Submissions for the SNLS Ann Moss Essay Prize 2025 are now invited

This Prize was inaugurated in 2015. In 2018 it was named after Ann Moss, the first President of the Society for Neo-Latin Studies; the prize honours her activities on behalf of the Society and especially her support for junior scholars.

The prize is awarded annually to the best essay on a Neo-Latin topic by a junior member of SNLS. The discussion in the essay can cover Neo-Greek material, but, true to the Society’s name, there should be a significant focus on Neo-Latin. SNLS is particularly looking for contributions discussing lesser-known Neo-Latin texts and providing close reading of these and / or discussions of context at a high scholarly level in terms of both contents and presentation.

Only members of SNLS may submit essays for consideration (membership obtained just prior to submission qualifies). All PhD students and post-doctoral researchers up to two full years after the date of their PhD viva by the deadline (i.e. with a viva date after 15 October 2023) are eligible to submit an essay of up to 7,000 words as an absolute maximum (e.g. part of a chapter or a larger work, revised to form a self-standing piece, or a final draft of an article or a written version of a conference paper) by 15 October 2025 (as an email attachment to the Society’s President). The word count includes footnotes, but excludes title, bibliography and any appendixes (which, however, should not be longer than the text of the essay). Short extensions to the submission deadline may be granted in response to illness or similar reasons, if candidates get in touch before the deadline to request these.

Since submissions will be reviewed anonymously, authors should ensure that the text of the essay does not indicate their identity. At the same time, the name of the author, their affiliation and their role (e.g. final-year PhD student) as well as the word count should be provided on a separate page or in a cover email. Candidates should also confirm that the piece submitted is entirely their own work (without any assistance from other people or generative artificial intelligence) and that all material taken from other sources has been properly acknowledged. Candidates can enter in every year in which they are eligible, but they may not submit the same essay twice.

All submissions will be judged by members of the Executive Committee, who may ask other experts to join them (PhD students and post-doctoral researchers themselves members of the Executive Committee may submit essays, but will not be eligible for judging submissions). Candidates will be informed of the outcome by email within a month of the deadline. The winner will be announced formally at the AGM in November and will receive a certificate, a small financial award, one year’s free membership of SNLS and publication advice if required.

Submissions for the SNLS Undergraduate Finalist Essay Prize 2025 are now invited

The Society for Neo-Latin Studies promotes the study of Latin material from the early modern period and is keen to encourage people at all levels to include texts in Latin in their studies. Therefore, it aims to recognize students who do so already at undergraduate level and is looking for interesting pieces of writing making reference to Latin material from that period.

All undergraduate students in the final year of a BA programme in the arts and humanities broadly defined (SNLS membership not required) are eligible to submit an essay of up to 5,000 words by 15 June 2025 (as an email attachment to the Society’s President). The word count includes footnotes, but excludes title, bibliography and any appendixes (which, however, should not be longer than the text of the essay). This essay may be a (revised) version of a BA dissertation, of an essay written for one of the modules in the final year or an independent essay. Eligible pieces may be entirely about early modern texts in Latin, or they could just make reference to some Latin material (e.g. in an essay on a drama by Shakespeare or on the history of the Elizabethan period). Short extensions to the submission deadline may be granted in response to illness or similar reasons, if candidates get in touch before the deadline to request these.

Since submissions will be reviewed anonymously, candidates should ensure that the text of the essay does not indicate their identity. At the same time, the name of the author, their affiliation, and their degree programme as well as the word count should be provided on a separate page or in a cover email. Candidates should also confirm that the piece submitted is entirely their own work (without any assistance from other people or artificial intelligence) and that all material taken from other sources has been properly acknowledged.

All submissions will be judged by members of the Executive Committee, who may ask other experts to join them. Candidates will be informed of the outcome by email within a month of the deadline. The formal award ceremony will take place at the Society’s AGM in November, and the winner will receive a certificate, a small financial award and one year’s free membership of SNLS.