From 2015, the Hakluyt Society will award an annual essay prize (or more than one, if the judges so decide) of up to a total of £750. Winners will be invited to publish their essays in the online
Journal of the Hakluyt Society if they wish to do so. The prize or prizes for 2015 will be presented at the Hakluyt Society’s Annual General Meeting in London in June 2015, where winners will be invited to attend as the Society’s guests. Travel expenses within the UK will be reimbursed and winners will also receive a one-year membership of the Hakluyt Society.

Eligibility criteria
The competition is open to postdoctoral scholars of not more than two years’ standing on 31 December 2014, and to undergraduate and graduate students registered as such on that date. Only one entry may be submitted per entrant per year.

Scope and subject matter
Essays submitted, which should be based on original research in any discipline in the  humanities or social sciences, may be on any aspect of the history of travel, exploration and cultural encounter or their effects, in the tradition of the work of the Hakluyt Society. Essays should be in English (except for such citations in languages other than English as may appear in
footnotes or endnotes) and between 6,000 and 8,000 words in length (including notes, excluding bibliography). Illustrations, diagrams and tables essential to the text fall outside the word count. Submissions should be unpublished, and not currently in press, in production or under review elsewhere. Authors may wish to consult the Society’s style sheet, which is also the
Journal’s style sheet, at http://www.hakluyt.com/authors_info.htm.

Submission procedures and deadline
Essays should be submitted as email attachments in Word.doc format to Dr Surekha Davies, Chair of the Essay Prize Committee, at surekha.davies@gmail.com and to the Society’s administrative office at office@hakluyt.com by 1 November 2014. The entrant’s name, address (including preferred email address), institutional affiliation (if any, with date of admission), and degrees (if any, with dates of conferment) should appear within the body of the email, together with a note of the title of the submitted essay. The subject line of the email should include the words ‘HAKLUYT SOCIETY ESSAY PRIZE’ and the author’s name. By submitting an essay, an entrant certifies that it is the entrant’s own original work.

For more information, please visit: http://www.hakluyt.com/PDF/Essay%20prize.pdf?PHPSESSID=ee7c08c78958c04bb6f5700da5e152dc