FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
(Columbus, OH) — NLA-International, a leading organization for activists in the pansexual leather community, is now accepting nominations for its annual writing awards for excellence in SM/leather/fetish writing for books, articles, novels, and short fiction first published between 1 January 2011 and 31 December 2011. The deadline for nominations is 31 January 2012. The finalists will be announced in March. The winners will be announced at the National Leather Association’s Annual General Meeting, which will be held during Tribal Fire (4-6 May 2012) in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
The five award categories are:
- Non-Fiction Book (Geoff Mains Award)
- Non-Fiction Article (Cynthia Slater Award)
- Novel (Pauline Reage Award)
- Short Fiction (John Preston Award)
- Anthology (Samois Award)
Eligibility for all awards (short fiction, novel, non-fiction book, non-fiction article, and anthology) requires first time publication in the 2011 calendar year.
If you or someone you know has published a book, article, or story dealing with any aspect of SM, leather,fetish, or kink sexuality please consider nominating it for one of the above awards. Authors and publishers are encouraged to nominate themselves by submitting copies of their work.
Nominated works should foster education and promote awareness and a positive image of the leather/SM/fetish community. They should entertain and educate, while building awareness and tolerance of the community and showcasing the talents of its members.
There are no submission fees, but the judges will require either three print copies of the nominated work or a digital copy (PDF). Nominations may be sent to the committee chair, Steve Vakesh, at: stevevakesh@gmail.com.
NLA-I has convened an award jury of nine readers, whose number include noted erotic writers and leading community activists. The judges are rotated regularly and their names withheld until after judging is complete to prevent lobbying by nominees. Last year they reviewed more than 100 submissions.
Now in their fifth year, the NLA-I’s writing awards have received widespread appreciation and support. A “leather first,” they have become the preeminent awards for SM, leather, and fetish writing. Past winners include Laura Antoniou, Gloria Brame, Jack Fritscher, Lee “Bridgett” Harrington, Anneke Jacob, Jeff Mann, Jack Rinella, davidstein, Cecilia Tan, Tristan Taormino, Claire Thompson, and Alyson Tyler.
