The Stallybrass Prize in the History of Material Texts will be awarded
annually to the two best essays by students in any school at Penn one by an
undergraduate, one by a graduate student on any aspect of how texts take
material form and circulate in the world. Our field covers texts of all
kinds, from printed books, manuscripts, scrolls, and tablets, to e-readers,
websites, hard disks, and server farms; from illuminations, woodcuts, and
engravings, to GIFs and TIFFs; from title pages, flyleaf advertisements,
and dealer catalogues, to listservs and email signatures. We are interested
in printing and publishing histories, authorship, reception, piracy,
censorship, and all themes related to the networks through which these
texts circulate.
The Prize honors Peter Stallybrass, Walter H. and Leonore C. Annenberg
Professor Emeritus of English, who founded Penn's Workshop in the History
of Material Texts in 1993. The seminar has been meeting every Monday
evening since then, at 5:15 in the Kislak Center, Van Pelt Library. It has
been one of the most influential institutions in the field and has led to
numerous similar workshops around the world. Further information about the
seminar, and a link to sign up for our listserv, can be found at
https://pennmaterialtexts.org/. All are welcome to attend.
Like the Workshop itself, we encourage work that brings together the
technical, material, and cultural aspects of texts. Essays will be judged
by the directors of the Workshop and members of its Advisory Board, listed
below.
In order to be considered, submissions must be received by April 15, 2021,
through the form at:
https://upenn.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_2fsYKmxCj9zlCWW
Eligibility:
1) For undergraduates: essays must have been written in Spring 2020, Fall
2020, or Spring 2021 semesters;
2) For graduate students: essays must be unpublished work.
