The sidney prize is a monthly award from the Hillman Foundation that honors journalism that pursues socially conscious, deep reporting in service to the public. The 2024 prize is for a story or series of stories that shed new light on an issue. The prize carries the name of Sidney Hillman, president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA) and an active advocate for progressive industrial democracy and civil rights. The prize is funded by a bequest from Emilie Ann Consett Stephen and the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America.
The prize will be awarded to a student whose paper is judged to be the best in the field of private law. The essay must have a significant analysis of a legal issue from a social and economic perspective. The student must have written the essay for a course or seminar.
Submissions to the sidney prize are evaluated by a panel of judges, including renowned scholars and professors in the field. The winner of the prize receives a cash prize and a plaque. The runner up of the prize receives a certificate. The judges also give special consideration to a student whose scholarship or writing is in a field that is not usually covered by SHOT.
In addition to the Judith Wright Poetry Prize and Neilma Sydney Short Story Prize, Overland has announced the winner of its 2021 Neilma Sidney Literary Travel Prize. This year, the judges selected Australian author and bookseller Ender Baskan for his work Are You Ready Poem. Described by Overland as “a rallying cry for artists and writers to make something dangerous,” the poem is an alternative to the precarity and professionalisation of the arts.
Among the other prizes at this year’s festival was the Event Cinemas Rising Talent award, which recognises an emerging NSW-based creative working in short film. This year’s winner was Bridget Morrison, who starred in the film Say.
The Prize is intended to encourage deeper reflection and consideration by HLS students about their chosen profession and its role in society. The prize is open to all HLS students, and the topic of the essay may be any aspect of the delivery of legal services, such as (but not limited to): the management of law firms, legal departments, or other legal service providers; changes in the profession over time; diversity-related issues; comparisons between lawyers and other professionals; and the impact of globalization or other social trends upon the delivery of legal services. Students wishing to be considered for the Prize are asked to request that their professor send a statement of evaluation directly to the Program Administrator, Steven Shavell, by the deadline. This is a condition of the Prize, and failure to comply will disqualify a student from the competition. Generally, the Prize is not awarded to students who have previously won the award. However, the Committee reserves the right to split the prize if it is determined that two or more entries are of equal merit.