The Comics Studies Society (CSS) recognizes outstanding contributions to the study of comic art with five annual prizes: the CSS Article Prize, the Hillary Chute Award for Best Graduate Student Conference Presentation, the Gilbert Seldes Prize for Public Scholarship, the Charles Hatfield Book Prize, and the new CSS Prize for Edited Book Collections.





The CSS defines comic art liberally to include all forms of cartooning, sequential art, and graphic narrative: comic strips, comic books, papers, and magazines; albums, graphic novels, and other graphic books; webcomics and other electronic formats; single-panel cartoons, including editorial and gag cartoons; caricature; animation; and other related forms and traditions.





The CSS is currently soliciting nominations for all five prizes, which will be awarded at the 3rd Annual Conference of the Comics Studies Society at Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Arkansas (August 5-8, 2020). Winners will receive a $300 cash award and a plaque. Please see

for conference details.





Nominations for the CSS prizes may be historical, biographical, critical, analytical, pedagogical, and/or bibliographical in focus.

Nominations should draw on original research, acknowledge and advance existing scholarship where relevant, and include appropriate documentation.

Reprints of or excerpts from previously published works are not eligible for prizes.



Frequency and time period

: Prizes are awarded by the CSS at its annual conference for first-time publications (not reprints or revised editions) or original presentations bearing a copyright date for the previous calendar year. For example, the 2020 prizes will cover publications and presentations © 2019.





Nomination process

: Peer nominations and self-nominations are welcomed. Nomination letters are due

March 15, 2020.

The letter of nomination should do the following:





Identify the work’s complete title, author(s) name(s), publisher, and original copyright date.

Include means of access to a complete digital copy of the work that members of the CSS Prize Committee can access as needed (alternately, for works native to print and best viewed in print, nomination requires three complete physical copies of the published book or article to be sent via mail).





Nominations and inquiries

should be sent by email to the CSS Awards Coordinator, Biz Nijdam, at

. Instructions on mailing physical copies will be provided in reply.





Judging and awarding process

: Nominees for each prize will be reviewed by a committee of not less than three members of the Comics Studies Society, as chosen by the CSS Executive Board, including the Awards Coordinator or their designee. Prize winners will be notified by June 15th, and announcements will be published on the CSS website and in

Inks: The Journal of the Comics Studies Society

.

