I’m writing to update members on the outcome of the first Cambridge University Press Best Paper Prize, which we inaugurated at this year’s BARS ECR/PGR Conference in Cambridge.
Our keynote speakers generously helped judge the shortlisted papers, of which there were five strong contenders, and have selected the following winners:
Winner: Łukasz Mokrzycki, “The Ecological (Un)Consciousness of the Campagna Romana in Shelley and Leopardi”
Runner-up: Andrin Albrecht, “For in This Sea What Dreams May Come: Exploring the Aqueous Romantic Unconscious”
The judges said the following:
On behalf of the assessment panel, I am pleased to say we have agreed unanimously to recommend Łukasz Mokrzycki’s “The Ecological (Un)Consciousness of the Campagna Romana in Shelley and Leopardi” for the CUP Best Paper Prize. The panel was impressed by how the paper explores the Campagna Romana as contested aesthetic terrain. This is nuanced work that is methodologically and conceptually robust and ambitious, working across ecological thought, history, and visual art. The paper limns the emergent but limited environmental consciousness of Romantic poets; the argument that Shelley and Leopardi anticipated ecological aesthetics is well made, especially as it is cautiously stated and contextualised.
All of the papers offered valuable insights into their respective topics and texts. But we agree that Mokrzycki’s is the standout on this occasion.
Andrin Albrecht’s “For in This Sea What Dreams May Come: Exploring the Aqueous Romantic Unconscious” should be the runner up. The judges thought it was an imaginative paper that did an especially nice job in framing the topic.
Thanks to the generous support of CUP, each winner will receive a book voucher to spend with CUP of £100 and £50 respectively.
The prize was very well received by delegates and we received 21 submissions in total. We hope this initiative is something that can be continued in future ECR/PGR conferences.
All the best,
Kate, Cleo, and Zooey
BARS PGR and ECR Representatives