The James Baker Hall Book Award is an annual competition to reward excellence in Kentucky letters. The award is given to the best manuscript in a specified genre received from a Kentucky author. In addition to the Winner, three Finalists are recognized.

The Foundation’s artistic mandate is to maintain the highest literary standards through competitive awards judged by leading and respected judges in each genre. The primary genre categories rotate through a three year cycle: Poetry, Fiction, Creative Non-fiction. The competitions are open to all Kentucky writers over 18 years old. As a component of our support to young and emerging writers, select competitions are offered for works by previously unpublished writers in that genre.

The award currently includes a fellowship of $3,000, publication of the winning manuscript with our partner Accents Publishing, and an invitation to launch the work after publication on the Kentucky Writers on the Road speakers series (KYOTR) as the featured award-winning author.

The Foundation’s outreach targets both established and emerging writers of all ages. Recipients of funding through our Grant Programs serve as host locations for the KYOTR speaking events. These partners, bookstores or libraries, provide access to local writers of both categories and programs targeting young writers in their area.