A prize will be awarded by the Society for French Studies for an essay by a postgraduate student in English or French, up to 6,000 words in length, on any subject within the scope of French studies. The window for entries to this year’s prize runs from 30 October to 1 December 2026. Details of the winner and runner-up will be published in April 2027. The award will be for outstanding academic merit at postgraduate level. The judges will be members of the Executive Committee of the Society for French Studies.
The award includes: a cash prize of £750; expenses-paid travel to the next annual conference of the Society for French Studies; mention in the French Studies Bulletin and on the Society for French Studies website (www.sfs.ac.uk).
To be eligible for submission the essay must be:
- entirely the student’s own work and submitted in unrevised form
- written in the previous 12 months by a postgraduate student while registered at a university based in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland
- addressing a topic within the scope of the discipline of French studies, including comparative work in which French features significantly
- written in either English or French, with any quotations from French supplied in the original language
- up to 6,000 words in length (including notes but excluding bibliography)
- word-processed with numbered pages
- submitted without any information that might identify the student, or institution, appearing anywhere in the essay
- submitted by the university, with the student’s agreement, as one of up to three annual submissions per university
- accompanied by a separate coversheet
- submitted on the understanding that no correspondence will be entered into by the Society regarding individual essays.
If a draft thesis chapter is entered, candidates are reminded to ensure that it can be read as a stand-alone essay. Entries must be accompanied by the coversheet (available to download via this link), and adhere strictly to the presentation guidelines given on that sheet. Please note that there is a limit of three entries per department and one per person. This limit applies to both collegiate and non-collegiate universities.
A copy of each entry should be emailed, with a completed coversheet, by 1 December 2026, to Professor Richard Scholar: gapper-pg@sfs.ac.uk.