Submissions Now Open for our New Voices and New Visions Award Writing Contests for Authors of Color

Lee and Low Writing Contests

This year, we’re opening submissions for our nineteenth annual New Voices Award and our sixth annual New Visions Award a month early. That means submissions for both awards are now open! The New Voices Award and the New Visions Award encourage writers of color and Native nations to submit their work to a publisher that takes pride in nurturing new talent.

Past New Voices Award submissions we have published include The Blue Roses, winner of the Paterson Prize for Books for Young People; Sixteen Years in Sixteen Seconds: The Sammy Lee Story, a Texas Bluebonnet Masterlist selection; and It Jes’ Happened: When Bill Traylor Started to Draw, winner of the Ezra Jack Keats New Writer Award Honor; and many more. Winning New Visions submissions include Ink and Ashes by Valynne Maetani, the recipient of an honor award from the Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association; Rebel Seoul by Axie Oh, which received three starred reviews and was a Junior Library Guild selection; and Ahimsa by Supriya Kelkar, which received two starred reviews and was listed as a Notable Social Studies Trade Book for Young People.

Both contests are open to writers of color and Native nations who are residents of the United States and who have not previously had a children’s picture book published (for the New Voices Award), or have had a middle grade or young adult novel published (for the New Visions Award) .

The deadline for both awards is August 31, 2018.

For more eligibility and submissions details, visit the New Voices Award page and the New Visions Award page. And don’t forget to read these New Voices Award FAQs and New Visions Award FAQs. Spread the word to any authors you know who may be interested. Happy writing to you all and best of luck!

Further Reading:
Where Are They Now?: New Voices Award Authors and Artists Discuss Their Experience and Creative Process
Building a Biography: An Interview with New Voices Award Winner Andrea Loney and Senior Editor Jessica Echeverria
How to Make Your New Voices Submission Stand Out