Announcing a new popular-history writing award

It’s time for history writers to get their due

I’m now in my fourth year of publishing the monthly Damn History newsletter for readers and writers of popular history. It’s been rewarding to discover the enthusiasm with which people seek links to great history writing for non-scholars and non-academics and tips on research and writing, resources, and inspiration.

Throughout it all, though, I have felt consternation over the scarcity of honors for writers of popular-history articles. As a result, I am launching the Damn History Article Award, an annual honor for top popular-history writing. You will find award guidelines and submission instructions here.

To appraise entries for this year’s award, I’ve brought together three wonderful judges: Tim Brady, Anika Fajardo, and Pamela Toler. We will accept award entries between March 1, 2021, and May 1, 2021. There is no entry fee. Eligible for consideration are popular-history articles between 1,500 and 7,500 words in length that appeared during 2020 in online or print publications for non-scholarly and non-academic readers. Self-published writing isn’t eligible. Winners will receive gift cards/credit from bookshop.org.

Again, follow this link to read the guidelines for submissions and to submit an entry. Good luck!