The Sophie Coe Prize
Full details
How to Enter
Conditions of Entry: 2025
Purpose of the Prize
The Sophie Coe Prize is awarded annually to the author of an
original, informative article or essay on any aspect of food history
relating to any period, place, people or culture. The Trustees wish to
emphasise the need for originality in the form of new research or new
insights, and remind entrants that the Judges are seeking work that
combines excellent research with lively writing.
1. Conditions of Entry
Authors may submit one entry only in a given year.
a. Form
Entries must be submitted as two electronic files: one for the entry, which should have no author-identifying information, and one for the cover sheet.
• Files should be formatted to be readable in the latest version of
Microsoft Word or other format readable in this programme. PDF files are
acceptable.*
• Entries from a published source such as a book, journal, magazine or
newspaper should be revised as necessary so as to be free of publication
details, identifying information, advertising or other complications.*
Presentation and structure
File naming conventions
File names must be structured as follows:
– Entry: TitleOfEntry-SCPrize2025
– Cover Sheet: LastNameOfAuthor-TitleOfEntry-SCPrize2025
Entry file instructions
– The entry should contain no identifying information.
– Pages should be numbered sequentially, with page numbers on all pages including the first.
– Authors should use footnotes, not endnotes. While no specific
referencing system is stipulated, there is a strong preference for
footnoted over author-date styles.
– Bibliographies should include only works specifically cited.
Cover sheet instructions
The cover sheet must include the following information:
– Author’s name and address.
– Email address.
– Telephone number.
– Title of the essay.
– A 100-200 word summary of its content.
– Word count.
Where relevant, please also include:
– Particulars of publication (if already achieved or confidently foreseen).
– Original language (if a translation), with name of translator.
b. Content
Food history, food and cookery are large subject areas and the panel of
judges does not wish to rule out or focus particular attention on any of
them. All aspects of history qualify. Entries on drink in relationship
with food have been considered and rewarded in previous years. Please
ensure that the work being entered meets the Purpose of the Prize
requirements (above). In particular, take note of the requirement for originality, new research or new insights.
c. Nature Of Material
The Prize is specifically for essays, articles or papers as opposed to
books, although something taken from a book can be considered. Examples
would be: an essay contributed to a book of essays by various authors;
an appendix on a particular food topic in a book on a wider subject; or
something like a chapter on ‘The Food of Bulgarian Peasants in the 15th
Century’ in a book about medieval Bulgaria generally. Any such item
would in any case have to be presented for the Prize as a free-standing
and self-contained submission, like an essay. Technical papers will be
considered provided that they embody a fully comprehensible account of
the implications for food history and conform to our stipulations on
lively writing. We do not advise submission of the
introductory chapter of a book or edited volume as this is unlikely to
meet the requirements for originality, new insight or new research in
itself, whereas an individual chapter of substance may do so.
d. Length
Entries will normally range from 2,500 words up to a maximum total of 10,000 words including notes and bibliography.
e. Illustrations
These are entirely at the discretion of the author. Note that this is a
writing prize, and will be judged accordingly, so any illustrations
should be directly pertinent to the text.
f. Authorship & Eligibility
An entry will normally be the work of a single author, who must be able
to assert their moral right to be considered its author. An entry from
two or more co-authors will be considered on the same basis. Someone
other than the author may submit an author’s work as an entry subject to
the same rules and provided that the author has given their prior
consent. No more than one entry by one author (whether single or
co-author) will be considered in any one year, whether submitted
directly or indirectly.
An author who has won The Sophie Coe Prize will not be eligible to re-enter the competition for the main Prize until the third year after winning it. Entries for subsidiary awards (when made) are allowed during the interim period.
Work published in the twelve months preceding the deadline for submission is eligible as is work recently written but not yet published.
g. Language
Entries must be submitted in the English language, even if originally written in some other language.
h. Deadline
In 2025 entries must be received, in the forms stated in section a), at
the address given below, by midnight GMT on Friday 25th April 2025. No
extensions will be given under any circumstances.
2. Value and Announcement of Award
The Prize in 2025 will be £1,500, which will not be divided.
The Prize winner will be announced in July 2025 and the Prize awarded.
There will be a presentation either virtually or in person at the Oxford
Symposium on Food & Cookery according to its schedule, and the
winning candidate will be notified in advance to make it reasonably
possible for them to participate in that presentation. The Prize will be
paid either by bank transfer or in the form of a cheque in UK sterling.
3. Publication of Winning Entry
If appropriate and if not being published elsewhere, the winning entry may be published either in Petits Propos Culinaires
or in the series of Oxford Symposium documents. Such publication will
carry no fee and will not prejudice the author’s copyright.
4. Other Points
If, in any year, the Judges conclude that there is no entry of
sufficient merit, they may abstain from making an award. The decision of
the Panel of Judges will be final and they will not engage in
correspondence about the merits of particular entries.
5. Contact details
Prize entries and any queries not answered in these Conditions of Entry
should be addressed to Dr. Jane Levi, Chair of the Sophie Coe Memorial
Fund, as follows:
email: sophiecoeprize@gmail.com
* If you are submitting an already published/typeset entry, there are several options for anonymising the text:
- If you have access to full Adobe functionality, use “Edit PDF” to delete your name, publication name, and other relevant information, and save the file with a new name (per the instructions in section a).
- If you have access to limited Adobe functionality, try creating a blank (white) box and pasting it over the top of the relevant text.
- Alternatively, make a new scan of one of your manually amended paper copies, and submit that as your PDF entry.
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