Each year, the Sidney prizes honor some of the best long-form magazine essays of the year. This year, many of them probed the intersection of science and thought—for example, in First Things, Helen Andrews wrote an amazing essay on online viciousness after a conservative columnist went off on her during a live panel discussion (which was televised).

The prize was established to perpetuate “the generative influence that the late Professor Cox exerted upon hundreds of Dartmouth students both in and out of his classes.” The prize is awarded to a senior undergraduate student who writes the best essay of the academic year.

Since the prize’s inception, a number of notable authors have won its prize for their work on diverse topics. The award has been given to scholars, journalists, historians and writers of fiction and nonfiction. In addition to the essay prize, the Sidney scholarship is also presented annually to a graduating senior.

This award honours the work of writers whose writing has contributed to the development of consumer culture theory and related theoretical areas. Authors who have published a dissertation-based article that contributes to the advancement of CCT are encouraged to submit their work for consideration.

The prize is named in honour of Philip Sidney Ardern, Lecturer in Old English and Associate-Professor in English at Auckland University College from 1912 to 1947. The annual prize is designed to encourage the study of Old and Middle English, although it is not confined to these fields.

In the 2023 Neilma Sidney short story prize, Annie Zhang’s ‘Who Rattles the Night?’ took out the top prize, along with two runners-up. The judges—Patrick Lenton, Alice Bishop and Sara Saleh—selected the winner from a shortlist of eight stories that were loosely themed around travel. The judges would like to thank all the entrants for their submissions, and to the runners-up for their fine work.

Winners of the 2020 Sidney Prizes have been announced. The winners include a study of how to reduce the number of melanoma skin cancers, a piece on the power of thugs, and an essay on why we need to stop judging people on their appearance.

Each year, the Sydney Peace Prize is awarded to a person or organisation that promotes peace with justice, human rights and nonviolence. This year’s winner is the human rights movement Black Lives Matter, founded in the US by Patrisse Cullors, Alicia Garza and Opal Tometi after the shooting of unarmed black teenager Trayvon Martin. The prize was established in 1967 and is funded by donations from former students, colleagues and friends of the late Professor Ardern. The winner is honoured each November at a ceremony held at the Sydney Town Hall. Previous recipients include Julian Burnside, Prof Noam Chomsky and Mary Robinson. The judging process is anonymous. Each prize has its own criteria, and the judges’ decision is final. The prize is not transferable or redeemable for cash. The winner will receive a trophy and will be listed on the website of Overland.