The Sidney PrizeThe Sidney Prize
The Sydney prize is an annual award given to a graduate student whose research in the history of Christianity makes a significant contribution to its field and to the wider study of religion. It is named for Sidney E. Mead, a distinguished professor of American church history at Dartmouth College who died in 2002.
The winner of the Sydney Prize will receive a cash prize of $100,000 as well as a prestigious publication in Overland. This year the judges, Patrick Lenton, Alice Bishop and Sara Saleh, shortlisted eight pieces and chose a winner and two runners-up from them. We would like to thank them for their hard work and commitment to the integrity of our blind judging process.
In its long and eventful life, Sidney has produced soldiers and scholars, politicians, religious leaders and poets, writers and philosophers, a 1928 Grand National winner and Sherlock Holmes, and film and opera directors. It has also produced journalists, cartoonists, scientists and astrologers, a Premiership football club chairman, best-selling authors and a host of literary prizes.
This is the most prestigious literary prize in Australia. It was first awarded in 1926 and is based on the bequest of the art collector Sir Thomas Woolner. The prize is given for the most outstanding literary work published in a particular year. Previous winners include Peter Carey, Janet Malcolm and John Banville.
Awarded for an article in a journal or magazine that reveals and promotes social and economic justice. The prize is named for the late Sidney Hillman, president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America labor union and a founder of Unite Here and Workers United (the predecessors to SEIU). The Foundation’s leadership includes left-leaning celebrities Danny Glover and Bruce Raynor, who has twice found himself in the midst of union controversy that affected his standing in the union community.
This prize is for an essay, poem or piece of nonfiction which most closely meets the high standard of originality and integrity set by Sidney Cox in his teaching and in his book, Indirections for Those Who Want to Write. The competition is not limited to those enrolled at the university and submissions are judged by a committee whose members are all from Hanover. A single member of the Committee acts as an anonymous judge for each manuscript, and he or she may choose not to award the prize in any one year. The Committee tries to meet at least once each year in Hanover to discuss the manuscripts submitted for consideration. All entries must be accompanied by a completed entry form. The winning manuscript will be announced in the spring. Applicants must submit their entries under a pseudonym. The submission deadline is the last day of the month prior to the month in which the prize will be awarded. The entry form can be downloaded here. A copy of the winning manuscript will be published in Overland. Applicants should be aware that their submissions could be subject to copyright protection and must sign a release form before they can receive the prize money.