Annually, BAVS awards the Rosemary Mitchell Book Prize to the best second monograph published that year in Victorian studies. The prize is judged by a panel of BAVS scholars.
Unlike other book prizes, this is specifically intended to honour the work of mid-career Victorianists in all disciplines who publish a monograph over the past year. The Prize will draw the attention of the Victorian Studies community to important new work in the field. The Prize also represents a celebration of the monograph as a form. Full rules are below. Click here to visit the BAVS website.
Judges: Dr. Melissa Gustin, Dr Dany van Dam, Dr. Vicky Mills (Chair)
Rules
This is a prize awarded by the British Association for Victorian Studies (BAVS) which is intended for mid-career scholars. The winning book will be the second book by a scholar.
Eligible contenders must have published a scholarly work in Victorian Studies between 16 February 2023 and 16 February 2024. In order to submit, an author has to be a paid up member of BAVS on 30 April 2024. This will be checked. Members of BAVS outside the UK can enter books for the prize. Applicants for the prize do not need to have a university post.
The work needs to be a scholarly monograph in Victorian Studies (multi-authored books of articles will not be acceptable but joint-authored monographs will be and the prize can be shared). We will not accept scholarly editions of Victorian texts, neo-Victorian novels or websites.
We will accept monograph studies devoted to the long nineteenth century (broadly defined) but will also accept texts that deal with neo-Victorian Studies as well. The work in question does need to have some post-1830 content (up to 1914). The prize is open to scholars in any discipline that deal with nineteenth-century Britain (including Britain’s relationship with the wider world).
Publishers or authors may nominate a book. A covering letter (either by the author or the publisher) must indicate the name and publication details of the author’s first book. We accept that the author’s first book may not have been in Victorian Studies: they simply have to have published an earlier book. If publishers or authors wish to check if a work is eligible or not, they should email v.mills@bbk.ac.uk before 15 April 2024. The covering letter can be sent separately by email (to the Chair Victoria Mills at the above address) if desired.
The judges will need to be provided with THREE hard copies of the nominated work (paperback copies are acceptable). IMPORTANT: The author/publisher needs to email v.mills@bbk.ac.uk with details of the book. Victoria Mills will then provide the addresses to which the author/publisher needs to send the books.
The final deadline for receipt of books is 1st May 2024. Volumes received after that date will not be eligible and will not be returned. It is the responsibility of authors to make sure that publishers send over copies of the book. We do not expect authors to pay for copies and take no responsibility for this. Books sent for consideration will not be returned. Dispatch of the books by authors or publishers grants BAVS ownership of them.
The prize winner will be announced at the end of September 2024. An online panel will be devoted to the prize-winning book in which scholars will offer responses to the volume in conversation with the author.
The cash prize is £500. If a monograph is joint-authored, the prize money will be divided between the authors.
All judges are required to declare any conflict of interest.
The Judges’s decision is final.
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