Native Writers' Circle of the Americas

The Native Writers' Circle of the Americas (NWCA) is an organization of writers who identify as being Native American, First Nations, or of Native American ancestry.

The organization presents literary awards annually to writers in three categories:

  • First Book of Poetry
  • First Book of Prose
  • Lifetime Achievement.

The awards are voted upon by member writers.[1]

The Circle (along with its sister organization, the Wordcraft Circle of Native Writers and Storytellers) was formed as the outgrowth of the 1992 "Returning the Gift" Native Writers' Festival, a gathering of writers from Canada, the United States, Mexico and the Central America.[2] The NWCA maintains contact information for Native American writers and a collection of Native American literature.[3] The organization has been hosted by the University of Oklahoma's department of Native American Studies and is currently housed in the Department of English.

  1. ^ Gilbar, Steven (2005). Bibliotopia, Or, Mr. Gilbar's Book of Books & Catch-all of Literary Facts & Curiosities. David R. Godine. p. 103. ISBN 9781567922950.
  2. ^ Womack, Craig S., ed. (2008). Reasoning Together: The Native Critics Collective. University of Oklahoma Press. p. 49. ISBN 9780806138879.
  3. ^ Wong, Hertha D. Sweet; Muller, Lauren Stuart; Magdaleno, Jana Sequoya, eds. (2008). Reckonings: Contemporary Short Fiction by Native American Women. Oxford University Press. p. xxii. ISBN 9780198026907.