ESSAY PRIZE


 In 2006 the Council of the Church Monuments Society launched a biennial prize of £250 called the Church Monuments Essay Prize, to be awarded with a certificate for the best essay submitted in the relevant year. The aim of the competition is to stimulate more people, particularly those who are perhaps aiming to write on church monuments for the first time or who are not regular contributors, to submit material for the CMS journal Church Monuments. The competition is therefore open only to those who have not previously published an article in Church Monuments.  

The subject of the essay must be an aspect of church monuments of any period in Britain or abroad. The length (including endnotes) shall not exceed 10,000 words and a maximum of 10 illustrations. The prize will only be awarded if the essay is considered by the judges to be of sufficiently high standard to merit publication in the Society’s journal.  

 Three winning essays have now appeared in Church Monuments, and the editors would like to invite submissions for the next round. The closing date for entries is 1 January 2012. Please contact the Journal Editors Dr Rhianydd Biebrach (trbiebrach@aol.com ) or Dr Kerry Bristol (k.a.c.bristol@leeds.ac.uk)  The rules are shown below and  the guidelines to contributors  may be found here.  

Address for submission of articles (before 1 January 2012):  
 Dr Kerry Bristol School of Fine Art,
History of Art and Cultural Studies
University of Leeds
LEEDS LS2 9JT (United Kingdom)
email: k.a.c.bristol@leeds.ac.uk                                               



Rules

1. There shall be a biennial prize of £250 called The Church Monuments Society Essay Prize, to be awarded together with a certificate for the best essay submitted in the relevant year. The prize will only be awarded if the essay is considered by the judges to be of sufficiently high standard to merit publication in the Society's journal, Church Monuments
2. The subject of the essay must be concerned with an aspect of church monuments of any period in the British Isles or abroad.
3. The length (including end notes) shall not exceed 10,000 words with no more than 10 illustrations.
4. The essay should be accompanied by a short abstract of about 100-150 words. Authors' names and affiliations should be included on a separate sheet, as the essays will be judged anonymously. Entrants should add a brief biographical note of no more than 50 words for the inclusion in the journal in the case of the winning entry.
5. The essay and its end notes should be word-processed and employ the house style of the journal Church Monuments. A copy of the style sheet is available by clicking here or on application to the Editor (see below)
6. Four copies of each entry, including four paper copies of any illustrations, should be submitted, together with the original text on a CD or floppy disc. Original photographs should be retained by the author at this stage, but will be needed for entries accepted for publication.
7. Entries should be sent to the Editor of Church Monuments (see below) and should be sent with a covering letter stating that this is an entry for the Church Monuments Society Essay Prize.
          Dr Kerry Bristol
         Hon. Journal Editor, Church Monuments
         Director of The Centre for Architecture and Material Culture
         School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies
         University of Leeds
         Leeds LS2 9JT
         (United Kingdom)
         e-mail: k.a.c.bristolATleeds.as.uk
8. The closing date for entries shall be 1 January 2012.
9. The competition shall be open to any person who has not previously published an article in Church Monuments.
10. There shall be a panel of three judges appointed by the Council of the Church Monuments Society. The chairman shall be a member of the editorial panel for Church Monuments and shall serve for not more than six consecutive years. The other two judges shall be members of the Society and shall serve for no more than four consecutive years.
11. The decision of the judges shall be final, and there will be no further correspendence about this decision.
12. Copyright of any essay entered for this competition will remain with the author but submitted materials will be kept on file by the Church Monuments Society, or destroyed if the author so wishes.
13. The Church Monuments Society cannot be held responsible for the loss of any material submitted for this prize
10. Articles which have already been published or accepted for publication will not be regarded as eligible

Winning Entry 2007

The CMS Essay Prize Jury reached a decision and all entrants were informed of the outcome. Six entries were received for this, the first ever Church Monuments Society essay prize. The field was of a high standard and the jury was delighted to award the prize to Dr Douglas Brine for his essay entitled 'Image, Text and Prayer: the indulgence memorial tablet of Jean de Libourc (d. 1470), canon of Saint-Omer.' Dr Brine is currently an A W Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts in Washington. The prize winning essay appeared in vol. 23 of the Society's Journal Church Monuments in 2009