Cai Emmons Fiction Award
Ends on
To honor the life and enduring legacy of beloved novelist Cai Emmons, who published three novels through Red Hen Press (Weather Woman, Sinking Islands, and Livid) and who passed away with dignity on January 2, 2023, after a hard-fought battle with ALS, Red Hen Press is proud to announce the Cai Emmons Fiction Award.
We are so grateful to Cai and her family for choosing to endow this award to keep Cai’s spirit and love of life-changing fiction alive.
We are looking for a fresh and original story of fiction with a minimum of 150 pages. The awarded fiction manuscript is selected through an annual submission process which is open to all authors.
Award details
$5000
Book publication by Red Hen Press
Judge: TBD
Deadline: January 15, 2026
Notes: Entry fee is $25.00. Name on cover sheet only, with a 25,000-word minimum (approximately 150 pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman 12pt font). Entries will be accepted via Submittable only.
Guidelines
The award is open to all writers with the following exceptions:
- Authors who have had a full-length work published by Red Hen Press, or a full-length work currently under consideration by Red Hen Press;
- Employees, interns, or contractors of Red Hen Press;
- Relatives of employees or members of the executive board of directors;
- Relatives or individuals having a personal or professional relationship with any of the final judges where they have taken any part whatsoever in shaping the manuscript, or where, for whatever reason, selecting a particular manuscript might have the appearance of impropriety.
Procedures and Ethical Considerations
To be certain that every manuscript finalist receives the fairest evaluation, all manuscripts shall be submitted to the judges without any identifying material.
Bios, acknowledgments, and other identifying material shall be removed from judged manuscripts until the conclusion of the competition.
Red Hen Press is committed to maintaining the utmost integrity of our awards. Judges shall recuse themselves from considering any manuscript where they recognize the work. In the event of recusal, a manuscript score previously assigned by the managing editor of the press will be substituted.
In order to qualify, authors must agree not only to on-time delivery of manuscript, clear and timely responses to communication, and attention to detail, but also to full participation in the promotion of their book—in short, publicity. A robust and personalized book promotion campaign requires a committed partnership between the author and RHP. To this end, authors will be expected to engage in the following:
1. Appearing as podcast guest
2. Running social media
3. Building and maintaining an author website
4. Curating a broad contact list for personal outreach
5. Building and maintaining a Substack
6. Doing long-read pitches
7. Potential events with friends
For questions or to withdraw a submitted entry, please contact editorial@redhen.org.