FIRST TIME AUTHORS PROGRAMME: WORLD BOOK AND COPYRIGHT DAY
World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated each year on the 23rd of April. This celebration, promoted by UNESCO, aims to promote reading, publishing and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.
By paying world-wide tribute to books and authors on this date, UNESCO hopes to encourage everyone, particularly young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and to gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity.
The celebration of World Book and Copyright Day connects directly to the goal of the Heritage Library, which is to preserve and promote the culture of Trinidad and Tobago. Celebrating 1st Time Authors is NALIS’ attempt to applaud the hard work of first time authors, to encourage new writers to enter the publishing arena, and to raise public awareness of the issues involved in the protection of intellectual property as well as the enforcement of copyright.
In order to be eligible for consideration and recognition as a 1st Time Author please note the following:
1. The author must be of Trinidad and Tobago nationality or descent.
2. The book must be the first published book of any kind by the author regardless of whether the book is nonfiction or fiction such as a collection of poems, short stories or a novel. If the author published a poetry book in 2001 and subsequently published a children’s book in 2018, it will not qualify as the author’s first publication.
3. An academic writing such as a dissertation or paper will only be considered as a publication once it has been published and marketed as a book or in a journal for sale.
4. An author can only be eligible for recognition once. Therefore, if he/she has been recognised for a contribution in another collection or as a co-author, said person will not be recognised for a publication in the future for which he or she is the sole author.
5. The book should have been published during the period 1st January to the 31st December of the given year. For example, eligible submissions for 2019 First Time Authors will be from 1st January 2018 – 31st December, 2018.
Once an author fulfills the above requirements and wishes to be recognized as a first time author the following form can be downloaded and completed.