The Literary Encyclopedia Scholarship Fund supports
Book Prizes
for major scholarly contributions to the understanding of literature
Every year The Literary Encyclopedia awards two prizes, with an extra prize every three years for scholarly editions. The winner in each category will receive a prize of £2000/ £1500 respectively. In exceptional circumstances, if there are two winners in each category, the prize may be split.
The two/three prize categories are:
- scholarly contributions to our understanding of literature originally in the English language
- scholarly contributions to our understanding of literature originally in another language
- (*every 3-years; next year of award will be 2027) scholarly editions of works
Funding
These prizes are funded by contributors to and editors of The Literary Encyclopedia who donate their royalties to our Scholarship Fund which also provides Research Grants to early career researchers.
Eligibility
- have been published in the two years preceding the year of the award (e.g. for the 2025 edition, eligible books will have been published in 2023 or 2024)
- originally written in English
The works will be either critical studies of literary writers, groups, works or periods, or biographies.
When we run the extra category of scholarly editions, editions of translated works into English will also be eligible for this prize, and will be judged on the merits of their critical apparatus.Works that are not eligible are:
- volumes of collected essays by various authors
- translations of literary works into English
Authors of submitted works must be:
- engaged in research at an institution which subscribes to The Literary Encyclopedia AND/OR
- contributors of articles to The Literary Encyclopedia AND/OR
- members of scholarly associations affiliated to our publication who currently have an active membership account with the publication.
Process of Submission
Full details of the publication being submitted and up to three endorsements of the submitted work by reputed scholars in the relevant field should be sent to The Literary Encyclopedia by 1 July of the year in question. More details will be posted on our homepage in early spring.
Assessors will review the submissions and prepare a short list which will be announced in late August/ early September. The winners will be announced in December.
***Please direct correspondence about the prize to Dr Jessica Gossling, Deputy Managing Editor***
Research Awards
The Literary Encyclopedia Research Awards aim to support research by PhD students, early career researchers*, and established academics on a literary or related matter. These awards are funded through the donation of royalties by contributors and editors to the Encyclopedia.
Applications are accepted from members of an institution which subscribes to The Literary Encyclopedia, contributors to our publication, or individual subscribers.
Starting in 2025, and in line with The Literary Encyclopedia’s commitment to lowering its carbon emissions and fostering greater inclusivity among researchers, our awards will also be offered to help fund research assistance to consult archives remotely and/or additional research costs, such as those arising from caring responsibilities.
Awards of between £500 and £750 are available to fund a range of research activities within these categories:
- Travel costs for archival research
- Research assistance to consult archives remotely
- Open access publishing
- Training in new techniques/skills
- Additional research costs, such as caring responsibilities
- Support for access needs
Conference attendance and organisation will not be covered.
Applications are considered by the Editorial Board of The Literary Encyclopedia whose decision is final. Money will be paid on presentation of receipts.
Successful applicants will be expected to write a formal report of their work to be published on our website. The contribution of the LE Research Award should be acknowledged in any publications resulting from these awards.
You can read about the winning candidates and research proposals from previous years HERE.
There are two rounds of The Literary Encyclopedia Research Awards each calendar year (with a submission deadline of 1 April and 1 August). Details about each round will be announced on our homepage and circulated among our subscribers and contributors.
(*An early career researcher is “an individual who is within eight years of the award of their PhD or within 6 years of their first academic appointment” (AHRC).)
