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Prize Administrator Sought

Cardew-Rendle and Winston Graham Prizes


The RIC is looking for a contractor to organise, promote and administer the above literary Prizes, which both result from bequests to the Institution.  The appointee will also be expected to act as Assistant Editor of The Journal and to administer Publications Committee meetings.  They will also arrange the annual academic lecture series.

The RIC is a learned institution which was founded in 1818.  It is best known for The Courtney Library and the Royal Cornwall Museum, but also organises a series of academic lectures and works closely with other learning institutions in fulfilling its Purpose, which is

"to advance the education of the public by encouraging  and promoting the study and knowledge of literature, natural sciences, archaeology, history, ethnology, geology and the fine and applied arts, with special reference to Cornwall" from The Constitution of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. 

From its inception, the RIC has presented medals and prizes in recognition of those who have made a serious contribution to its Purpose.

The Cardew-Rendle Legacy, the Scheme for which was published by the Charities Commission on 29 January 2010, provides for the Trustees to hold the Cardew-Rendle Cornish History Essay Prize, once every two years, to be run as a public competition.  The Trustees can hold other competitions and award prizes as they see fit, for example for study bursaries, or for already published material.  The appointee will be expected to propose to the Trustees the nature and frequency of these competitions and the appointment and remuneration of judges.  They will also be expected to propose an appropriate extent and nature of publicity before and after the competition.

The Winston Graham Prize is currently a sum of £5,000 for the best historical novel, and is run as soon as enough interest has accrued from the bequest.  The appointee will be responsible for liaison with the Executors, who are highly supportive of the RIC and this Prize.

It is expected that the appointee will organise their own workload and that much of the activity can be undertaken off site.

The contract award will consist of two phases.  Initially, interested parties should apply in writing or by email to the Director briefly outlining relevant experience hilary.bracegirdle@royalcornwallmuseum.org.uk.  Deadline 26th August 2010.

Following a short-listing process, potential contractors will be provided with more detail and asked to provide a detailed submission showing how they intend to deliver the brief and the associated costs.

The contract will awarded based on an assessment of a combination of quality and cost.

 

 

The Winston Graham Historical Prize

In 2008 the Royal Institution of Cornwall announced The Winston Graham Historical Prize, funded by a generous legacy from the author and supported by his family.

In its inaugural year, the Prize sought an unpublished work of historical fiction, preferably with a clear connection to Cornwall. It will be supported by publishers Pan Macmillan.

The Prize was for £5000 cash, with the potential for publication by Pan Macmillan, subject to their acceptance. In subsequent years the value and subject of the Prize may change. The prize is not run every year, but must wait for the fund to have accrued a sufficent prize award.. The next prize is unlikely to run before 2012. Details wil be published on the website as soon as they have been agreed by the family and the RIC.

The deadline for submissions was 31st March 2009.
Download 2008-9 Competition Rules (PDF)
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2009 Judges :

Peggoty Graham (Chair)
Philip Marsden
Marjory Chapman
Helen Dunmore
Jessica Mann

2009 Shortlist :

On Trencrom Hill
The Horse of Power
The Custom of the County
Sunlight on the Pathway
Charlotte Penhale
Solid

2009 Prize Award:
The prize was not awarded in 2009. Whilst the judges did not feel that the prize of £5000 could be awarded to one of the shortlisted submissions they did feel that three entries merited £1000 development bursaries.

  "We were looking for a strong setting, a persuasive plot, three dimensional characters and a good writing style" said Ms Graham "All the manuscripts we read were very good in parts with some beautifully crafted descriptive passages and some good accounts of action."

"No single entry in its current state stood out as having everything we were looking for, but the three we've chosen for development bursaries certainly have the makings of good novels with a little more work."

Bursaries were given to:

Dr Clare Hobba for On Trencrom Hill
Peter Rothwell for Sunlight on the Pathway
Simon Parker for Solid

Future Awards
The Winston Graham Prize will be run when the prize fund has reached a sufficient level. This will not be in 2010. Notification of the new prize will appear on this website.

The Winston Graham Historical Prize

For more information on Winston Graham please see www.winstongraham.org

The Winston Graham Historical Prize