The annual $10,000 Constellation Award is given to honor an independent literary press that champions the writing of people of color, including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian American & Pacific Islander (AAPI) individuals, for excellence in publishing. The award is underwritten by Penguin Random House.
Applications for the 2026 award will be accepted through November 7, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. ET. The winner will be announced in January 2026.
This year’s judges are Sunyoung Lee, publisher and editor of Kaya Press, and CLMP board members Beena Kamlani, author and freelance editor; Deborah Paredez, author, cofounder of CantoMundo, and associate professor at Columbia University; and Clarence Reynolds, former director of literary programs at The Center for Black Literature at Medgar Evers College CUNY.
Eligibility Requirements
- Presses must have a demonstrated commitment to championing books by people of color, including Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and AAPI authors.
- Presses must have a demonstrated commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in their business practices.
- Presses must be English-language and/or Spanish-language publishers based in the United States.
- Presses must be independent publishers of literary books. (Over half the list must consist of fiction, poetry, drama, and literary prose.)
- Presses must not be primarily self-publishing. (At least 50% of titles must be published by authors not on staff.)
- Presses must not charge authors a fee to publish their work.
- Presses must have a two-year track record of publishing at least two titles a year.
- Presses’ annual net sales must be below $1 million.
Kaya Press, based in Los Angeles, California, received the 2024 Constellation Award.
FlowerSong Press, based in McAllen, Texas, received the 2023 Constellation Award. Three finalists were also selected: the Dominican Writers Association in New York City and DSTL Arts and Kaya Press, both located in Los Angeles, California. Read more.
La Impresora, based in Isabela, Puerto Rico, received the 2022 Constellation Award. Two finalists were also selected: FlowerSong Press in McAllen, Texas, and Kaya Press in Los Angeles, California. Read more.
Nomadic Press, headquartered in Oakland, California, received the 2021 Constellation Award. Three finalists were also selected: FlowerSong Press in McAllen, Texas; BLF Press in Bloomington, Indiana; and La Impresora in Isabela, Puerto Rico. Read more.
The Constellation Award was established in 2020 and launched in 2021 with support from our Literary Hero and Inaugural Underwriter
and our Literary Champions
