Submissions are invited for the Joan Thirsk Memorial Prize offered by the British Agricultural History Society in memory of Joan Thirsk (1922–2013).
The Thirsk prize is an annual award for the best book in British and Irish rural or agrarian history employing broadly historical methodology (so works of social anthropology, archaeology or of contemporary rural sociology will not be eligible).
Previous winners are listed on our Thirsk Prize page.
There is a single prize of £500 (which may be split) and the committee are allowed to commend other submissions.
The prize was first awarded in 2017 and is now offered for books published in the calendar year 2024.
To be eligible for consideration, the work needs to
- be single-authored or jointly authored
- be concerned with British or Irish agrarian or rural history either as its central focus or with substantial treatment of the British or Irish experience in a comparative context
- and bear a (first) publication date of 2024.
There are no limits on the age or nationality of the author, nor their place of residence.
Collections of essays by multiple authors, unrevised theses or works previously issued in hardback but reissued in paperback in 2024 will not be eligible.
The winner of the prize will be announced in April 2025.
Submissions should be made by the author’s publisher of a pdf or e-book of the work as published, to be received by the Secretary to the committee no later than Noon on Monday 06 January 2025. (It is acceptable if the pdf is watermarked to prevent further circulation.) The committee reserves the right to invite submissions.
The secretary to the prize committee, Dr Spike Gibbs, can advise on all queries about eligibility. Enquiries and submissions should be sent to secretary@bahs.org.uk.
Regulations
- At each September Executive Committee meeting, the EC will appoint the following, having regard to a suitable balance in gender and location of residence:
- a chair of the award committee
- one member of the EC as member of the committee
- one suitable person not a member of the EC
- The EC will determine the size of the prize available.
- The secretary of the Society will normally serve as secretary of the award committee. If the secretary declines or is unable to serve, the EC shall appoint a substitute for that year.
- The secretary of the Society or the person acting in their place will make arrangements for advertisements of the prize to appear each year in November and December.
- The secretary to the committee will not be a voting member of the committee.
- Submissions shall be sent to the Secretary by the book’s publishers to arrive by the first Monday after 1 January each year or some other date to be arranged. [Exceptionally, in 2021, 2022 and 2023, the closing date will be the second Monday.] Books will be supplied as a pdf of the final proof or as an e-book.
- The committee may invite submissions provided those submissions are received as above.
- The committee will make its recommendation in time for the Society’s Spring Conference, where the identity of the winner will be announced. If practicable, the prize will be given in person at the Society’s annual dinner.
- The committee may decide not to award any prize if no suitable work of merit is offered. They may also split the prize and, if they consider it desirable, they may announce a second work as being proxime accessit.
- Eligibility:
- A book will be eligible to be considered for the prize if it is primarily in British or Irish agricultural or rural history broadly construed.
- Comparative works, where the English, British or Irish experience is reviewed and used to illuminate that of other parts of the world, will be eligible.
- Joint authored works will be eligible but collections of essays will not be eligible.
- The book will have been published for the first time in the previous year (as determined by the copyright date on the book).
- Books will be expected to use a broadly historical methodology to be eligible. Works which are anthropological, archaeological or sociological rather than historical in approach or are primarily concerned with contemporary issues will not be eligible.
- A book previously submitted as a thesis will not be eligible in its unrevised form.
The secretary of the committee will be the final arbiter of eligibility. In coming to a decision, the committee will bear in mind the interests of Joan Thirsk.
October 2024