In West Africa and in communities throughout the Atlantic world, Anansi is celebrated as the Giver of the story and of the arts of history and storytelling. He is also the personification of wisdom, knowledge, and duplicity. In the African Diaspora, the Spider God of Ghanian origins outsmarts his more powerful adversaries, using creativity and guile. In Europe, Africa, and in the Americas, Anansi has come to embody resistance, agency, and the indomitable spirit of people of African descent.
Taking inspiration from this history, the Anansi Prize is an international writing contest. A collaboration between California State University, Sacramento, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the Freedom Seekers Project, and the Shattuck Endowment, it examines the intersection of history, memory, biography, and authorship.
The goal of the Prize is to support original research and writing, with a preference toward graduate students. Each author will draw on a newspaper advertisement for a fugitive slave to write a short history (approximately 1,000 words) about the subject of the public notice, using the information contained in the advertisement and additional research. For more information on researching and writing these pieces, see the stories at https://wwwtest.freedom-seekers.org.
A committee of historians will peer-review submissions. Their decision in all cases will be final.
The Anansi Prize will award three winners $1,000 dollars each. The winning biographies will be published in the June issue in the Clio journal at California State University, Sacramento.
Biographies are now being accepted for consideration. All submissions for the 2024 prize must be submitted no later than August 31, 2024. The Freedom Seekers Project Team expects to announce the winners in the Fall 2024.
For additional information, including prize application and specifications, see below.
Anansi Prize
Additional Details Regarding the Prize
The Anansi Prize will be awarded annually, at the discretion of the Freedom Seeker Project Team.
Length of Biographies
Biographies should be approximately 1,000 words (3-4 pages) long.
Style and Format and Submission Guidelines
- Authors should follow the Chicago Manual of Style, 17th edition when including endnotes.
- Biography submissions will be read blind, so your name should not appear in the submitted composition.
Criteria for Judging the Submissions
The biographies will be judged according to the following criteria:
- Originality. We expect biographies to represent an original contribution to research of early American slavery.
- Scholarship. We expect biographies to demonstrate competence in the use of primary and secondary materials.
- Composition. We expect biographies to be well written and articulate a balanced understanding of historical thinking and historical imagination.
Examples of biographical narratives are available on the Freedom Seekers project website.
Publication
The three winning biographies will be published on the Freedom Seekers Project website. The Clio journal will also publish the winning biographies. The authors of the biographies will grant copyright for publication.
Peer Review Team
- Antonio T. Bly (Peter H. Shattuck Endowed Chair in Colonial American History, California State University, Sacramento)
- Simon P. Newman (Institute for Research in the Humanities, University of Wisconsin, Madison and Emeritus Professor of History, University of Glasgow).
- Gloria Whiting (E. Gordon Fox Assistant Professor of History, University of Wisconsin, Madison)
- Billy G. Smith (Emeritus Prof and Distinguished Prof of Letters & Science, Montana State University)
- Isaac Lee (Ph.D. Candidate, University of Wisconsin, Madison)