Friedrich Katz Prize
The American Historical Association offers the Friedrich Katz Prize in Latin American and Caribbean History, which honors Friedrich Katz, an Austrian-born specialist in Latin American history, whose nearly 50-year career inspired dozens of students and colleagues in the field.
The prize will be awarded annually to the best book published in English focusing on Latin America, including the Caribbean. The current prize amount is $1,000. See the list of past recipients.
The general rules for submission are:
- Books bearing a copyright of 2022 are eligible for the 2023 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.
- Nominators must complete an online prize submission form for each book submitted.
- One copy of each entry must be sent to each committee member and clearly labeled “Katz Prize Entry.” Print copies preferred unless otherwise indicated. If only e-copy is available, please contact review committee members beforehand to arrange submission format.
Please Note: Entries must be received by May 15, 2023, to be eligible for the 2023 competition. Entries will not be returned. Recipients will be announced on the AHA website in October 2023 and recognized during a ceremony at the January 2024 AHA annual meeting in San Francisco.
For questions, please contact the Prize Administrator.
2022 Katz Prize
Heather Flynn Roller, Colgate University
Contact Strategies: Histories of Native Autonomy in Brazil (Stanford Univ. Press)
Engagingly written and sharply argued, Contact Strategies reveals how the Mura and the Guaikurú of the colonial Amazon dictated the terms, timetable, and manner of their encounter with Europeans. By juxtaposing documentary silences with close readings of scant archival sources as well as incorporating critical ethnographic evidence, Heather F. Roller dynamically demonstrates how Indigenous people creatively adapted technologies, judicially acquired knowledge, and capably crossed borders based on their own desires, needs, and politics.