The Eric Hoffer Award

When San Francisco had a thriving commercial seaport in 1950s, the longshoreman philosopher, Eric Hoffer, made his literary debut with The True Believer.

In this brilliant work, the self-educated dockworker analyzes and attempts to explain the motives of the various types of personalities that give rise to mass movements; why and how mass movements start, progress and end; and the similarities between them, whether religious, political, radical or reactionary.

He argues that even when their stated goals or values differ, mass movements are interchangeable, that adherents will often flip from one movement to another, and that the motivations for mass movements are interchangeable.

Thus, religious, nationalist and social movements, whether radical or reactionary, tend to attract the same type of followers, behave in the same way and use the same tactics and rhetorical tools. As examples, he often refers to Communism, Fascism, National Socialism, Christianity, Protestantism, and Islam.

The first and best-known of Hoffer's books, The True Believer has been published in more than 25 editions since its debut in 1951. We recently came across The Passionate State of Mind & Other Aphorisms, and it too, contains many insights that might explain today’s cultural conundrums.

Hoffer was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983. Each year Hoffer is memorialized through The Eric Hoffer Award for prose and books.

This award was founded at the start of the 21st century (with permission from the Eric Hoffer Estate) to honor freethinking writers and independent books of exceptional merit. The commercial environment for today’s writers has all but crushed the circulation of ideas. It seems strange that in the Information Age, many books are blocked from wider circulation, and powerful writing is barred from publication or buried alive on the Internet.

Furthermore, many of the top literary prizes will not consider independent books, choosing instead to become the marketing arms of large presses.

The “Hoffer” honored books are from small, academic, and micro presses, including self-published offerings. Throughout the centuries, writers such as Emily Dickinson, James Joyce, Walt Whitman, and Virginia Woolf have taken the path of self-publishing, rather than have their ideas forced into a corporate or sociopolitical mold.

Today, small and academic presses struggle in this same environment. The Hoffer will continue to be a platform for and the champion of the independent voice. Winners of the Hoffer are given prizes, honors, and worldwide media exposure, as well as being covered in the US Review of Books.

Nominated books are judged by independent panels within eighteen all-inclusive categories. The annual grand prizewinner is awarded a $2,000 cash prize. Each category is assigned a winner, runner-up, and multiple honorable mentions. Recognition is given to the best academic, small, micro, and self-published presses. The Montaigne Medal is awarded to the most thought-provoking books. The da Vinci Eye honors exceptional cover art. The First Horizon Award is given to the best first-time authors. Each year, the Eric Hoffer Award results are publicly announced in the spring, and every nominee is notified via the contact e-mail on their registration form.

To learn more about entering your work of the work of someone you admire:

The Eric Hoffer Award

PO Box 11

Titusville, NJ 08560