Frederic G. Melcher Book Award
The Frederic G. Melcher Book Award is given annually to a work published in the U.S. during the past calendar year judged to be the most significant contribution to religious liberalism. Appropriate topics include, but are not limited to: racial justice, liberation movements, international peace, and civil liberties. The award was established by Frederic G. Melcher of Montclair, New Jersey, who had a determination to publish well-designed and beautifully printed books, that conveyed ideas of great value. Melcher was an active Unitarian layman, and served as a member of the Commission on Appraisal of the American Unitarian Association, which published Unitarians Face a New Age in 1936. He was also the founder of Publisher's Weekly, the bible of the book industry. Upon Melcher’s death, his son Daniel established the award in memory of his father.
All submissions must be nominated by either a Melcher judge or by the publisher. Complimentary copies of all submitted books must be sent to the Unitarian Universalist Association (UUA) Staff Liaison, Kathleen Montgomery, at 25 Beacon St., Boston, MA 02108. For more information, please contact Nancy Lawrence at nlawrence @ uua.org or 617-948-4303.
The deadline for submissions for the Melcher Award is December 31st for books published in the previous year. The award is $1,000 and is sponsored by the Unitarian Universalist Association
The panel of judges are listed on the Melcher Book Award Committee website.
Melcher Books since 1980:
1980—Frank & Fritzie P. Manuel: Utopian Thought in the Western World
1981—John Boswell: Christianity, Social Tolerance, and Homosexuality
1982—Anthony P. Dunbar: Against the Grain
1983—Jonathan Schell: The Fate of the Earth
1984—J. Ronald Engel: Sacred Sands
1985—Sherry Turkle: The Second Self: Computers and the Human Spirit
1986—Edward Harrison: Masks of the Universe
1987—Robert D. Richardson, Jr.: Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind
1988—Toni Morrison: Beloved
1989—Taylor Branch: Parting the Waters: America in the King Years 1954-1963
1990—No award
1991—Tim O'Brien: The Things They Carried
1992—Sissela Bok: Alva Myrdal: A Daughter's Memoir
1993—Roger Rosenblatt: Life Itself: Abortion in the American Mind
1994—Diana Eck: Encountering God
1995—Eva Fogelman: Conscience and Courage: Rescuers of Jews During the Holocaust
1996—Robert D. Richardson Jr.: Emerson: The Mind on Fire
1997—Andrew Young: An Easy Burden
1998—Wei Jingsheng: Letters from Prison and Other Writings
1999—David Halberstam: The Children
2000—No award
2001—James Carroll: Constantine’s Sword
2002—Richard Rodriguez: Brown: The Last Discovery of America
2003—Elaine Pagels: Beyond Belief
2004—Marilynne Robinson, Gilead
2005—Joan Didion: The Year of Magical Thinking
2006—Debby Applegate: The Most Famous Man in America
2007—Kate Braestrup: Here If You Need Me
2008—Gustav Niebuhr: Beyond Tolerance: Searching for Interfaith Understanding in America
2009—No award
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Last updated on Thursday, September 8, 2011.
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