Reed Environmental Writing Award announces 2027 call for nominations

The annual awards program by the Southern Environmental Law Center honors extraordinary environmental writers focused on the South

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., July 30, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Today the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) announced a call for nominations to the 2027 Phillip D. Reed Environmental Writing Award program. The Reed Award celebrates writers who achieve both literary excellence and offer extraordinary insight into the South's natural treasures and environmental challenges. 

Each year, two awards are presented to recognize outstanding writing in the following areas:

• Book Category for works of nonfiction (not self-published).
• Journalism Category for newspaper, magazine, and digital writing published by a recognized institution such as a news organization, university, or nonprofit group.

Nominations are welcome from anyone, including readers, authors, and publishers.

In the long, proud tradition of Southern literature, writers have often drawn on the region's unique natural treasures for inspiration and insight — from the haunting cypress swamps of Georgia to the tall mountains of western North Carolina to the rolling fields of the Virginia Piedmont. As the South continues to grow and change, writers are increasingly exploring our relationship with the natural world and the environmental challenges we face as a region. SELC's Reed Environmental Writing Award honors the best of these storytellers.

Recent winners include:

• Catherine Coleman Flowers, author of Holy Ground: On Activism, Environmental Justice, and Finding Hope
• Lindsey Liles, for her Garden & Gun feature "Inside the Fight to Save the World's Most Endangered Wolf."
• Jonathan Mingle, author of Gaslight: The Atlantic Coast Pipeline and the Fight for America's Energy Future 
• Jared Kofsky, Maia Rosenfeld, and Steve Osunsami for their ABC News investigation, "Our Inheritance is Washing Away".

There are three options for submitting entries: electronic copy (up to 64MB), hard copy, or a website link to where the submission is available for sale. Hard copy submissions will not be returned. Below are the general contest requirements.

• All submissions must have been published between October 1, 2025, and
  September 30, 2026.
• All submissions must relate to the natural environment in at least one of the following states: Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee,
  or Virginia.
• Submissions are due by October 1, 2026.
• Journalism entries must be at least 1,000 words and may consist of a single article or a group of articles.

Reed Award winners are selected by a national panel of judges that includes leading environmental writers, journalists, and advocates. The awards honor the late Phillip D. Reed, a distinguished attorney, committed environmental activist, and a founding trustee of SELC.

An award ceremony honoring the 2027 winners will be held in person on March 18, 2027 in Charlottesville, VA. The event will also be streamed live online. 

About Southern Environmental Law Center:

The Southern Environmental Law Center is one of the nation's most powerful defenders of the environment, rooted in the South. With a long track record, SELC takes on the toughest environmental challenges in court, in government, and in our communities to protect our region's air, water, climate, wildlife, lands, and people. Nonprofit and nonpartisan, the organization has a staff of 250, including more than 160 legal and policy experts, and is headquartered in Charlottesville, Va., with offices in Asheville, Atlanta, Birmingham, Chapel Hill, Charleston, Nashville, Richmond, and Washington, D.C. 
selc.org 

SOURCE Southern Environmental Law Center