SELC seeks nominations for Phil Reed Environmental Writing Award

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Southern Environmental Law Center is now accepting submissions for the 2022 Phillip D. Reed Environmental Writing Awards. Nominations are welcome from anyone, including readers, authors and publishers.

Presented each year during the Virginia Festival of the Book, the Reed Awards recognize outstanding writing on the southern environment in two categories: the Book Category for works of nonfiction (not self-published) and the Journalism Category for newspaper, magazine and online writing published by a recognized institution such as a news organization, university or nonprofit group.

• All submissions must have been published between October 1, 2020 and
  September 30, 2021.
• Submissions must relate to the natural environment in at least one of the following states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee or Virginia.
• Submissions are due by October 31, 2021 at southernenvironment.org
• Journalism entries must be at least 3,000 words and may consist of a single article or a group of articles.

There are three options for submitting entries: electronic copy (up to 64MB), hard copy, or a website link to where the submission is available for sale. Hard copy submissions will not be returned.

The Reed Awards celebrate writers who achieve both literary excellence and extraordinary insight into the South’s natural treasures and environmental challenges. Recent winners include:

• Paul Bolster, author of Saving the Georgia Coast: A Political History of the Coastal Marshlands Protection Act;
• Tony Bartelme, a special projects reporter for the Charleston Post and Courier;  
• Margaret Renkl, opinion writer for the New York Times and author of Late Migrations: A Natural History of Love and Loss; and
• Megan Mayhew Bergman, director of the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference and author of a series on southern attitudes toward climate change published by The Guardian. 

Reed Award winners are selected by a national panel of judges that includes leading environmental writers, journalists and advocates. The awards honor the late Phillip D. Reed, a distinguished attorney, committed environmental activist and a founding trustee of SELC.