John K. Fairbank Prize in East Asian History Grant

The John K. Fairbank Prize in East Asian History, awarded by the American Historical Association, recognizes exceptional scholarly work in the history of East Asia, particularly focusing on books published after 1800. Eligible works must demonstrate high literary merit and can be nominated by authors or publishers. The prize aims to highlight significant contributions to the historical disciplines, with recipients announced in October 2025 and honored at the January 2026 AHA annual meeting in Chicago.

The Association recognizes a wide variety of distinguished historical work, which can take the form of an exceptional book in the field, distinguished teaching and mentoring in the classroom, films, or digital projects and resources. Since 1896 the Association has conferred over a thousand awards. The names, publications, and projects of those who received these awards are a catalog of the best work produced by members of the historical discipline.
The John K. Fairbank Prize in East Asian History is offered annually for an outstanding book in the history of China proper, Vietnam, Chinese Central Asia, Mongolia, Manchuria, Korea, or Japan, substantially after 1800.
Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2026 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2027 AHA annual meeting in New Orleans.

Eligibility

Only books of high scholarly and literary merit will be considered. Books with a copyright of 2024 will be eligible for the 2025 prize.Nomination submissions may be made by an author or by a publisher. Publishers may submit as many entries as they wish. Authors or publishers may submit the same book for multiple AHA prizes.One copy of each entry must be sent to each committee member and clearly labeled “Fairbank Prize Entry.” Print copies preferred unless otherwise indicated. If only e-copy is available, please contact review committee members beforehand to arrange submission format.
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Ineligibility

Anthologies, edited works, and pamphlets are ineligible for the competition.