IWCA Outstanding Book Award

Award Description: 

The IWCA Outstanding Book Award is given annually. Members of the writing center community are invited to nominate books or major works that engage writing center theory, practice, research, and history for the IWCA Outstanding Book Award.

Nomination Deadline:

Nominations are due by June 15, 2024. The winner will be announced at the 2024 IWCA Online Conference. Questions about the award or nominating process (or nominations from those unable to access the Google form) should be sent to IWCA Awards Co-chairs, Chessie Alberti (chessie.alberti@oregonstate.edu) and Kat Bell (kbell6@antioch.edu). 

Eligibility:

The nominated book or major work must have been published during the previous calendar year. Both single-authored and collaboratively-authored works, by scholars at any stage of their academic careers, published in print or in digital form, are eligible for the award. Self-nominations are not accepted, and each nominator can submit one nomination only. 

The book or major work should:

• Make a significant contribution to the scholarship of or research on writing centers.

• Address one or more issues of long-term interest to writing center administrators, theorists, and practitioners.

• Discuss theories, practices, policies, or experiences that contribute to a richer understanding of writing center work.

• Show sensitivity toward the situated contexts in which writing centers exist and operate.

• Illustrate the qualities of compelling and meaningful writing.

• Serve as a strong representative of the scholarship of and research on writing centers.

How to Nominate a Book:

All nominations must be submitted through the 2024 Outstanding Book Award nomination form. Nominations include a letter or statement of no more than 400 words outlining how the work being nominated meets the award criteria above. (All submissions will be evaluated by the same criteria.)

Recent Recipients

2025: Perdigón, Andrea T., and Glenn Hutchinson (Eds.). Buscando las palabras while writing: Conversations between writing centers in Latin America and the US. Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, 2025.

2024: Giaimo, Genie Nicole. Unwell Writing Centers: Searching for Wellness in Neoliberal Educational Institutions and Beyond. Utah State University Press, 2023. Project MUSE.

2024: Wetschanow, Karin, Erika Unterpertinger, Eva Kuntschner, et al. / Neue Perspektiven auf Schreibberatung. 1 ed. Wien : Böhlau: Wien / Köln /Weimar, 2023. 199 p. (Schreibwissenschaft, Vol. 3).

 All Grant & Award Recipients