Annual Book Submission Criteria:
The 2024 annual award recognizes an outstanding monograph in Religious Studies written by a member in good standing of the CSSR and published during the previous three years (currently those with a copyright date of 2022-2024, inclusive). Every third year (since 2015), the book prize is awarded to an author who has published their first book in Religious Studies within the previous three years.
The award of $500 will be announced each year at the President’s Reception of CSSR’s Annual General Meeting.
| 2015 | First time authors |
| 2016-2018 | Regular competition |
| 2019 | First time authors |
| 2020-2022 | Regular competition |
| 2023 | First time authors |
| 2024-2026 | Regular competition |
| 2027 | First time authors |
| 2028-2030 | Regular competition |
Books for the prize are assessed according to the following criteria:
i) Relevance to Religious Studies as a discipline
ii) Currency of subject matter to debates/developments in the field
iii) Quality of style, presentation, research, and methodology
iv) Originality
Nominations and Deadline:
Nominations are accepted from CSSR members and from publishers; self-nominations are also accepted. Nominations must be sent to the Society’s Appointed Executive Member by December 31, 2024 in order to be considered for the prize in the following year. Nominators are responsible for sending three copies of the nominated text to the Appointed Executive Member for distribution to the Book Prize Committee.
Selection Process:
The Adjudication Committee will be constituted anonymously and from the CSSR membership by the CSSR Appointed Executive Member. The Appointed Executive Member will arrange for the books to be sent to the committee members.
Submissions and More Information:
Please direct queries, and send nominations to the CSSR Appointed Executive Member:
Rubina Ramji
Department of Humanities
Cape Breton University
1250 Grand Lake Road
Sydney, NS
B1P 6L2
ruby_ramji@cbu.ca