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The Folklore Society President’s Prize

The Folklore Society has established an annual award, titled The President’s Prize. The purpose of the prize is to encourage the academic study of folklore and folkloristics in universities and other institutions of higher and further education in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland.

The prize is open to all students registered either full-time or part-time on a relevant undergraduate, or equivalent level 4, 5 or 6, course of study at a university or other institution of higher or further education in the UK or Republic of Ireland.

  • Entries for the prize will be by formal nomination by the appropriate officer(s) of the institution concerned. Nominations must be received after 1 July and no later than 30 September and must include:
  • A completed PresidentsPrize-NominationForm .
  • Proof of registration/enrolment in course(s) at the institution during the academic year ending 30 September.
  • A representative sample of a maximum 2,000 words of the nominee’s unpublished academic work on folklore topics, including that judged particularly meritorious by the nominator. This should normally include at least one substantial piece of original work (e.g. section of an extended essay, report, project, dissertation etc.). Submissions should be in good clear English and sent electronically to thefolkloresociety@gmail.com
  • A letter of support and/or recommendation signed by the nominator and/or other appropriate officer of the institution.

The prize will take the form of a certificate of merit issued by the Folklore Society, and £150. The prize will be adjudicated by three judges appointed by the Council of the Folklore Society, at least one of whom shall be the President or Vice-President. The decision of the judges is final and the Folklore Society reserves the right not to award the prize if, in the opinion of the judges, the work submitted on behalf of the nominees fails to reach the standard required. Members of the Council of the Folklore Society are not eligible for nomination.

The winner may be offered the chance to publish part of their submission in the newsletter of The Folklore Society and/or on our website.

The Society’s Council may amend these rules as it sees fit in future years.

Previous Winners of the President’s Prize

(The prize was not awarded in some years, and two prizes were awarded in others)

2024 Harvey Alexander Cross: ‘Why Do People Believe in Ghosts, Aliens, and Bigfoot? Exploring the Rise of Popular Antiscientific Folklore in the Euro-American West.’

2023  Xinrui Xie, ‘Shadowed Maternity: The Perpetuating Ambivalence towards Motherhood in Ubume Narratives.’

2020 a) Louise Edge, ‘”Méchante mère”: Infanticide in the folk ballads of nineteenth-century France.’

2020 b) Antonia Frances, ‘Voices of Salento: identity in traditional song and rituals of the “Terra d’Otranto”, c.1900 to the present day.’

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