date.
- The committee will review works originally written in English, geared for children ages 4 to 18.
- The primary focus of the text should be related to South Asian cultures (either historical or contemporary). The book should accurately and skillfully portray South Asia, the experience of individuals living in South Asia, or of South Asians living in other parts of the world. The countries and islands that make up South Asia are: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maldives, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and the region of Tibet.
- In determining the award, books will be judged for: 1) literary quality 2) cultural authenticity and 3) potential for classroom use.
- Consideration will be given to the ease with which teachers and librarians in the United States would be able to order multiple copies.
- The jury will name award, honor and highly commended titles—however the number of works recognized, and in what age range, will vary based on the overall submissions for that calendar year.
Submission Process
To nominate a title, authors and/or publishers are invited to submit review copies to the award committee. Submission deadline is January 31, 2020. Please send one copy of the nominated book to each member of the South Asia Book Award Committee, listed below. Review copies will not be returned.
| Emera Bridger Wilson South Asia Center 346 Eggers Hall Syracuse University Syracuse, NY 13244 |
Sudha Gutti 111 French Creek Drive Phoenixville, PA 19460 |
Rachel Weiss Asian Languages & Cultures UW-Madison 1244 Van Hise Hall 1220 Linden Drive Madison, WI 53706 |
| Jennifer Burke 6548 Elmer Hill Road Rome, NY 13440 |
Mary Hennessey 4548 Manitou Dr. Okemos, MI 48864-2111 |
Nidhi Vij Mali 3397 Snow Park Lane West Apt 202 Memphis, TN 38119 |
| Karen Fenner Westhill High School 4501 Onondaga Blvd. Syracuse, NY 13219-2241 |
Amy Laslow 548 Schooner Way Dover, DE 19901 |
Saba Vlach 1126 Pickard St. Iowa City, IA 52240 |
The 2020 SABA Award winner, honor and highly commended books will be announced in May 2020.