We are pleased to announce the launch of the Republic of Consciousness Prize for Small Presses in the USA. The prize was founded in the UK in 2017 by award-winning novelist Neil Griffiths and has awarded over £60,000 to small presses. The USA version of the prize is being spearheaded by Lori Feathers, a book critic and co-owner of Interabang Books in Dallas, Texas.

The aim of the new prize is to support small presses for their on-going commitment to work of high literary merit. Most often it is the small publishers who take the largest creative and financial risks and yet, in a purely financial sense, they are least able to do so.

Like its UK counterpart, the majority of the annual prize fund will be award to the press or presses.

In addition to the prize cycle, throughout the year the RofC US will launch initiatives to promote small presses, including readings in bookshops, panel discussions at literary festivals; hosting a blog on our website; and actively promoting small presses and their books on Twitter @usrofc

“I’ve been following the RofC in the UK since its inception and felt this was the ideal mechanism to promote and reward the work of small presses. Nothing would make me happier than if the prize enabled new readers to discover and follow their favorite small presses in much the way they do their favorite authors.” Lori Feathers, Interabang Books

“I couldn’t be more delighted that Lori has chosen to launch the prize in the US and Canada. In many ways the US has led the way in small press publishing over the decades. But it remains a vulnerable enterprise, mostly driven by passion, and the prize was founded to celebrate that passion, and help where we can.” Neil Griffiths, Founder.

"Small presses are the unsung heroes of the literary world. It's high time we turn the speakers up to eleven and start singing their praises." Ben Fountain, award-winning author and 2022 RofC judge.

The prize fund for 2024 will be announced in September 2024. The total prize fund for 2023 was US $35,000.