Every year, the Sidney Prize stands athwart technology and yells “stop!” The awards recognize the year’s best long-form journalism and thought. From Hilton Als writing for The New York Times to Ed Yong writing for The Atlantic, the winners are heavy hitters in top-tier national publications.
This year, the prize honors a trio of journalists who stood up for truth and fairness while reporting on a complicated issue. Reporter Maya Srikrishnan, with editors Ashley Clarke and Joe Yerardi, investigated state income taxes for over a year, finding new avenues to tell the story when states blocked data requests by stalling or by quoting outrageously high fees. The result was a piece that shook the political world.
As the presidential election approaches, it’s easy to get bogged down in the weeds of policy and politics. But to be truly informed, it’s necessary to step back and see the big picture. This is the spirit of Walter Russell Mead’s essay in The American Interest — which, like all Sidney Prize entries, encourages readers to do just that.
The Sidney Prize 2024 judges – Laura Elvery, Paige Clark and Michael Winkler – have chosen a winning entry as well as two runners-up from the more than 400 submissions to this year’s contest. The judges have also named their favorite essays from the longlist.
Winners will receive $5000 in prize money, as well as publication in Overland. The runners-up will each be awarded $750. Their entries will appear in Overland’s autumn 2024 edition. The full shortlist is available online.
In addition to the main prize, the judges will select one of the runner-ups as the “Overland Reader’s Choice.” The Reader’s Choice winner will receive $300 and a copy of Overland’s autumn 2024 edition.
Each of the top three winning entries will be paired with an Overland contributor to edit and comment on the work, in a close reading and discussion of the piece. This editing is part of the process by which the writers refine their original work to be ready for public consumption. The editors’ comments will then form the basis of a discussion and decision about each piece by a panel of Overland contributors.
To support our commitment to a rigorous and thoughtful editorial process, the prizes are funded by a gift from the Malcolm Robertson Foundation and the Project on Private Law at Harvard University. We are proud to have the support of this generous grantor. The Project on Private Law is a non-profit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to strengthening democracy by expanding the scope of public discourse on important issues involving private law through education, research and advocacy. For more information about the prizes, including how to donate to support them, visit here. Please note that donations are tax deductible in the United States. For more information about the tax treatment of prizes in other countries, visit here. The Project on Private Law gratefully acknowledges the generosity of its donors.