Awards

Awards

The Defoe Society administers a number of scholarly awards. They are as follows.

1) The J. Paul Hunter Prize for the best Graduate Paper given at the Defoe Conference: This $US 200 award is given every two years and is assessed both based on the high quality of the scholarly paper given as well as the mode of presentation. This prize is judged by the Executive Board of the Society. All graduate Students who speak at the conference are automatically considered for this award. Graduate students must be a member of the society to speak at the conference.

2) The Maximillian E. Novak Essay Prize: This award is given to the best published essay (chapter in a book or journal article) on Daniel Defoe. This prize is also given every two years. The winning essay will receive $US200. To be eligible for this award, you must be a member in good standing of the Defoe Society; the essay must be published in English; it must deal substantially with any aspect of Defoe’s life or writings, but does not have to be exclusively on Defoe. The prize will be judged by a committee comprising members of the Defoe Society Executive Board. The judges reserve the right not to award a prize or to award it jointly (splitting the award). Members of the sub-commitee of judges are ineligible for the prize. Applicants should complete this entry form by January 15, 2023.

Eligibility:

  • You must be a member in good standing of the Defoe Society. Society membership is also required for attendance at the biennial conference.
  • As well as self-nominations, members are welcome to nominate another person’s essay, though it will only be considered for the prize if the nominee has joined the Society by the deadline.
  • The essay must have been published (in English) with a 2020 or 2021 imprint.
  • It must deal substantially with any aspect of Defoe’s life or writings, but does not have to be exclusively on Defoe.
  • Members of the sub-committee judging the prize are ineligible.
  • The prize will be judged by a committee comprising members of the Defoe Society Executive Board. The judges reserve the right not to award a prize or to award it jointly (splitting the award).

3) The Sharon Alker, Katherine Ellison, and Holly Nelson Prize: This award for the best published essay in Digital Defoe that is not principally about Daniel Defoe is to be given every two years. The winning essay will receive $US 200. To be eligible for this award, applicants must be a member in good standing of the Defoe Society; the essay must be published in English. The prize is judged by a committee formed by the Defoe Society Executive Board. The judges reserve the right not to award a prize or to award it jointly (splitting the award). Members of the sub-committee of judges are ineligible for the prize.

4) The Paula R. Backscheider Student Bursary: This bursary is awarded to one graduate student traveling internationally to attend the Defoe Society Conference. The bursary is awarded by the Executive Board of the Society. Award levels are set by the Executive Board depending on conference finances.

5) The John Richetti Student Bursary: This bursary is awarded to one graduate student traveling internationally to attend the Defoe Society Conference. The bursary is awarded by the Executive Board of the Society. Award levels are set by the Executive Board depending on conference finances.

Prize Winners

J. Paul Hunter Prize for Best Graduate Paper Given at the Defoe Society Conference

  • 2021: Daniel Scherwatzky (University of Miami), “Private Lust, Public Threat: The Anxieties of Desire and Sexual Economics in Daniel Defoe’s Roxana“
  • 2021: Sabina Sullivan (Boston College), “‘A Spanish dress, rich as art could make it:” Penelope Aubin’s Caribbean Currents”
  • 2019: Jennifer Buckley (University of York), “Mapping Defoe’s Fictional Dialogues”

Maximillian E. Novak Essay Prize for Best Published Essay on Daniel Defoe

  • 2021: Ala Alryyes, “Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe: ‘Maps,’ Natural Law, and the Enemy.” Eighteenth-Century Life, vol. 44, no. 3, 2020, pp. 51-74.
  • 2021: Sharif Youssef, “Refugees and the Rise of the Novel: Trespass, Necessity, and Humanitarian Casuistry in the Long Refugee Crisis.” Humanity, vol. 12, no. 2, 2021, pp. 119-137.
  • 2019: Elizabeth Porter, “Metropolis in Motion: Defoe and Urban Identity in A Journal of the Plague Year.” Digital Defoe, vol. 11, no. 1, 2019.
  • 2017: Andrew McKendry, “‘No Parallels from Hebrew Times’: Troubled Typologies and the Glorious Revolution in Daniel Defoe’s Williamite Poetry.” Eighteenth-Century Studies, vol. 50, no. 1, 2016, pp. 81-99.
  • 2016: Jordan Howell, “Eighteenth Century Abridgements of Robinson Crusoe.” The Library, vol. 15, no. 3, 2014, pp. 292-342.

Sharon Alker, Katherine Ellison, and Holly Nelson Prize for Best Published Essay in Digital Defoe (not principally about Defoe)

  • 2023: Conrad Brunström, “‘In Prose and Business lies extinct and lost’: Matthew Prior and the Poetry of Diplomacy,” Digital Defoe, vol. 14, no. 1, 2022.