Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize
Competition in 2025 for Books Published in 2023 or 2024
Open to Members and Nonmembers of the Association
The Committee on Honors and Awards of the Modern Language Association invites authors to compete for the thirty-eighth Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize, to be presented for an outstanding scholarly book in the fields of language, culture, literacy, and literature that has a strong application to the teaching of languages other than English. The prize will be awarded for a book published in 2023 or 2024. Entries for this competition will be accepted until 1 May 2025, and the award will be presented to the winning author at the association's annual convention in January 2026. Authors of works competing for the prize need not be members of the association.
Authors or publishers who wish to submit a work are asked to fill out a submission form.
- If you are an author submitting a work, please use this form.
- If you are a publisher submitting a work, please use this form.
The prize for a winning book consists of a cash award and a certificate. Publishers may enter more than one title. Provided they meet eligibility requirements, books entered in this competition may also compete for one of the following prizes: the James Russell Lowell Prize, the MLA Prize for a First Book, or the MLA Prize for an Edited Collection. The winning author will be contacted in September, and a public announcement will be made in early December. Because of the volume of submissions, we regret that we are unable to contact each entrant individually.
For further information, write the coordinator of book prizes (awards@mla.org).
Note: From 1980 to 2010, the Kenneth W. Mildenberger Prize was offered annually. It is now a biennial prize, with competitions in odd-numbered years.
Past winners of this prize