The James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel

The James Alan McPherson Prize for the Novel honors James Alan McPherson, the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and a beloved teacher, humanitarian, and mentor to countless writers at the University of Iowa’s Writers’ Workshop.

Sponsored by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) and supported by the James Alan McPherson endowment, the annual competition is open to all authors writing in English regardless of nationality or residence and is available to published and unpublished authors alike.

The endowment provides funding for a $5,500 cash prize and publication by the University of Nebraska Press. Submission guidelines for the prize series can be found on the AWP website.