RICHMOND, VIRGINIA – The Library of Virginia has announced that nominations are open for the 2026 Art In Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award, which recognizes an outstanding book that is written primarily in response to the world of art while also showing the highest literary quality as a creative or scholarly work on its own merit. The deadline for submissions is Dec. 31, 2025. 

This unique award, established in 2013 and named in honor of noted journalist and author Mary Lynn Kotz, is the only award jointly given by the Library of Virginia and the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. It is the first internationally recognized award for writing about art in multiple categories, including biography, fiction, history, journalism, museum exhibition catalogs, poetry, social history of art and young adult books. 

Works eligible for submission must have been published for the first time in English in the United States in 2025. The topic must be the visual arts, including but not limited to painting, carving, sculpture, printmaking, textiles, glass and the artists or milieu of such works — but excluding such arts as dramatic and performance arts, music, literature and interactive or computer art. To learn more, find submission guidelines and a nomination form at lvafoundation.org/nominations.

Although submissions for Art In Literature: The Mary Lynn Kotz Award require no Virginia connections, the award is part of the Virginia Literary Awards, presented each year by the Library of Virginia. A list of past Kotz Award winners can be viewed on the Virginia Literary Awards website.

The winner will be selected in spring 2026. The work and the author will be honored in fall 2026 at a special reception at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts and at the Virginia Literary Awards Celebration at the Library of Virginia the following evening. 

ABOUT MARY LYNN KOTZ 
Mary Lynn Kotz is a New York Times bestselling author, lecturer and journalist best known for her groundbreaking works about artists such as Georgia O’Keeffe and Robert Rauschenberg. Her acclaimed book “Rauschenberg: Art and Life” balances deft observations of craft with a biographer’s chronicle of Rauschenberg’s inspirations, experiences and extensive collaborations. Kotz was also the last journalist to interview Georgia O’Keeffe in Abiquiú, New Mexico, and she served for many years as a writer for ARTnews.

ABOUT THE LIBRARY OF VIRGINIA AND FOUNDATION 

The Library of Virginia is the leading source of information on Virginia’s history, government and people. The Library’s collections, containing more than 134 million items, document and illustrate the lives of both famous Virginians and ordinary citizens. Our online resources draw nearly 2 million website visits per year, and our on-site records, exhibitions and events bring in thousands of visitors annually. The Library is located in downtown Richmond near Capitol Square at 800 East Broad Street, Richmond, VA 23219. Learn more at lva.virginia.gov.

The Library of Virginia Foundation supports the Library of Virginia and its mission by raising private financial support, managing its endowment, and helping to bring Virginia’s history and culture to life. Learn more at lvafoundation.org. 

ABOUT THE VIRGINIA MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS 
The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in Richmond, Virginia, is one of the largest comprehensive art museums in the United States. VMFA, which opened in 1936, is a state agency and privately endowed educational institution. Its purpose is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret art, and to encourage the study of the arts. Through the Office of Statewide Partnerships Program, the museum offers curated exhibitions, arts-related audiovisual programs, symposia, lectures, conferences, and workshops by visual and performing artists. In addition to presenting a wide array of special exhibitions, the museum provides visitors with the opportunity to experience a global collection of art that spans more than 6,000 years. VMFA’s permanent holdings encompass more than 50,000 artworks, including the largest public collection of Fabergé outside of Russia, the finest collection of Art Nouveau outside of Paris and one of the nation’s finest collections of American art. VMFA is also home to important collections of Chinese art, English silver, French Impressionist, Post-Impressionist, British sporting and modern and contemporary art, as well as renowned South Asian, Himalayan and African art. In May 2010, VMFA opened the James W. and Frances G. McGlothlin Wing I after a transformative expansion, previously the largest in its history. A new expansion, the McGlothlin Wing II, is planned to open in 2028. Comprising more than 170,000 square feet, it will be the largest expansion in the museum’s history and will make VMFA the fourth largest comprehensive art museum in the United States. The Virginia Museum of Fine Arts is the only art museum in the United States open 365 days a year with free general admission. For additional information, visit vmfa.museum.