INTRODUCTION

Migration is an increasingly common feature of modern life. Whether for personal or for political or environmental reasons, when people cross the many thresholds of our world—traversing landscapes, languages, traditions, and border lines—they do so often at great personal risk. Those who make this transformative passage reckon with the isolation of displacement as well as with the meaning and value of “belonging” on unfamiliar soil. Their stories are the connective tissue of a global society, speaking directly to our present and our future.

Since its inauguration in 2015, the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing supports the voices of writers whose work brings fresh urgency to crossing cultural and linguistic divides, questions the sense of self in an increasingly interdependent world, and lends a voice to what it means to leave one home for another and why these stories need to be told. The winner will receive $10,000 and publication with Restless Books.


SUBMISSIONS GUIDELINES AND ELIGIBILITY

The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing (hereafter referred to as “the Prize”) alternates yearly between accepting unpublished fiction and nonfiction submissions. Fiction submissions can take the form of a novel or a book-length collection of short stories. Nonfiction submissions can take the form of a memoir, a collection of essays, or a book-length work of narrative nonfiction. The submission should address some combination of identity, the meeting of cultures and communities, immigration and migration, and today’s globalized society.

• Fiction manuscripts must be complete. Nonfiction submissions must consist of either a complete manuscript, or a sample of at least 25,000 words and a detailed proposal that includes a synopsis and an annotated table of contents. All submissions must be in English—translations are welcome. 
• Candidates must be first-generation residents of their country. “First-generation” can refer either to people born in another country who relocated, or to residents of a country whose parents were born elsewhere.
• Fiction and nonfiction candidates must not have previously published a book-length work in English in the genre in which they’re applying. We encourage applicants to look at the other titles Restless has published and previous contest winners to get a sense of our aesthetic.
• We will accept only one submission per candidate per submission period, and submissions must be under the author’s real name, not under a pseudonym. Agented submissions are welcome.*
• Candidates may not submit the same manuscript for the Prize in subsequent years unless specifically invited by Restless.
• Restless reserves the right to invite writers to submit for the Prize.
• Restless reserves the right to consider any Prize submission for publication.
• Submitted manuscripts may be simultaneously under consideration for publication by other publishing houses. Once a manuscript has been selected as the winner of the Prize, Restless will contact the author and ask that the manuscript be withdrawn from consideration elsewhere. A publishing contract between the winning author and Restless Books must be signed before the winner is announced.

* Please note that while Restless Books welcomes all submissions for the Prize, we do not accept unsolicited manuscripts for our regular publishing program.


REQUIRED MATERIALS

Candidates are asked to submit the following:

• A CV and one-page cover letter. The cover letter should address the candidate’s background as a writer, experience as an immigrant, and a succinct paragraph describing the submitted work and the inspiration for it.
• All files must be submitted together in one document. Please include the CV and cover letter as the first pages of your submission.
• The text should be double-spaced, in twelve-point font, with numbered pages. 
• Submissions must be uploaded as a PDF. 
• Please adhere to the required word length. Fiction manuscripts must be complete, with a minimum of 45,000 words. Nonfiction samples must be at least 25,000 words in length, and if incomplete, they should include a detailed proposal with a synopsis and an annotated table of contents.
• Restless will accept only electronic submissions by way of our submissions manager. 
• There is a $20 fee to submit a manuscript for consideration. Please contact us if this presents a hardship for you.

THE PRIZE
 

The winner will receive a $10,000 advance, payable in four installments, and publication by Restless Books in both print and digital editions. The Restless editorial staff will work closely with the winning author to help shape their manuscript for publication.

SUBMISSIONS PERIOD

Submissions for the 2024 Prize in Fiction will be accepted from January 1, 2024, through May 31, 2024.


PROCEDURE

Restless will accept open submissions in addition to soliciting nominations from authors and professionals in the field. The Restless editorial staff will review submissions and recommend a shortlist to the judges, who will select the finalists and winner.