Many of our prize offerings require submissions of written work – often essays or poems – on a specific topic. The submissions are usually reviewed by a panel of judges before being awarded the prize. All submissions should be made under a nom de plume, and must be accompanied by a copyright release form (pdf, 37KB).
Sidney Prizes
The University of Sydney is home to a wide range of literary prizes, ranging from poetry to essay writing. Each of these prizes has its own unique criteria, but all are aimed at rewarding the best submissions in a particular area of study. The university’s annual literary prizes have a long history, dating back to bequests received in the beginning of the 20th century.
One of the most prestigious awards in the field of literature is the Sidney Prize, which was established by the poet Robert Burns to commemorate his friend and mentor, Sir Walter Scott. This award is given each year to a writer who has published a book of merit and is considered to have made an outstanding contribution to Australian Literature.
Another prestigious prize is the Sidney Medal, which was established by the Sydney City Council in honour of Sir Sidney Smith, former Lord Mayor of Sydney and Commissioner of Post Office. The prize is awarded annually to an Australian citizen whose literary work is considered of high literary standard, and who has demonstrated an ability to write well and to communicate the importance and value of literature to others.
Other popular prizes include the Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize, which is run by Overland magazine. This prize is open to writers of all ages and nationalities who submit a short story themed around travel. The winner of the 2023 Neilma Sidney Prize was Annie Zhang for her story ‘Who Rattles the Night?’, which was published in Overland. Zhang lives on unceded Wangal land, and her story describes the experience of a couple moving into a house inhabited by ghosts.
In the field of science and technology, the Sidney Edelstein prize is awarded annually by the Society for History of Technology to an individual whose research has made a significant contribution to the understanding of the development of technological change. This award was previously known as the Dexter Prize.
In a time of political turmoil, it can be helpful to step back and take a look at the big picture. Fortunately, this is exactly what Walter Russell Mead has done in his Sidney Award winning article, “The Once and Future Liberalism.” This piece is a reminder that our current political argument is about a clash between two very different models of liberalism – the small state Manchester liberalism of the 1890s, and the big organization managerial state liberalism of the 1950s. Both versions of liberalism have their strengths and weaknesses, but Mead argues that the former is the more sustainable of the two.