Literary award · United States · since 2002

Sam Adams Award

Award given annually to an intelligence professional who has taken a stand for integrity and ethics. Established 2002 in United States.

About Sam Adams Award

The Sam Adams Award is given annually since 2002 to an intelligence professional who has taken a stand for integrity and ethics. The award is granted by the Sam Adams Associates for Integrity in Intelligence, a group of retired CIA officers. It is named after Samuel A. Adams, a CIA whistleblower during the Vietnam War, and takes the physical form of a "corner-brightener candlestick". Ray McGovern established the Sam Adams Associates "to reward intelligence officials who demonstrated a commitment to truth and integrity, no matter the consequences." The 2012, 2013, and 2014 awards were presented at the Oxford Union.

From the Wikipedia article “Sam Adams Award”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recent winners

YearWinnerWinning work
2021Daniel Hale—
2018Karen Kwiatkowski—
2017Seymour Hersh—
2016John Kiriakou—
2015William Edward Binney—
2014Chelsea Manning—
2013Edward Snowden—
2012Thomas Fingar—
2009Lawrence Wilkerson—
2006Craig Murray—

From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.

Eligibility and entering

Check the official rules of the Sam Adams Award for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.

Sources & data