First Book Manuscript Workshop Competition

Updated: September 2024

Description: 

For pretenure faculty in “book fields,” a published monograph is a significant benchmark for tenure and promotion. This competition provides funding and organizational assistance to plan a workshop, including the involvement of one expert external reader along with 6-8 faculty participants, in which the successful applicant will receive constructive, informed feedback on their book manuscript. Workshop participants will be selected by the author, and invited by the OVPRI.
 

Funding Parameters: 

The costs covered by this award include an honorarium and all travel and lodging costs for an external reader, as well as the cost of a celebratory meal to follow the workshop.

The OVPRI will select at least one application for funding, with the possibility of additional workshops if available resources allow.
 

Eligibility: 

To be eligible for this competition, you must be a pretenure faculty member completing your first monograph. Your manuscript should be near completion but still in a position to benefit from review. Ideally, you should be in a position to complete revisions within a year following the workshop.
 

Application Process:

Interested faculty members should apply by submitting the materials listed below by 5 pm (EST) on Friday, October 25, 2024.

1. A proposal of approximately 500 words, in which you provide a description of the book project as well as an account of where you are in the writing process and what your plans are for revising the manuscript following the workshop. Please include specific information on your tenure/promotion timeline.
2. A current C.V.
3. A ranked list of three potential readers external to the University of Toronto, including a brief rationale for each proposed reader. These should be scholars at the rank of Associate or Full Professor (or equivalent).

Please compile these materials in the order listed above as a single PDF and submit via this link by the deadline indicated above. The file name should be: 2024-25_First_Book_YourLastName_YourFirstName.
 

Adjudication Process:

The selection committee will be composed of a group of three to five tenured UTM faculty plus at least one representative of the OVPRI.

The adjudication process will take into account the applicant’s track record as captured in their c.v.; the potential impact of the book for the author’s career; the overall strength of the book project; and the appropriateness of the timing of the workshop in relation to the writing and revision process as well as the tenure and promotion timeline.
 

Workshop Format and Timeline:

Successful applicants will be asked to provide a list of nine to ten proposed workshop participants. These should be faculty members from the University of Toronto, with the option to list up to three participants from other Toronto-area institutions.

The workshop will take place in the Winter 2025 semester, with precise timing to be decided in consultation with the successful application. Participants will convene in person in the Collaborative Digital Research Space (CDRS) at UTM, and one of the participants will be selected to serve as facilitator. CDRS staff will assist in recording the workshop for the benefit of the author.
 

Questions:

General questions about the First Book Manuscript Workshop should be directed to Daniel Wright (daniel.wright@utoronto.ca). Questions about the application process, including deadlines, should be addressed to Rong Wu (funding.ovpri.utm@utoronto.ca).

Past Recipients: