Dear members of the Sidney-Spenser community, 

It gives me great pleasure to share with you on behalf of the International Spenser Society the guidelines for the newly instituted International Spenser Society Anne Lake Prescott Graduate Student Conference Paper Prize (http://www.english.cam.ac.uk/spenseronline/iss/). The International Spenser Society, in collaboration with the editors of the Spenser Review, is delighted to announce our first bi-annual Graduate Student Conference Paper Prize. In order to cultivate and advance the next generation of Spenser scholarship, this award recognizes a distinguished paper on any aspect of Edmund Spenser’s life and works presented by a graduate student at a scholarly conference in the previous two academic years. The author will receive an honorarium and a citation at the annual International Spenser Society luncheon at the MLA, and the text of the prize-winning paper may be published in a future issue of the Spenser Review. In addition, the recipient of the prize will receive mentorship from members of the prize selection committee as well as the editors of the Spenser Review as they prepare their papers for publication. 

Papers eligible for consideration must be: (1) 8-12 double-spaced pages in length, including notes; (2) written by a student enrolled in a graduate degree program at the time the paper was delivered; and (3) presented to an audience at a scholarly conference, whether international, national, regional, or graduate student-run, between May 2016 and May 2018. Relevant images from the conference presentation may be included. Submissions for this year's prize should be sent to [log in to unmask] no later than May 31, 2018. Winners will be notified in early September 2018 and announced at the International Spenser Society Luncheon at the MLA conference. 

I’d like to thank the current, and immediate past members, of the executive committee for their help in instituting this prize. I’d also like to thank Doug Knox for updating our web page and for his ever quick and ready response to technical questions. We are pleased to name the prize in honour of Anne Lake Prescott, who received a unanimous committee vote for her warmth, engagement, and ever insightful, witty responses to papers at conferences that have helped many a young Spenserian find his or her shield or dragon wings. We're honoured to have future students continue to benefit from her mentoring through this award. 

Please distribute this announcement widely to any and all of your networks for colleagues and students.