The Art of Curation Meets Literary Excellence!
Introducing the Collection & Anthology Awards!
The submissions for our newest division are underway, and The Collection & Anthology Awards close on July 31, 2025!
There’s something magical that happens when individual pieces are thoughtfully assembled into a unified whole—whether it’s a poet’s lifetime of work, a themed anthology exploring social justice, or a collection of short stories that illuminate the human condition. The Collection & Anthology Awards celebrate this unique art form, recognizing the literary excellence that emerges when curation meets creativity.
Branching off from our established SEA Shorts Awards, this exciting new division honors the publishers, authors, and editors who understand that the whole can indeed be greater than the sum of its parts. From single-author poetry collections to multi-voice thematic anthologies, we celebrate works where exceptional writing combines with masterful organization and thematic coherence.
The Power of Thoughtful Assembly
What transforms a simple gathering of pieces into a truly compelling collection or anthology? It’s the invisible architecture that connects each work to the next, the thematic threads that weave individual voices into a larger conversation, and the careful curation that ensures every piece earns its place.
Whether you’re a poet who has spent years crafting a cohesive collection, an editor assembling diverse voices around a central theme, or a publisher investing in the literary community’s best collaborative works, the Collection & Anthology Awards recognize that quality writing is just the beginning. The real artistry lies in creating thematic coherence that resonates across every page.
Categories That Span the Literary Landscape
Our categories intentionally align with Chanticleer’s established award divisions, ensuring that collections and anthologies across every genre find their perfect home:
- Narrative Non-Fiction Collections/Anthologies – Memoir collections, essay compilations, and themed non-fiction that tells powerful true stories
- Essay Collections – Whether personal reflection, cultural criticism, or literary exploration, celebrating the essay as an art form
- Poetry Collections – From debut collections to lifetime retrospectives, honoring the unique voice of poetry in all its forms
- Speculative Fiction – Fantasy, science fiction, and paranormal collections that transport readers to other worlds
- Mystery/Suspense – Crime fiction anthologies, cozy mystery collections, and high-stakes thriller compilations
- Historical Fiction – Period collections spanning from ancient times to modern warfare and Americana
- Youth – Collections for every young reader, from early childhood through young adult
- Mainstream – Literary collections, contemporary voices, romance anthologies, and humor compilations
Celebrating Our Founding Excellence: Dr. Yumiko Shimabukuro
We’re honored to highlight Dr. Yumiko Shimabukuro, whose inspiring collection Dream Rut: Navigating Your Path Forward exemplifies the literary excellence we seek to recognize in this new division. This beautifully crafted work combines meditative prompts, poetic writing, and full-color illustrations to guide readers through transforming their relationship with their dreams—from dealing with estranged dreams to discovering unknown ones.
Shimabukuro’s achievement showcases how thoughtful curation creates something greater than individual pieces, offering readers both comfort and actionable insights for moving forward. In addition to ongoing promotional features, Dream Rut will be regularly promoted throughout the year and for the next five years in our upcoming Hall of Fame posts. Dr. Shimabukuro will also be invited to participate in a Chanticleer 10-Question Interview and receive continued recognition across our promotional platforms.
A Home for Every Voice, Every Vision
The Collection & Anthology Awards welcome submissions from diverse creators across the literary community:
- Publishers showcasing their finest anthologies and themed collections
- Individual Authors who have assembled their short fiction, essays, or poetry into cohesive collections
- Anthology Editors who curate multi-author works around compelling themes
- Literary Organizations producing collections that advance important conversations
Whether your collection features a single powerful voice or weaves together multiple perspectives, we celebrate the editorial vision that transforms individual works into something greater.
Check out some of these outstanding collections and anthologies we’ve celebrated recently!
Portrait of a Feminist: A Memoir in Essays
By Mariana Marlowe
Marianne Marlowe’s memoir, Portrait of a Feminist, reveals the evolution of her feminism through a collection of thought-provoking essays.
“I would say, if it were possible, I was born a feminist” is at the heart of Marlowe’s story. She relates to this defining identity throughout years spent in Peru, California, and Ecuador, where she navigates childhood, marriage, motherhood, and a professional career.
The section titles reflect periods in Marlowe’s life that correspond to nature’s rhythms— “Seeds Planted”, “The Growing Years”, “Maturation”, and “Harvesting”—and maintain strong connections between her thematically-linked experiences.
As a Peruvian American woman, Marlowe navigates the concepts of gender, race, and culture from a personal and critical point of view.
A Good Day and Other Mostly Humorous Stories and Lists
By Radu Guiasu
Through the thirty-six diverse writing efforts of A Good Day and Other Mostly Humorous Stories and Lists, Radu Guiasu masterfully combines wit, whimsy, satire, and personal contemplation.
These vignettes cover a wide range of topics, styles, and techniques. While they often seem to be typical “slice-of-life” moments, Guiasu clearly has a knack for finding humor in even the most absurd situations.
As a native Romanian now residing and teaching in Canada, Guiasu writes from his own knowledge and experience. He often broaches serious and meaningful topics, such as the world of academia, growing up under a dictatorship, and a love of nature.
A Wild Region: Tales and Stories from the Heartland
By Robin Lee Lovelace
Includes a Chanticleer Short Stories Awards Grand Prize Winner!
A Wild Region: Tales and Stories from the Heartland by Robin Lee Lovelace is a wonderful collection of Weird fiction (emphasis on Weird), showcasing the oddities and fantastic adventures which hide among the everyday people of the midwestern United States.
Lovelace opens with ‘Virgie’s Headless Chicken’, setting the tone for the full collection as Virgie attempts to reproduce a circus sideshow act. Lovelace shares her familial inspiration for this story in a fascinating preface.
From there she gifts readers with the award-winning novella, Savonne, Not Vonny, a coming-of-age story of a little girl involving brothels, voodoo, and displaced gods. Savonne faces trial after trial as she grows up in different environments, all while she tries to understand her place in the world. This setting is particularly well-developed, leaving readers wanting more from even the secondary characters. Readers who loved American Gods will enjoy every page of Savonne’s adventures.
Varying in emotion and impact, all of these tales will grab a reader’s attention. In every story of A Wild Region, fully-realized characters deal with important problems, approaching them with their own strange solutions.
Tax MythBusters
By Lily Tran
Tax MythBusters: Don’t Fall Prey to the Tax Misconceptions, compiled by tax professional Lily Tran with essays by other financial, tax, and accounting professionals, gives valuable insight into the myths of what can and cannot be claimed as a deduction for small businesses and entrepreneurs.
This work provides tips and strategies to optimize tax planning and make the most of available deductions. As the foreword reminds the reader, “Knowledge is power when it comes to taxes,” adding that gaining a better understanding of the tax rules and regulations will allow you to “make smart financial decisions and protect yourself from unnecessary risks.”
The essays that make up this work are short, succinct, and to the point about the pitfalls and challenges that face small business owners, framing these dangers as “myths.”
These works demonstrate the range and power of well-curated collections across every genre and format.
See the Chanticleer Difference for Yourself!
We’re excited about all the exceptional collections and anthologies we’ll receive in this inaugural year. The Chanticleer International Book Awards offers an incredible $30,000 in cash, prizes, and promotion across all divisions!
This new division represents an unprecedented opportunity to gain recognition for the often-overlooked art of literary curation. From debut poetry collections to landmark anthologies, we’re committed to celebrating the publishers, authors, and editors who understand that bringing the right pieces together creates literary magic.
Be Among the First to Claim this Honor!
As our newest division, the Collection & Anthology Awards offer a unique opportunity to be among the first winners in this exciting category. Whether you’ve spent years perfecting a poetry collection, assembled a groundbreaking anthology, or published a thematic collection that deserves wider recognition, this is your moment.
Robin Lee Lovelace evokes a world in which the mystical intertwines with the everyday in Savonne, Not Vonny, a coming-of-age story set in rural Louisiana. 
