About the Reed Environmental Writing Award
Phil Reed, SELC founding trustee, talented attorney and committed environmental advocate; 1946-1993.
Government, business and environmental organizations all have an important role to play when it comes to protecting the environment. Yet the most profound and lasting changes will come from ordinary people making better choices in how they live. An informed citizenry is the cornerstone of our democracy. We rely on the journalists and writers who tell the stories of our natural world and give voice to the rivers, forests and wildlife. Each year, the Southern Environmental Law Center provides a valuable public service in honoring those writers whose work contributes to our understanding of our relationship with the Earth with the annual Phillip D. Reed Memorial Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment.
SELC's annual Reed Writing Award has two categories: Book, for non-fiction books (not self-published), and Journalism, for newspaper, magazine and online articles. Entries must be at least 3,000 words, published in the previous calendar year, and pertain to the environment in at least one of the six states in SELC's region (Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia). Prizes of $1,000 are awarded to the winner in each category. Our panel of judges include some of the top environmental writers, journalists and activists of our time, including Lee Smith, Bill McKibben, Nikki Giovanni, Janisse Ray, Jim Detjen and Don Webster.
Mission of the Award
SELC created the Phillip D. Reed Memorial Award for Outstanding Writing on the Southern Environment in 1994. Its purpose is to enhance public awareness of the value, and the vulnerability, of the South's natural heritage. The award serves to recognize and encourage writers who most effectively tell the stories about the South's environment. The award is named for SELC founding trustee Phil Reed, a talented attorney and committed environmental advocate who deeply believed in the power of writing to change hearts and minds.