The Republic of Consciousness Prize is dedicated to supporting small presses in the US and Canada.
The Republic of Consciousness Prize, United States and Canada, was founded in 2022 with a mission to support small presses for their on-going commitment to work of high literary merit. Most often it is the small publishers who take the largest creative and financial risks and yet, in a purely financial sense, they are least able to do so.
The Republic of Consciousness Prize for the UK and the Republic of Ireland was founded in 2017 by award-winning novelist Neil Griffiths. It has since been renamed the Queen Mary Small Press Fiction Prize. The Prize’s remit was expanded in 2022 by Griffiths and bookstore owner and writer, Lori Feathers, who launched a separate award for presses in the US and Canada, run by volunteers.
“In many ways the US has led the way in small press publishing over the decades. But it remains a vulnerable enterprise, mostly driven by passion, and the prize was founded to celebrate that passion, and help where we can,” says Griffiths.
"Small presses are the unsung heroes of the literary world. It's high time we turn the speakers up to eleven and start singing their praises,” says Ben Fountain, award-winning author and 2022 RofC judge.
All prize monies to authors and publishers are funded by donations from members of the public. Donations can be made to the Prize here.
About Our Founder
Lori Feathers is a writer and podcaster in Dallas, Texas, and a co-owner/founder of Interabang Books where she is the store’s book buyer. She is creator of “The Big Book Project” on Substack, and co-hosts the critically acclaimed books podcast, “Across the Pond.” Lori is founding Chair of the Republic of Consciousness Prize, a prize honoring the work of small publishers, and co-founder of the Inside Literary Prize for incarcerated persons. For six years she served on the elected board of the National Book Critics Circle. Her writing can be found at Literary Hub, Words Without Borders, Los Angeles Review of Books, and Southwest Review.