Emerging Voices Award

About this program

The Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI), with support from the 455 Foundation, offers the Emerging Voices Award to foster diverse voices in children’s literature. Two writers or writer-illustrators receive full tuition to a SCBWI Virtual Conference, publicity, presentations to agents and editors, and career-development guidance. Applicants must be over 18, unpublished and unrepresented, identify with a marginalized or traditionally underrepresented community, and submit a complete original English-language manuscript for young readers that is not under contract. Applications, consisting of a statement and the manuscript’s first 10 pages in one PDF, are accepted online from August 1–31, 2026.