In the age of instant messaging and tweets, short-form writing has become an art form. The Sidney Prize stands athwart that trend, awarding annual prizes for the best examples of long-form journalism and thought. The winner receives $20,000 and will see their work published in Overland, while the two runners-up will each be given $5000.
The prize is named in memory of Sidney Cox, professor of English at Dartmouth from 1927 to 1952, who set high standards of originality and integrity for his students both in his teaching and in his book, Indirections for Those Who Want to Write. The Committee he established to judge the manuscripts each year has stipulated that any kind of undergraduate writing in English may be submitted for consideration.
Winners have gone on to publish in leading journals and to secure prestigious research fellowships and appointments. Professor Clare Jackson, a former Sidney student and Junior Research Fellow, won the prestigious British Academy Book Prize for her study of royalist ideas in late-seventeenth century Scotland. Her book was hailed as a “fearless and penetrating examination of the whole range of issues” and won acclaim for its freshness, clarity, and depth.
Another Sidney graduate, York University Professor Edward Jones-Imhotep, won the coveted 2018 Sidney Edelstein Prize, one of the most prestigious prizes in the field of history of technology, for his book The Unreliable Nation: Disasters and History, which examines how technological failures have shaped society throughout history. Jones-Imhotep, who teaches in the Department of History at the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, is only the second Canadian to win this prize.
The Faculty of Science Postgraduate Research Prize for Leadership recognises the outstanding contribution by HDR students to their schools, Faculty and University through leadership roles or representation on School, Faculty and University committees, in professional organisations and through outreach within the community. No application is required, eligible recipients will be notified by email. The prize is valued at $1500.