The European Association for American Studies (EAAS) is pleased to announce a new biennial award for the best book manuscript in American Studies. The award is named for Rob Kroes, who served as Treasurer (1976–1988) and President (1992–1996) of EAAS.

The EAAS defines “American Studies” broadly. To be eligible, a manuscript should be in the fields of literary, cultural, or historical studies. Interdisciplinary studies are also welcome. All entries should be concerned with phenomena or events that focus on what is now the United States of America. We welcome comparative and international studies that fall within these guidelines. To be considered, manuscripts should be between 250 and 400 pages long (375,000 to 670,000 characters equaling 1,500 characters per page).

Authors of eligible manuscripts are invited to nominate their work. We urge scholars who know of eligible manuscripts written by others to inform those authors of the prize. The award is open to authors of English-language manuscripts only. Entrants are requested to write a one- to two-page essay explaining why the manuscript is a significant and original contribution to American Studies. The winning work will be published at no cost to the author in the series European Views of the United States (Universitätsverlag Winter Heidelberg). The author is expected to provide the publisher with a camera-ready manuscript or PDF file. Manuscript guidelines are available upon request.

The 2009 Kroes Prize winner is Astrid Franke of the University of Tübingen, Germany.