Hakluyt Society Essay Prize

The Hakluyt Society awards annual essay prizes of £1500 to the winning essay, with a second prize of £500 to the runner-up (on occasions one or both prizes may be shared between entries). The competition is open to any registered graduate student at a higher education institution (a university or equivalent) or to anyone who has been awarded a graduate degree in the past three years. If possible, the prize will be presented at the Hakluyt Society’s Annual General Meeting in London.

Submissions for the 2026 prize are now invited, the deadline for which will be 1 March 2027. For further details, and instructions on how to submit your essay, please download the information sheet.

The Essay Prize Judging Panel for 2027 is:

Dr Der​ek L. Elliott, Educator, Ljubljana International School, Slovenia.
Professor Cheryl A. Fury, Department of History and Politics, University of New Brunswick Saint John
Dr Eva Johanna Holmberg, University Researcher, Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies, University of Helsinki, Finland(Chair of Judging Panel).
Dr William Kynan-Wilson, Senior Lecturer, Department of Art History, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences, Open University.
Dr Bertie Mandelblatt, George S. Parker II ’51 Curator of Maps and Prints, John Carter Brown Library, USA.
Dr Richard Marsh, MA FRCA.
Dr Emily Stevenson, Lecturer in Early Modern Literature, Newcastle University.
Dr Mark Williams, Reader in Early Modern History, University of Cardiff.