The RSVP Expanding the Field Prize is awarded annually for an outstanding essay that diversifies the existing geographic, racial, and ethnic composition of nineteenth-century periodical studies. Submissions for this prize should do at least one of the following:
- Deepen our understanding of BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) founders, editors, contributors, and readers of periodicals
- Interrogate Anglocentric perspectives
- Enact anti-racist or anti-colonial values
- Consider the cultural impact of the British Empire around the world
The annual awardee will receive $500 and publication of their article in Victorian Periodicals Review. A list of past awardees can be found below our submission guidelines.
Congratulations to Our 2024 Winner!
This year’s Expanding the Field Prize goes to Nilkantha Pal (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research) for his essay “Imagining Childhood in Colonial Bengal: Children’s Periodicals, Readership, and Vernacular Publishing, ca. 1880-1920.” This work impressed the judges “with its erudition, its broad scope of reference, and its nuanced application of Robert Darnton’s circulation model of print culture to a colonial context.”
Applications open May 1 and are due June 15.
See our awards calendar for all relevant deadlines. Please note that deadlines are subject to change and if needed, will be announced via our social media channels promptly.
Submission Guidelines
Essays should be approximately 4,000–7,500 words (or 15–25 pages), excluding notes and bibliography. Formatting should be double-spaced throughout with one-inch margins and a standard font such as Times New Roman, size 12. Please also note:
- Graduate students, independent scholars, and faculty of all ranks are eligible submit their work.
- Manuscripts should not be under submission elsewhere or previously published.
- Submissions should be emailed as an MS Word attachment.
Please email submissions directly to the VPR editor.
Previous Awardees
Previous winners of the VPR Expanding the Field Prize are:
- 2022 — Sourav Chatterjee, “Against Imitation: Anticolonial Caricatures in Basantak or the Bengali Punch“
- 2023 – Tarini Bhaburkar, “Victorian Feminist Periodicals and the ‘New Indian Woman’: Indian Feminism and Indian Women’s Interviews in Women’s Penny Paper and the Woman’s Signal”