Book Award

The Rhetoric Society of America gives a Book Award for the best work in rhetorical study in a given year. We welcome nominees in any branch of rhetorical studies.

Nominations are reviewed by the Awards Committee of the RSA Board, which recommends winners to the Board for final approval. Submit nominations for the Book Award to the Awards Committee Chair:

Cara A. Finnegan
University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign
103 Communication Building MC-456
1207 W. Oregon Ave.
Urbana, IL  61801
caraf@illinois.edu

To be considered for the Book Award, a scholar must be a member of the RSA. The book award subcommittee will consider any book that has a designated author or authors and that meets the eligibility requirements. Generally, edited collections and second editions are not eligible for this award. Translations are eligible. Please include 3 copies of the book for consideration.

Book Award nominees will need to supply convincing evidence that the book was published in 2010 (such as an indication on the copyright page or a letter from the publisher stating the month and year of publication).       

Nominations for the 2011 Book Award Deadline -For books published between January 1st, 2010 and December 31th, 2010 nominations will be due January 31st, 2011.

Guidelines for Assessing Nominated Books

In reviewing nominees for the Book Award, the Awards Committee considers:

  • Originality
  • Strength and persuasiveness of argument
  • Engaging style or readability
  • Potential to promote rhetoric among scholars from other fields
  • Potential to promote the general public's understanding of rhetoric

Conflict of Interest for Book and Dissertation Awards.

A member whose book is nominated for the RSA book award may not serve on the book award sub-committee. A member who has worked as a member of the dissertation committee for any nominee for the dissertation award may not sit on the dissertation sub-committee. Members of the Awards Committee who feel that they are unable to be impartial in judging any nominee will recuse themselves from discussion of that nominee.

Recipients

Erik Doxtader

2010 Book Award

With Faith in the Works of Words (Michigan State University Press.)

Linda Flower

2009 Book Award

Community Literacy and the Rhetoric of Public Engagement  (Southern Illinois University Press.)

Sharon Crowley

2008 Book Award

Toward a Civil Discourse: Rhetoric and Fundamentalism

Krista Ratcliffe

2007 Book Award

Rhetorical Listening: Identification, Gender, Whiteness (Southern Illinois University Press)

Angela Ray

2006 Book Award

The Lyceum and Public Culture in the Nineteenth-Century United States

Lester Olson

2005 Book Award

Benjamin Franklin's Vision of American Community: A Study in Rhetorical Iconology

Leah Ceccarelli

2004 Book Award

Shaping Science with Rhetoric