In order to promote scholarship in South Asian Studies, the American Institute of Indian Studies (AIIS) awards two prizes every year for the best unpublished book manuscript on an Indian subject:
“The Edward Cameron Dimock, Jr. Prize in the Indian Humanities”
“The Joseph W. Elder Prize in the Indian Social Sciences”
Only junior scholars who have received the PhD within the last eight years (2013 and after) are eligible. This must be the first book by the author. A prize committee will determine the yearly winners, though the committee may choose not to award prizes for any year in which worthy submissions are lacking. The prize will include a subvention of $2500 for the press publishing the manuscript.
Unrevised dissertations are not accepted. Applicants must demonstrate they have revised the original dissertation.
There is no designated press for publication. Authors are advised to submit their manuscript for publication at the most appropriate press; concurrent submission to multiple presses is recommended. Manuscripts under review or under contract with a press are eligible, but manuscripts that go into print before the annual prize announcement will become ineligible (see "contest guidelines").
Applicants need not have held an AIIS fellowship or participated in an AIIS language program in India.
Manuscripts are due September 30 with an announcement of the awardees the following March. Send one PDF and one paper copy of your manuscript no later than September 30, 2021 to the Publications Committee Co-Chair, Anand Yang, Jackson School of International Studies, University of Washington, Box 353650, Seattle, WA 98195. Queries can be addressed to aay@uw.edu.
Click here for more info: https://www.indiastudies.org/book-prize/