The Sarton ~ The Gilda
Announcing the 2023 Sarton Awards and Gilda Prize Shortlists
Sarton Awards
MEMOIR
- Dancing Into the Light: An Arab-American Girlhood in the Middle East by Kathryn Abdul-Baki (She Writes Press)
- Love in the Archives: A Patchwork of True Stories About Suicide Loss by Eileen Vorbach Collins (Apprentice House Press)
- Reconfigured: A Memoir by Barbara Terao (She Writes Press)
- Spirit Things by Lara Messersmith-Glavin (University of Alaska Press)
- Stand In the Traffic by Kate Saunders (Madville Publishing)
- Threads of Awakening by Leslie Rinchen-Wongmo (She Writes Press)
CONTEMPORARY FICTION
- A Thousand Flying Things by Kathryn Brown Ramsperger (TouchPoint Press)
- About the Carleton Sisters by Dian Greenwood (She Writes Press)
- Marva Cope by Teddy Jones (MidTown Publishing)
- The Broken Hummingbird by Ann Marie Jackson (She Writes Press)
- The Journal of Hidden Truths by Mary Avery Kabrich (Self-Open Wings Press)
- The Mother Gene by Lynne Bryant (Atmosphere Press)
HISTORICAL FICTION
- Jane's Cure by D. K. Kennedy (Bedazzled Ink)
- Out of Ireland by Marian O'Shea Wernicke (She Writes Press)
- The Lioness of Boston by Emily Franklin (Godine)
- The Map Colorist: A Novel by Rebecca D'Harlingue (She Writes Press)
NONFICTION
- Cornelia Fort WAFS Pilot: Her Life for Her Country by Sarah Byrn Rickman (Flight to Destiny Press)
- Parenting with an Accent: How Immigrants Honor Their Heritage, Navigate Setbacks, and Chart New Paths for Their Children by Masha Rumer (Beacon Press)
- The Showgirl and the Writer: A Friendship Forged in the Aftermath of the Japanese American Incarceration by Marnie Mueller (A Peace Corps Writers Book, an Imprint of Peace Corps Worldwide)
YOUNG ADULT
- Chasing Eleanor by Kerry Chaput (Black Rose Writing)
- Eat and Get Gas, A Novel by J. A. Wright (She Writes Press)
- Magda, Standing by Christine Fallert Kessides (Bold Story Press)
GILDA PRIZE
- Hope Fights Back by Andrea Lytle Peet (Pegasus Books)
- The Golden Ticket: A Life in College Admissions Essays by Irena Smith (She Writes Press)
- Wine Witch On Fire: Rising From the Ashes of Divorce, Defamation, and Drinking Too Much by Natalie MacLean (Dundurn Press Ltd.)
The 2023 Women's Book Award contests has closed. Check back in 2024.
The Women's Book Awards are sponsored by the Story Circle Network, an international nonprofit association of women writers.
- The Sarton Awards are presented in six categories (memoir, historical fiction, contemporary fiction, nonfiction, young adult fiction, and middle-grade fiction). The award program is named in honor of May Sarton, who is remembered for her outstanding contributions to women's literature as a memoirist, novelist, and poet. Sarton memoirs, novels, and nonfiction books are distinguished by the compelling ways they honor the lives of women and girls and are limited to books published by independent authors and publishers.
- Gilda Prize: “It’s Always Something” is named in honor of comedian Gilda Radner. Gilda entries are distinguished by their fresh voices, their honesty, and their authenticity. They make us laugh (even when we want to cry).
The Sarton and Gilda competitions are open for nomination of books by women authors published in English in the United States and Canada. The awards are limited to submissions originally written in English and published by independent publishers, university presses, and author-publishers (self-publishing authors) with editorial offices headquartered in North America. Nominations of works from/about women of color and LBT+ women are welcome in all categories. Anyone, including the author, may nominate one or more books in multiple categories.
Professional librarians not affiliated with SCN select the winners from finalists chosen by first round jurors. Winners and finalists will be announced in April, 2022 via social media, on the Story Circle Network website, and to SCN’s extensive email list.
- Winners receive a cash prize of $100, a commemorative award, gold seals, and a virtual seal for their websites, as well as advertising in SCN’s eletters and website and a year’s membership in SCN. Winners are also invited to attend and be honored at Stories from the Heart, SCN’s national conference (virtual or onsite).
- Finalists receive silver seals and a virtual seal for their websites.
See previous winners here.