FORUM PRIZE
About the Forum Essay Prize
The Forum essay prize competition was launched to mark Volume 45 of the journal in 2009. Having published hundreds of outstanding articles over the years, the editors wished to introduce a means of encouraging and rewarding the very best scholarship from any of the areas of study represented by the journal. True to the principle of the journal as a wide and various ‘forum’ for the discussion of ideas, they also wanted excellence to be the sole criterion for judgment.
The competition is therefore open to all researchers, whether early-career or established, and indeed the prize has previously been awarded to entrants of both kinds. The winning article is published in the journal, while its author receives the sum of £200. Other essays that are highly commended by the judges may also be commissioned for publication in FMLS.
2011 Forum Essay Prize Winner
The 2011 competition was on the subject of Literature and the Law. Authors were invited to think about questions such as 'What can literature tell us about the law? How does literature evoke the law to illuminate other subjects? In which ways do the two influence one another? The editors were delighted to receive a large number of submissions from both experienced and early-career researchers, and it is with pleasure that we announce the winning essay by Susanne Kord: The Rule Of Law And The Role Of Literature: German Public Debates On Husband-Killers And Human Rights (1788–1845). The winning article can be read here for free.
The Forum Essay Prize 2012: Literature and Hunger
In every age, literature has reflected the basic human preoccupation with hunger. Writers have documented real deprivation, analysed their own appetites, explored the famished dreaming of prisoners and exiles, and examined the role of hunger in history, politics and society. Just as extensively, the longing for food has been used metaphorically, for instance as a signifier for lack of moral or emotional sustenance, as an instrument of self-denial or of control, or as a marker of wider and deeper ravenous desires. From Aesop (7th Century BC) to Darrieussecq by way of Dickens, Kafka, Hamsun, Calvino, Solzhenitsyn, Okri and many others, the subject of hunger has elicited a rich variety of literary treatments. At a time when famine in Africa once again fills our headlines, the General Editors of Forum for Modern Language Studies invite articles addressing the broad topic of Literature and Hunger.
The 2012 Forum Prize competition invites submissions on the subject of Literature and Hunger, addressing literature of any period, and in any of the languages covered by the journal (usually English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian, but we will consider others too). The competition is open to all researchers, whether established or early-career: it is worth noting that previous competitions have been won by scholars in both categories.
The Forum Prize
The winner’s prize will consist of:
1. Publication of the winning essay in the next appropriate volume of FMLS
2. A cash prize of £200
There is no runner-up prize, but the Editors may commission for publication any entries that are highly commended by the judges.
Entry Requirements for the Forum Essay Prize 2012
The Forum Essay Prize is open to all researchers. A panel of judges will read all entries, which will be assessed anonymously. Entries should be no more than 6,500 words in length including notes, should conform to MHRA style, and must be accompanied by an abstract summarizing the principal arguments and making clear the relevance of the article to the competition topic. The closing date for entries will be 31 March 2012.
Click here for full details of the Essay Prize rules.
Submissions
Submissions for the essay competition must arrive no later than 31 March 2012. Entries must be made via the online submission system at www.fmls.oxfordjournals.org. If you have any general enquiries about the competition, please contact the Administrative Editor, Dr Robin Mackenzie, at rmm10@st-andrews.ac.uk
Click here to read details on how to submit.
Promote the prize
If you would like to advertise the Forum prize amongst interested peers, why not download our pdf poster and display it on your notice board? Click here to download the poster.