The Tacoma Public Library awards the Murray Morgan Prize annually to an outstanding Washington author in recognition of a work published during the previous year which is of high literary quality and wide interest, and which embodies the principles of narrative excellence and high standards of research, exemplified in the distinguished career of author Murray Morgan.

• Works must be written by an author who is a resident of the state of Washington.

• Works to be considered for the annual Murray Morgan Prize must have had an original publications date between April 1 of the previous year and March 31 of the current year. In the case of collected poems, short stories and essays, this time frame applies to their collection and publication as a volume, not to the publication date of individual pieces.

• In the case of playscripts, the script must have had its first public performance, either in a full production, staged workshop or public reading between April 1 of the previous year and March 31 of the current year

• Single titles authored by more than one individual are acceptable if all authors are Washington residents. In the event such a work is selected as the winner, the award will be shared equally among authors.

• The sole criterion for nomination and selection will be literary merit.

• Nominations can be made in any genre - including
  
  1. Fiction, including the novel, novella, and collected short stories.
  2. Nonfiction, including biography, autobiography, memoirs, collected essays, history, natural history, landscape writing and criticism. The work to be considered must be predominantly text, not purely informational or strictly factual, and not primarily photography or art.
  3. Poetry, including chapbooks of over 20 pages in length.
  4. Young readers, including fiction and nonfiction
  5. Drama, including one-act plays, radio and television plays, and one-person productions.

The Murray Morgan Prize consists of a $1,000 honorarium, an etched glass plaque, and a public reading at Tacoma's Main Library.

Nominations for the Murray Morgan Prize can be made by anyone - publisher, author, or reader. Nomination forms are available at all library locations or at this site. If you would like to have a nomination form mailed to you, please email the Library's Community Relations Office.