Following the success of the first three New Scholars Prize competitions, the Society for Theatre Research invites submissions for the 2016 competition.

The competition is open to postgraduate students, academics with an institutional affiliation, and independent scholars, but not undergraduates. Entrance is restricted to scholars who have not had more than one article published in a refereed journal. Entrants do not need to be members of the STR or to reside in the UK

For an essay to be eligible for the competition, it must be aligned with the aims of the Society for Theatre Research and be concerned with the history and techniques of the British Theatre. The word ‘theatre’ may be interpreted widely to cover, for example, activities that go on in theatre buildings, theatrical activities outside theatres, professional and amateur theatre, the business of theatre, stage design, the history of theatre buildings, acting techniques, or theatre outside the British Isles that relates directly to the history and techniques of the British theatre.

Essays must not exceed 4000 words and must use the current version of the MLA guidelines on scholarly presentation.

The closing date for the submission of entries is 03 October 2016. Entrants must take great care to ensure that their essay does not allow them to be identified by their readers. Essays should be sent as an attachment to newscholarsprize@str.org.uk. In their covering email entrants should include a brief biography and a confirmation that they are eligible to submit an entry for the prize. Essays should not be offered to other journals while they are under consideration for the prize

The essays will be judged by a panel of distinguished judges chaired by Professor Trevor R Griffiths. In order to facilitate the double-blind peer review process, the names of the other judges will not be released until the prizes have been awarded.

The prizes include a cash element, a subscription to the STR, a selection of STR books and the guarantee that the essay will be considered for inclusion by Theatre Notebook under its normal guidelines.