The Boston Authors Club (BAC) is an independent, non-profit organization founded in the late 19th century to gather authors and people who love books and to celebrate literature. Today, the BAC runs a competition and awards the Julia Ward Howe prize in a number of categories for books published each year by Boston-area authors, in addition to sponsoring many events including book readings, discussions of how to advance a writing career and examinations of the roles of literature in contemporary life.