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

The nominated book or major work must have been published during the previous calendar year (2022). 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.

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

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.

Nominations are due by May 25, 2023. The winner will be announced at the 2023 IWCA Conference in Baltimore. Questions about the award or nominating process (or nominations from those unable to access the Google form) should be sent to the IWCA Awards Chairs, Rachel Azima (razima2@unl.edu) and Chessie Alberti (chessiealberti@gmail.com). For a list of previous recipients, see Outstanding Book Award Recipients, 1985-present.