The Angry Bat Book Award 2025
We would kindly like to invite you to the fifth edition of the Maribor photobook award organized by The Angry Bat and Društvo za evropsko zavest. The award will be accompanied by an exhibition of selected photobooks from the call. The books will be on display in UGM – The Art Gallery Maribor.
Open Call: Maribor Photobook Award 2025
The Maribor Photobook Award returns in 2025 to celebrate excellence and innovation in contemporary photobook publishing. We invite publishers, photographers, artists, designers from around the world to submit their published or self-published books, created in the past two years. Eligible are books published after the 1st of January 2023.
This award is not intended for dummies or unpublished projects – only completed and published photobooks are eligible. Zines are welcome and encouraged.
This year’s edition welcomes submissions on any theme – the award remains open to diverse photographic voices, concepts, and approaches.
However, we are also placing a special focus on the subtheme: “Protest”.
We are particularly interested in books that engage with the many forms of social resistance and activism that shape our world today. From silent acts of defiance to collective uprisings, from struggles for human rights to movements for equality and justice – photography has played a crucial role in documenting, interpreting, and amplifying these moments.
Books that meaningfully address this subtheme will receive additional consideration during the jury process.
All participating books will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
- Photography
- Coherence of the concept
- Production quality
- Topic relevance
Prizes
- Main Prize: €3,000
- Best “Protest” Photobook: €500 (also considered for the main prize)
- Best Photobook from Southeast Europe: €500 (supporting and strengthening photobook production in a region where resources for publishing are often limited. Eligible countries for the SE Europe award: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia)
Deadline: 30th September 2025
https://theangrybat.com/https-theangrybat-com-portfolio/photobook_award-2025/
