NLA-International, the Columbus, Ohio organisation for “activists in the pansexual leather community”, invites nominations for its next annual writing awards.

The awards celebrate excellence in SM, leather and fetish writing in books, articles, novels, and short fiction, and to be nominated, the writing must have been first published between 1 January 2010 and 31 December 2010.

Nominations close on January 31 2011, and winners will be announced on April 17 at the National Leather Association's Annual General Meeting. The AGM, held during Spring Iniquity XX (April 15-17, 2011) in Houston, TX, marks the National Leather Association's 25th anniversary.

The five award categories are: Non-Fiction Book (Geoff Mains Award), Non-Fiction Article (Cynthia Slater Award), Novel (Pauline Réage Award), Short Fiction (John Preston Award) and Anthology (Samois Award).

Nominations for the Cynthia Slater Award (non-fiction article) may have appeared in print or online publications (which should indicate a specific date of publication). Eligibility for all other awards (short fiction, novel, non-fiction book, and anthology) requires print publication.

If you or someone you know has published a book, article, or story dealing with any aspect of SM, leather, fetish, or kink sexuality, NLA invite you to consider nominating it for one of the awards. Authors and publishers are encouraged to nominate themselves by submitting copies of their work.

Nominated works should “foster education and promote awareness and a positive image of the leather/SM/fetish community” says the organisation. They should “entertain and educate, while building awareness and tolerance of the community and showcasing the talents of its members”.

There are no submission fees, but the judges will require either three print copies of the nominated work or a digital copy (PDF). Nominations may be sent to the committee chair, Steve Vakesh, at: stevevakesh@gmail.com.

Now in their fourth year, the NLA-I's writing awards have received widespread appreciation and support. Past winners include Gloria Brame, Jack Fritscher, Lee “Bridgett” Harrington, Anneke Jacob, Jeff Mann, Jack Rinella, David Stein, Cecilia Tan, Claire Thompson and Alyson Tyler.