In an age where everything seems to be shrinking, the Sidney Prize stands athwart technology, yelling stop. It celebrates outstanding examples of long-form journalism and thought. It is our opportunity to slow down, to take a look at the big picture and to consider what we are fighting for. It is our chance to be reminded that great writing does not have to be short or pithy, and that the art of essay-writing is not dead.
The Society for the History of Technology (SHOT) named York University professor Edward Jones-Imhotep as the winner of the 2018 Sidney Edelstein Prize — the most prestigious book prize in the field of history of technology. This is the first time a faculty member from a Canadian university has won the award. Jones-Imhotep is a professor in the Department of History, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, where he teaches one of the department’s most popular courses, HIST 1777: Disasters and History.
The Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize was established in 2007 and is supported by the Malcolm Robertson Foundation. This year, Overland’s judges, Patrick Lenton, Alice Bishop and Sara Saleh, selected a shortlist of eight pieces from over 500 entries. They then chose a winning story and two runners-up. We would like to thank them for their hard work and commitment to the integrity of our blind-judging process.
Winners of the Sidney Awards are celebrated at a special event in October each year. This is followed by the presentation of the prizes to the winners and runners-up at a dinner held at the Sydney Opera House. The winners receive a cash prize and a certificate. In addition, they have their works published in the following issue of Overland and on the website.
The Overland team welcomes submissions of fiction, non-fiction and poetry that reflect Australia’s rich cultural diversity. Submissions should be no longer than 3000 words and be themed loosely around the notion of ‘travel’. If your piece takes up the voice or experience of a marginalised or vulnerable identity, please indicate this when you submit. This is not mandatory and will only be visible to our internal editors, unless our judges request your response after they consider your piece.