Felicia A. Holton Book Award

2013 Holton Book winner Andrew Wallace-Hadrill and 2013 Holton Lifetime Achievement winner Brian Fagan.

The Felicia A. Holton Book Award will be given annually to a writer who, through a major work of non-fiction, represented the importance and excitement of archaeology to the general public. Submissions should focus on archaeology but may also delve into literary and historical topics. The work must have been published in English and bear a date of publication within three calendar years prior to (not including) the year of the Annual Meeting at which the award is given. From time to time, the Holton Award may be given for lifetime achievement in non-fiction popular writing. Books written by current members of the Governing Board of the AIA or the CAA or by the Committee are not eligible.

Authors and publishers may bring their books to the committee's attention by sending a Letter of Nomination and four sample copies for distribution to the committee to the address below. The Letter of Nomination should address how the book nominated fulfills the guidelines. AIA members are also encouraged to suggest books worthy of the award by filling out the nomination form. Please note that individual AIA members do not need to submit four books. The AIA office will contact the publisher directly. Books may be submitted for the award only once, and should not be re-submitted unless specifically requested by the committee.

Due Date for Nomination

Letter of nomination and books should be received by Institute Headquarters at the below address no later than February 1, 2013.

Holton Book Award
Attn: Awards
Archaeological Institute of America
656 Beacon Street, 6th Floor
Boston, MA 02215-2006
(617) 353-9361
FAX: (617) 353-6550
E-mail: awards@aia.bu.edu

Questions about the Book Award may be directed to Deanna Baker, Membership and Societies Administrator, at the above address.

Guidelines for the Felicia A. Holton Book Award

The Holton Book Award will be given annually to a writer who, through a major work of non-fiction, represented the importance and excitement of archaeology to the general public.

Submissions should focus on archaeology but may also delve into literary and historical topics. The work must have been published in English within the past three years and be available in the United States and Canada.

No nominated book may be resubmitted for the Holton Award unless requested by the Holton Book Award Committee.

From time to time the Holton Award may be given for lifetime achievement in non-fiction popular writing.

Books written by current members of the Governing Board of the AIA or the CAA or by the Committee are not eligible.

Submission Deadline: February 1 at the AIA office in Boston. Submission materials should include four copies of the book and a letter describing how the book fulfills the criteria given below.

The Holton Book Award will be presented at the annual AIA meeting.

Criteria for Submissions

The work should have broad public appeal and be written for an adult lay audience in a clear and engaging style.

It should convey the excitement of archaeological discovery accurately and responsibly.

It should be well-researched and provide new insight for the general public.

2013 Felicia A. Holton Book Award: Herculaneum: Past and Future by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill

Born in Oxford, son of a distinguished historian of the early middle ages (John Michael Wallace-Hadrill), he took his first degree in Classics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, and his doctorate, on Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars, at St. John's College in the same University. He moved to Cambridge for his first post, as a Fellow and Director of Studies in Classics at Magdalene College (1976-1983), publishing a book on Suetonius and articles on aspects of Roman imperial ideology. After working in Leicester (1983-1987), where he worked closely with colleagues in sociology and urban history and edited two volumes, he moved to Reading as Professor of Classics (1987-2009). He edited the Journal of Roman Studies, the leading journal of Roman history and culture, from 1991 to 1995. Interest in Roman material culture led to the publication of a study of Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum (1994), which won the Archaeological Institute of America's James R. Wiseman Award. His work in Pompeii led to the development of a joint project with Professor Michael Fulford on a group of houses in Pompeii, and to appointment as Director of the British School at Rome (1995-2009), a post he held simultaneously with the professorship at Reading. Since 2001, he has directed the Herculaneum Conservation Project, a project of the Packard Humanities Institute which aims to protect and study this unique site.

Felicia A. Holton Book Lifetime Achievement Award: Brian Fagan

Archaeologist Brian Fagan was born in England, educated at Cambridge University (B.A., M.A., and Ph.D.), and worked in Central Africa before coming to the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1967. Emeritus Professor of Anthropology and an independent scholar, Brian is the author of numerous general books on archaeology, ancient climate change, and, most recently, histories of water and ancient seafaring. He is regarded as one of the world’s leading archaeological writers and lectures about archaeology, water, and ancient climate worldwide. His most recent books are Elixir: A History of Water and Humankind and Beyond the Blue Horizon: How the Earliest Mariners Unlocked the Secrets of the Ocean, both by Bloomsbury Press, New York.

Past Winners of the Felicia A. Holton Book Award