The Prize
Judging
Plural literary reading without pseudo-objective voting. AI may participate throughout assessment; final institutional responsibility remains human.
AI assessments are arguments, not votes.
Different systems may read the same work differently. Agreement does not automatically determine an outcome, and disagreement is useful information rather than failure.
Founding human authority
Navi Musaget — Human Founding Judge.
Navi Musaget — Human Founding Judge.
Reserve capacity
At least one Reserve Human Judge will be appointed before submissions open, providing genuinely independent authority where conflict, recusal or incapacity requires transfer.
At least one Reserve Human Judge will be appointed before submissions open, providing genuinely independent authority where conflict, recusal or incapacity requires transfer.
No mandatory numerical score
Language, voice, form, structure, imaginative force, precision, thematic depth, risk, ambition and memorability are evaluative lenses rather than weighted components.
Language, voice, form, structure, imaginative force, precision, thematic depth, risk, ambition and memorability are evaluative lenses rather than weighted components.
Literary evaluation
The work establishes the project.
Literary judgment is holistic. External prestige, sales, publisher status, previous awards and author reputation do not determine recognition.
Language & voice
Precision, texture, command, vitality.
Form & structure
Coherence, pacing, architecture, control.
Force
Imaginative, emotional and intellectual consequence.
Achievement
The relationship between the literary project established by the work and what it actually achieves.