Sator New Works Award

The Sator New Works Award is presently closed for submissions.

The Sator New Works Award will be awarded to a book-length work of either fiction or non-fiction by an author who identifies as trans or nonbinary.

The submitted manuscript must be an original work of at least 30,000 words in length, written by one author, in English.

The selected work will be published by Two Dollar Radio in 2024 (or 2025), and will receive a $3,000 advance.

This publishing prize was made possible by Sator Press, a small nonprofit publishing company owned and operated by Ken Baumann from 2009 to 2019. Sator’s goal was to publish and promote innovative literature; Two Dollar Radio is happy to continue this tradition through the establishment of this prize.

The winner of the inaugural Sator New Works Award was My Volcano, by John Elizabeth Stintzi, published by Two Dollar Radio in March 2022.

Submit to the Sator New Works Award.

View the full Sator Press/Satyr Press catalog here:
twodollarradio.com/sator-press

View or download the PDF version of the Sator New Works Award press release.

April 27, 2020
Sator Press—and Satyr Press, an imprint—was founded in 2009 by Ken Baumann. For a decade it operated as a nonprofit that sustainably produced innovative literature with handsome, impeccable design. As of spring 2020, Two Dollar Radio is pleased to carry on this tradition through distribution of Sator Press and Satyr Press titles.

A note from Ken Baumann, Sator Press:
I started Sator Press to publish what I wanted to read: books too brave for profit-driven editors to notice; voices at the edge of the sayable; beautiful and fractal works that don’t fit neat genres and categories; cries to feel, to stay alert, to encounter the real. Working closely with authors to enliven their visions and produce books they’d be proud of was gratifying work. It cost me tens of thousands of dollars and ate up as many hours, but the work was an honor. I loved designing book covers, finding the right fonts, convincing small bookstores to stock our titles, starting a new imprint, and seeing my authors’ work praised and hated and attended to. I loved paying authors. I loved supporting writers and convincing them, by our work together and by their books’ work in the world, that they matter. After ten years, I felt the project needed to continue—but knew I was no longer capable of doing it well. Richard Nash once told me to stop publishing when the parties stopped being fun, and sadly they stopped being fun. But I wanted to make sure Sator titles continued to exist and be available for eager readers. Two Dollar Radio was the only publishing company I fantasized about taking over the press. Two Dollar Radio and Sator share a commitment to publishing uncompromising books that would otherwise be shunned, marred, or tokenized by the Big Five. Eric and Eliza at Two Dollar Radio agreed to take on Sator’s back catalogue, keep Sator titles in print, and offer a publishing prize funded by Sator—the Sator New Works Award—for a U.S. debut of fiction or non-fiction work by an author who identifies as trans or nonbinary. Eric, Eliza, and I are excited to re-present Sator’s work to the world and keep its palindromic spines stuck in your shelves and in your heads. And we’re excited to continue to bring new authors to you in Sator’s name, bringing you proof that literature can still find and keep ever-new mysteries.

A note from Eric Obenauf, Two Dollar Radio’s Editorial Director:
I’ve long admired Ken’s fearlessness in publishing striking work unafraid to take chances. With every Sator book, you have the sense that something is at stake for the author. Ken is an amazing, generous spirit, and while our literary community will miss his vision, we couldn’t be more delighted to carry the Sator torch at Two Dollar Radio and offer a new prize in their name.