The prize is offered annually by the British Association for American Studies.

It is awarded for the best essay-length piece of work on an American Studies topic written by a student currently registered for a postgraduate degree at a university or equivalent institution in Britain. The value of the prize will normally be £500.

The 2017 Awards competition is now open. The closing date for applications is 20 January 2017.

The essay should be between 3,000 and 5,000 words in length, and should be accompanied by a letter from an institutional representative, tutor or supervisor, as attestation that the candidate is registered for a postgraduate degree course, or has been accepted for a course. Membership of BAAS is mandatory in order to be eligible to receive the prize. Applicants will need to supply their membership number, which can be found by logging into the BAAS website and navigating to Member-BAAS Community-Profile.

Care should be taken to ensure that the name of the author does not appear on the essay itself, but only in the cover letter which should be submitted by e-mail along with the essay. All essays will be assessed anonymously by a panel drawn from the BAAS Executive Committee.

The essay should form a self-contained piece of writing, suitable for publication as an article in a professional journal. Care should accordingly be taken with matters of presentation and documentation. Prize-winning essays will be offered publication in US Studies Online: the BAAS Postgraduate Journal.

You can find the submission guidelines here.

BAAS is committed to promoting best practice in matters of equality and diversity, and will be attentive to issues of equality and diversity when judging applications.