Sidney Prize
The Sydney Peace Foundation is pleased to announce that Nazanin Boniadi is the 2023 winner of the Sydney Prize for her commitment to advance women’s rights in Iran. Nazanin will be honoured in a ceremony at Sydney Town Hall later this year, where she will give the Sydney Prize Lecture and attend a gala dinner at the University of Sydney.
In her work, she has been an outstanding advocate for the human rights of women in Iran, and is a tireless campaigner for peace. Her efforts have helped to turn outrage into action, and we are thrilled to congratulate her on this achievement.
Established in 1997 by a gift of $21 000 from the Committee of the Sydney Mechanics’ School of Arts, the Sydney Prize is awarded annually on the recommendation of the Professor of Australian Literature and Head of the Department of English to a student who achieves outstanding results in senior units of study in Australian Literature, provided that the work is of sufficient merit.
This award is named in honor of the distinguished American philosopher and Phi Beta Kappa member, Sidney Hook. It recognizes national distinction in scholarship, undergraduate teaching, and leadership in the cause of liberal arts education. It is presented at the Society’s Triennial Council meeting and announced in the Key Reporter and the General Newsletter.
For a magazine essay or poem that addresses the experience of people from marginalised identities (including but not limited to race, religion, gender, sexuality and class) and that does so with integrity and compassion. The writer of the winning piece will be able to demonstrate that the subject matter is of particular relevance and interest to a substantial segment of our readership. The essay or poem should be no more than 4,000 words long and should have been published in Overland during the previous year.
The prize is a $1,000 cash award and an invitation to attend the Sydney Film Festival awards presentation. The winning entries will also receive a mesmeric swirl award, designed and handmade in Sydney by Dinosaur Designs. Subscribers to Overland can enter the competition at a special rate by taking out a new subscription and quoting ‘NEWLISTENERS’ in their application.
In the four hundred years since its founding, Sidney has spawned soldiers, politicians, poets, religious figures, artists and scientists as well as newspaper editors, a Premiership football club chairman, the founder of the 1928 Grand National and the man who introduced soccer to Hungary. It’s produced spies and murderers, alchemists and ghosts, and of course, Sherlock Holmes. But perhaps the most impressive legacy is the way in which its alumni have shaped the nation’s culture, politics, religion and business. It hasn’t been a bad run for such a young institution.