I remember back in 2008 when I found out WICKED was a finalist for The Pauline Reage Literary Award. It was a surprise, and a huge honor. You see, this award is given out by the National Leather Association-International, and I had no idea the book had even been nominated. It wasn’t a contest I’d entered, a reader had nominated it because they thought it deserved notice. Not only did that touch me immensely, but the fact that WICKED was my first ‘lifestyle” BDSM story made this even more special. (By lifestyle I mean it featured people who lived the lifestyle, and not just people who had some kink in their vanilla life)
This nomination, by a reader, told me I got it right int he eyes of people who live the lifestyle. Not to mention that one of the other finalists was Joey W. Hill, who I admire hugely. 🙂
I didn’t win. I did get the Honorable Mention though, and to this day it’s still one of the things I’m most proud of.So, if you’ve read, or written, a story you think falls into any of these categories. Please nominate it, and help spread the positive word about well-written kink fiction and literature.
CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
Nominations may be sent to the contact email at awards@nla-international.com(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, which were first published between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2014. The deadline for nominations is 31 January 2014. The finalists will be announced in March 2015. The winners will be announced at the National Leather Association’s Annual General Meeting. 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 of writing in the 2014 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 print copies of the nominated work or a digital copy (PDF).
NLA-I has convened a jury of readers whose number includes noted erotica writers, past award winners and leading community activists. The judges are rotated regularly and their names withheld until after judging is complete to prevent lobbying by nominees.
Now in their seventh 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 Harrington, Anneke Jacob, Jeff Mann, Jack Rinella, David Stein, Cecilia Tan, Tristan Taormino, Claire Thompson, Alyson Tyler, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Mollena Williams, Annie Cox and Elizabeth Coldwell.
Nominations may be sent to the contact email at awards@nla-international.com
CandiAnne
Awards Chair (Interim)