At a time when everything seems to shrink, short forms have taken over: essays have given way to op-eds, blog posts have given way to tweets – the Sidney Prize stands as a force against this trend, honoring every year the best long-form writing, research and thought.

Sidney Cox established high standards for originality and integrity when setting out Indirections for Those Who Want to Write. As Cox specified, any kind of undergraduate writing may be submitted; participation isn’t restricted solely to majors or minors in English. A committee comprised of faculty from Dartmouth meets annually in Hanover to review manuscripts submitted for consideration.

Winners receive a $10,000 cash prize and an engraved medallion from the Hillman Foundation, and become part of its network of distinguished journalists – such as those at The New York Times, Washington Post and other top publications. Its mission is to foster peace and understanding by awarding journalism prizes that uncover social and economic injustices.

As part of its efforts to foster graduate student careers in history and technology, the Society offers two scholarships made possible by gifts from its founding member Sidney Hook.

Each year, several literary prizes awarded by the Society are announced at its Triennial Council meeting in September. All require submission of written work such as essays or poems on particular subjects; nominations usually close on the last day of every month and can be submitted online. Prize winners are announced during that meeting as well as Notable Book lists that highlight outstanding works across both categories.

As part of its annual awards, the society also presents the annual Iwanter Prize: this unrestricted scholarship of $2,000 awarded annually to an exceptional graduating senior whose senior thesis and general academic excellence demonstrate exceptional humanities-based scholarship of an interdisciplinary nature. It was created through a gift from Thornton O’Glove in memory of Sidney Iwanter (BA History 1971).

The Overland Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize welcomes short stories up to 3000 words that loosely explore travel as their theme. A jury consisting of Patrick Lenton, Alice Bishop and Sara Saleh reviewed over 500 entries to select this year’s shortlist of four stories; with one story chosen as first prize winner (‘Who Rattles the Night?) going into print publication while two runners-up will also have their stories featured online – this marks Overland’s second annual Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize awardees!