FIRST BOOK SUBVENTION PRIZE
The JAHF First Book Subvention Prize is awarded once a year to a book project that will make a substantial contribution to the field of Japanese art history, broadly defined. Applications will be judged on the following four criteria: (1) potential impact of the project to the field; (2) innovation of the subject or approach; (3) need for financial support; and (4) overall quality of the application.
The award is for a maximum of $4,000. The winner can choose to use the award to defray publishing costs (in which case JAHF will send the funds to the publisher) or to defray the cost of acquiring permission to use images (in which case JAHF will reimburse the author, contingent upon the author providing itemized receipts).
The First Book Subvention Prize is made possible by Japan Art History Forum membership dues.
Past Winners
2020 Chihiro Saka for From Old Hag in Hell to Guide to the Pure Land. An Examination of the Representation of Datsueba in Literature and Visual Imagery Together with Rituals and Worship Practices (Brill).
2019 Nozomi Naoi for Yumeji Modern: Designing the Everyday in Twentieth Century Japan (University of Washington Press).
2018 Erin Schoneveld for Shirakaba and Japanese Modernism: Art Magazines, Artistic Collectives, and the Early Avante-garde (Brill).
2017 Halle O’Neal for Word Embodied: The Jeweled Pagoda Mandalas in Japanese Buddhist Art (Harvard University Asia Center).
Submission Instructions
Eligibility
The award may be granted only to first books, single-authored.
Applicant authors must have been members of JAHF for at least two years prior to the application and must currently be JAHF members.
The subvention will be awarded only for completed manuscripts that have a contract with an established academic publisher in which the need for subvention is stipulated.
Manuscripts must be in English.
Application Process
Please download the application form and complete it as indicated. Submit the completed form together with the other materials listed on the form.
Applicant authors are strongly encouraged to discuss the application with their publisher. The publisher does not need to submit any materials as part of the application but will need to sign an agreement and receive funds for the winner.
The deadline for completed applications is SEPTEMBER 15 annually.
A JAHF-appointed committee will review applications once per year (in mid-September) and announce results within approximately six weeks. Re-application for the grant is allowed.
If you have questions please contact the JAHF Secretary: secretary AT jahf.net