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THE SELECTION PROCESS
Each year hundreds of books are sent to The Commonwealth Club for consideration in the awards. The process of choosing a book is extremely difficult. Many exceptional books arrive at our office all of which deserve recognition but unfortunately we can only award ten medals each year. We are continuously uplifted by the high quality and books sent to us by California authors. The task of choosing winners is undertaken by a group of dedicated jurors who spend several months reviewing and re-reviewing submitted works. In the end, the results are always a delight for readers.
TYPES OF AWARDS
The California Book Awards began by awarding gold medals for a work of fiction and nonfiction. Through the years several more categories have been added bringing the total number of awards given in a year to ten. One gold medal is awarded in both fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Silver medals are awarded in the categories of fiction, nonfiction, first work of fiction, Californiana, Young Adult (ages 0-10) and Juvenile Literature (ages 11-16). And thanks to a generous endowment by Dr. Martha Cox and Ambassador L.W. "Bill" Lane, gold medal winners receive $2,000 and silver medal winners receive $300.
HISTORY OF THE BOOKAWARDS
On the evening of June 11, 1931, then Club President James A. Johnston announced the creation of an award whose goal was to foster literature within the state. "It is hoped and expected," he said, "that the recognition afforded by these annual California Commonwealth Club Literature Medals will be a spur and an encouragement to many a California author in this and future years."
Since that night, The Commonwealth Club's Annual Book Awards has become one of the most prestigious literary awards in the state of California. To date, the Club has recognized over 450 California authors for their outstanding contributions to the art of the written word in the categories of fiction, non-fiction, poetry, juvenile literature, first work of fiction, Californiana, and notable contribution to publishing.
It is the continuing goal of the Book Awards Jury to find the best California writers for a particular year and to illuminate the wealth and diversity of California literature. Throughout the years, many prominent writers have received the California Book Award, some famous at the time, and others who would receive broader recognition later in their careers. Literary historians generally credit The Commonwealth Club Book Awards as among the first to recognize the young John Steinbeck, who received three Gold Medals between 1935 and 1939. In fact, the Club became embroiled in controversy after awarding Steinbeck his third Gold Medal for The Grapes of Wrath, which triggered a series of protests throughout the state. The Club was criticized for acknowledging a book which portrayed California in such a poor light. It didn't take long, however, for The Grapes of Wrath to silence its critics and become an American classic.
Among other widely-known authors who have received Commonwealth Club Gold Medals are C.S. Forester for The Good Shepherd (1955), Wallace Stegner for All the Little Live Things (1967) and The Spectator Bird (1976), Harriet Doerr for Stones for Ibarra (1984), T. Coraghessan Boyle for World's End: A Novel (1987), Amy Tan for The Joy Luck Club (1989), Ethan Canin for The Palace Thief (1994), Diane Johnson for Le Divorce (1997), and most recently Michael Chabon for The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay (2001), and most recently Richard Rodriguez for Brown: The Last Discovery of America. (2002)
The Commonwealth Club's Book Awards Jury continues to uphold the same strict standards as the original jury of 1931. The selection of winners is not easy. Each year the jury must carefully consider hundreds of submissions from authors around the state writing on a wide variety of subjects. The wealth of submissions reflects the ever increasing talent of California writers and the literary richness of this state.
Thanks to the generous endowment of Dr. Martha Cox and Ambassador Bill Lane, award winners receive cash prizes to both acknowledge their current literary efforts and support future endeavors.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Each entry must be made on an official form, or a facsimile thereof, and must be postmarked not later than midnight January 7, 2009. In place of an Entry Form, you may instead complete our on-line entry form. Please be sure to press "Submit" and view your on-line receipt. We kindly ask that you print out that on-line receipt page and include it with your submission.
We prefer to receive all materials at once, but if your books are shipped separately from your warehouse or distributor we will accept the materials as they arrive.
Entries are restricted to books bearing a 2008 original publication date.
The author must have been a legal resident of California at the time the manuscript was accepted for publication. To be eligible for an award for Notable Contribution to Publishing, the publisher must be headquartered in California.
Awards will consist of not more than three gold and seven silver medals:
- One Gold Medal for Fiction
- One Gold Medal for Nonfiction
- One Gold Medal for Poetry
- Two Silver Medals for outstanding entries, regardless of classification
- One Silver Medal for an author's first published work of Fiction. If none is awarded, this Silver Medal may be added to the unclassified category
- One Silver Medal for Fiction or Nonfiction for children ages up to 10
- One Silver Medal for Fiction or Nonfiction for children ages 11-16
- One Silver Medal for Fiction or Nonfiction relating to California
- One Silver Medal for a Notable Contribution to Publishing (outstanding book production). The medal in this category is awarded to the publisher and is restricted to publishers based in California.
Winners of a literary award will also receive a cash prize. Gold medal winners will receive $2,000. Silver medal winners will receive $300.
The Commonwealth Club of California
Attn: The California Book Awards
595 Market Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Return to Book Awards main page
Marwan Muasher
Arianna Huffington
Ben Stein