Sydney Prize
The Sidney Prize is an annual literary prize at the University of Sydney, Australia. The award is awarded for works that demonstrate a high level of research, writing and creative skills. Prize winners are awarded with a certificate and a cash prize of $1000. The prize was created in honour of the late Sidney Edelstein, an expert on the history of dyes and dye processes. It was established in 1968 by the Edelstein family in his honour.
Winners of the Sydney Prize are invited to join a distinguished group of past prize-winning authors at the University of Sydney. These writers have written books that are not only scholarly and intellectually stimulating, but also accessible to a wide audience. This makes the Sydney Prize one of the most prestigious awards for authors in the country.
In addition to the Sydney Prize, the University of Sydney offers a number of other writing prizes. These include the New South Wales Premier’s Literary Awards, which are presented annually for the best work of fiction, nonfiction or poetry by a NSW author, and the Australia Council Literary Grants, which are awarded to Australian authors to support their professional development.
Other prizes include the NSW Premier’s History Writing Prize, which is offered for an outstanding historical work written by a NSW secondary school student, and the Sydney CBC Book Prize, which is awarded to the most meritorious book on a subject of public interest published in the previous year. The university also hosts the Sydney Film Festival, a competitive international film festival held each year in June in Sydney, Australia. The Sydney Film Festival is backed by the City of Sydney and is endorsed by FIAPF, the governing body for international film festivals. The Official Competition jury for the 2024 festival was led by Bosnian writer and director Danis Tanovic, with a diverse group of filmmakers and industry professionals making up the rest of the jury.
Overland has named Annie Zhang as the 2023 Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize winner for her story ‘Who Rattles the Night?’ The prize, which seeks stories themed loosely around the notion of travel, had a total of over 500 entries. The shortlist was chosen by a panel of judges, including Patrick Lenton, Alice Bishop and Sara Saleh. The winning story will be published in Overland and two runners-up will have their stories published online. The judges commended Zhang for her ability to evoke the sense of place in her story and for her use of language. The story explores a couple’s experience living on unceded Wangal land. The judges also praised Zhang’s courage and fearlessness in her writing. This is the first time a woman has won the prize, which was established in 1967 by a bequest from the estate of Philip Sidney Ardern.