Arthur Terry Postgraduate Essay Prize
Application process 2025
Arthur Terry Essay Prize Application 2025
The British Comparative Literature Association offers an annual prize for an essay written in English on any aspect of comparative literature in memory of Arthur Terry (1927–2004), who served as President of the BCLA for many years. Arthur Terry was Emeritus Professor in the Department of Literature, Film and Theatre Studies at the University of Essex, and one of the world’s most distinguished critics of Catalan literature for which he received many awards.
The aim of the Arthur Terry Postgraduate Essay Prize is to recognise work of outstanding merit at Master’s level. There are two prizes of £200 and £100, and the winning entrants are also given one-year free BCLA membership.
We are delighted to relaunch the essay competition this year as part of our BCLA @50 celebrations.
Conditions for entry:
- The essay should have been written in the same academic year by a postgraduate student at Master’s level registered at an institution of higher education in the United Kingdom or Ireland and submitted for assessment within that institution.
- The essay should be on an aspect of comparative literature and be written in English (maximum 8000 words). For the purposes of the Arthur Terry prize, ‘comparative literature’ is defined as the study of the interaction of at least two bodies of literature (writers, genres, etc.), usually across languages.
- The essay should be submitted using the coversheet provided on our website, to be emailed to this year’s judges, Dr Julia Hartley (Julia.Hartley@glasgow.ac.uk) and Professor Adrian Armstrong (a.armstrong@qmul.ac.uk). It should adhere to the presentation guidelines specified on the application form.
- The entry requires a message from the student’s supervisor/tutor confirming the student’s status, the originality of the essay, and a short statement (no more than 200 words) explaining why they believe the essay should be considered for the prize. This should be emailed separately by the deadline to the same two email addresses.
- Only one submission per candidate may be accepted, and no supervisor may submit more than three essays in any year.
See the previous winners of the Arthur Terry Postgraduate Essay Prize, and read their works.
The 2025 Arthur Terry Prize is now open for applications. This year’s deadline is 31 July 2025.
Application
Arthur Terry Essay Prize Application
Please use the form below to submit your entry. This cover sheet should be completed and emailed together with a copy of the essay in electronic form. Your course tutor / supervisor should email separately confirming your status and the originality of the essay, as well as providing a short statement (no more than 200 words) of the reasons why they believe the essay should be considered for the prize. Please be aware that an individual member of staff cannot support more than three entries to the prize.
Presentation Guidelines
- Your name and department must not appear on the essay itself.
- The essay must be word-processed, double spaced, and the pages numbered.
- The essay must NOT exceed 8000 words in length.
- The essay must be submitted in its original form.
BCLA
Winners of the BCLA Arthur Terry Postgraduate Essay Prize 2022
The jury, which consisted of members of the BCLA Executive Committee, awarded the following:
- 1st prize (£200) to Han Hu, who has graduated with Distinction from St Edmund Hall, Oxford University, with a Masters degree in Modern Languages.
Her winning essay is entitled: “Centres on the Margin and the Doubly Marginalised“. - 2nd prize (£100) to Matthias Beckonert, who will graduate with Distinction in November 2022 from the School of Modern Languages, University of St. Andrews, with a Masters Degree in German and Comparative Literature.
His winning essay is entitled: “Imagine (Other Beings): The Animal Gaze in Baudelaire, Robertson, and Varo“.
We warmly congratulate the winners on their success.
