Call for Submissions: 2027 Book Prize
We are pleased to announce that the BIAJS book prize is now accepting submissions of interest for 2027, in the category of early modern through contemporary. Read below.
Category: Early Modern to Contemporary, all disciplines (see above guidance)
Timeline: The deadline for sending message of your intention to submit (expression of interest) will be Friday 15 January 2027. All physical volumes must be received in the post latest by Friday 26 February 2027 or the submission will become ineligible.
General Information
About the Book Prize
The BIAJS Book Prize competition opens a call normally in October with a deadline for all submissions to be received sometime in January, with all physical books to be received in the post sometime in February. The outcome will be communicated to the winner(s) and any honourable mentions in March. The public, formal announcements will not be made until the July AGM and in all BIAJS communications (website, emails, social media) following.
The book prize initiative was launched in 2018 to recognise and promote outstanding scholarship in the field of Jewish Studies.
Each year BIAJS awards a prize of £1000 for the best monograph submitted, with the focus alternating between books on the ancient to medieval period and early modern to modern period. For the 2027 prize, we invite submissions focused on topics relating to the early modern through contemporary periods. The winner (and any honourable mentions if awarded) will be informed in the spring (or while conference registration is still open) to allow them to attend the conference. The public, celebratory announcement will take place in person at the annual BIAJS conference in the summer and thereafter online.
The judging panel consists normally of a past book prize winner and at least two current committee members. Owing to reasons of fairness the panel remains anonymous, and the secretary acts as the primary point of contact between entrants and the judging panel. The panel reserves the right to award a single book prize though in some years past the prize has been equally split between two deserving books and their authors; it is also common but not required for the panel to decide to award one or more honourable mentions.
Eligibility Criteria:
- Subject matter: Books in any area of academic Jewish Studies related to early modern through contemporary period/evidence are eligible for consideration. All disciplines in Humanities, Social Sciences, Arts and Law are encouraged. If your book considers all time periods from ancient to contemporary evenly then you are invited to state a justification for which prize round you would prefer to submit.
- Eligibility: Submissions must have been completed by scholars primarily based at British or Irish universities, or based on work substantially undertaken at UK or Irish universities. All scholars are eligible to submit books regardless of current membership, but if not already BIAJS members they will be expected to join the association at the point of submission of their expression of interest. All entrants are expected to remain current members in good standing for at least one year including during the review process.
- Nominations: Those eligible may submit their books for consideration, or be nominated by a publisher, or be nominated by another member of BIAJS.
- Publication date: For the 2027 prize the eligible publication date is 2025 or later. (If your book is yet to appear but is scheduled for 2027, it may not arrive in time, and is therefore eligible for the next category round – for early modern to contemporary this would be 2029 prize round, requiring publication dates of 2027 or later).
- Type of book: Only monographs are accepted, including translations, critical editions, and commentaries of sources. Reference works and edited volumes will not be considered. Monographs by multiple co-authors are acceptable and in the event of winning the prize is usually split equally between the authors.
- Hard copies: Authors/publishers must send physical/hard copies of their books to the prize committee chair. E-books and PDFs only will not be considered.
Submission Instructions (Expression of Interest and Posting Books for the Judging Process):
Please first notify the Secretary Dr Lindsey Davidson acting on behalf of the anonymous prize committee panel (secretarybiajs@gmail.com), of your intention to submit a monograph for the prize (i.e. expression of interest), so that we can look out for the hard copies of the monographs in the post.
The submission process can be conducted by the author(s), the publishers, or both.
Your intention to submit (expression of interest) message should include the following information:
- Contact details (name and email address)
- Confirmation of eligibility
- Contact details for the publisher, e.g. an editor or marketing manager
- Details of the publication, including title, publisher and copyright date
The Secretary will then help authors/publishers arrange for three physical/hard copies of the monograph (do ask your publisher if you don’t have that many hard copies yourself!) to be mailed to the members of the prize committee panel.
Website page for prize: https://biajs.co.uk/prizes-and-awards/book-prize/