Announcing a New Annual Prize for Young Female Book Collectors

This week, the women behind Brooklyn rare bookstore Honey & Wax announced a new annual prize aimed at bolstering the careers of the next generation of female book collectors working in a field that has been traditionally dominated by men. To that end, the Honey & Wax Book Collecting Prize will award $1,000 each year to “an outstanding book collection” conceived, built and owned by a woman under 30. The contest rules stipulate that these collections “will not be judged on their size or their market value, but on their originality and their success in illuminating their chosen subjects. The prize rewards creativity, coherence, and bibliographic rigor.”

In an email, Honey & Wax founder Heather O’Donnell explained: “We designed this prize to be open, as no others are, to women who are not in school. We’re thinking particularly of the many young working women—in publishing, design, bookselling, advertising, book arts, etc.—who pursue quirky and obsessive book collections for their own pleasure. They are unlikely to be reached by the traditional antiquarian and academic channels, and they are the collectors we most want to discover and celebrate.”

So if you’re a young woman with a love of books and a collector’s eye, apply by July 17th. Head here for full details, and good luck.