Nominations for the Felix Varela Awards must be mailed by Thursday, Dec. 31. This is an award bestowed by the Al Dia Foundation for excellence in American journalism on Latino issues. Awards amounting to $10,000 will be given for 2009 works in two categories: Spanish-Language Print Journalism and Digital Journalism (in English or Spanish).

Articles of any length published this year are eligible. They may entail investigative journalism, feature writing, commentary, and blog writing.  Individuals may submit multiple by-lines but can enter on their own or through their news organization in only one award category.

Submit five hard copies of materials on white letter-sized paper without photo reductions or folds. More than one page per article is acceptable, as are photocopies. News clippings must show the name of the publication, story headline, page, and date of publication. Digital Journalism entries may be provided on disk. Entries by fax and e-mail are not acceptable. The application can be downloaded from the award website.

These awards were established in honor of Havana Cuba-born Father Felix Varela y Morales who founded one of the first Spanish-language magazines/newspaper in the United States. The year he arrived in Philadelphia, 1824, this Catholic priest established El Habanero in Spanish for Latinos. It was a short-lived paper on a variety of academic and political topics that fit Varela's interests as a former college professor and Cuban representative to Spain.

As a professor in Cuban, Varela solved the absence of ssome reference books by writing his own college textbooks on science and other topics. He, while the Cuban representative in Spain, drafted petitions calling for Cuban independence and an end to slavery. The end to slavery was not as well received as the notion of Cuban independence. Before he could return home to a free Cuba, Ferdinand overthrew the Cortes and the free-thinking Varela was exiled from all Spanish lands. He was exiled but El Habanero was smuggled into Cuba voicing democracy.

According to the Al Dia Foundation, Varela, a prolific writer, also wrote essays on collaborative relationships between Spanish- and English-speaking communities. He translated a number of notable texts into Spanish, such as Thomas Jefferson's Manual of Parliamentary Practices.

Dr. Andrew Mendelson, chair of the Department of Journalism at Temple University says his department is honored to host the Varela awards ceremony, details of which will be provided next year.

For more info: visit http://www.felixavarelaaward.com/