Day: September 13, 2024

The Sidney Prize and the Neilma Sidney Short Story PrizeThe Sidney Prize and the Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize

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This award is given each year to a graduating senior who, through a written paper, exhibits the highest level of scholarship and humanities-based research of a broad and interdisciplinary nature. The essay should be original and address a subject of particular significance to the Law School community. The paper may be written as part of a course, seminar, clinic, or independent study project at the Law School or may have been published elsewhere. The Iwanter Prize is made possible by an endowment from the Law Firm of Roberts & Holland LLP and by the Law School’s Center for Media and Democracy.

Each year, New York Times columnist David Brooks selects the best long-form essays of the past year for his Sidney Awards. This is an important honor, especially for writers in the upper echelons of publishing—writers like Hilton Als writing for The New Yorker and Ed Yong writing for The Atlantic.

In its early years, the Archibald Prize sought to honor people of “distinguished merit in art, letters and science.” However, this definition became increasingly flexible over time, leading to a controversy in 1943 when William Dobell won the prize for his portrait of Joshua Smith, whose rubbery neck and tentacle-like arms gave him an uncanny appearance. Some of the prize’s trustees were ready to resign over Dobell’s ‘caricature’ posing as art. The matter came perilously close to a legal battle until a judge ruled that it was impossible to set aside the decisions of those legally appointed to judge the competition.

The Hillman Foundation was established in 1946 in honor of Sidney Hillman, president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America labor union, a forerunner of Unite Here and Workers United (SEIU). The left-leaning foundation annually awards monetary prizes to journalists who pursue investigative reporting and deep storytelling that serves the public interest. Its leadership includes the former head of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of the US, the current president of Workers United, and other labor leaders.

The Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize is supported by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation and named after journalist and poet Neilma Sidney, who wrote for Overland magazine. The winner of this prize receives $5000 in prize money and two runners-up each receive $750, to be used to further their writing careers. The winning entry will be published in Overland’s autumn 2024 issue and two runners-up stories will also be published online. The submission deadline is the last day of each month. Nominations are welcome for your own work or someone else’s. Please submit to the submission portal here. Nominations must be accompanied by a link to the piece in question. The winners will be announced on the second Wednesday of each month.