The Howard F. Cline Memorial Prize was established in 1976. It carries a stipend of $500. The prize is awarded biennially to the book or article in English, German, or a Romance language judged to make the most significant contribution to the history of Indians in Latin America, referring to any time before the immediate present. Items appearing in the two calendar years just preceding may be considered for a given year’s award. Hence, items published in 2025 and 2026 will be considered for the award year 2027 (awarded at the meeting in January 2028).

The Cline Prize Committee will consider only those items nominated by CLAH members or by publishers. Publishers must provide copies of items nominated to all committee members. Members of the prize committee may include any items they feel appropriate in the list of works considered.

In exceptional cases, the award committee may decide on co-winners. The co-winners will split the prize. In such cases, there would not be an honorable mention.

Note: The CLAH requires current membership for all of its prizes and awards.

As this is a biennial prize, the CLAH is not accepting nominations for the Cline Prize in 2026.

Donations to the Cline Prize fund can be made here.

To see the list of past Cline Prize recipients and prize committees, see here.