The sidney prize is a monthly award for outstanding investigative journalism that exposes social and economic injustices. It is open to journalists globally for reporting that has a broad U.S audience and is published online or in print. Winners receive $5,000 and a certificate designed by New Yorker cartoonist Edward Sorel. The foundation also awards the annual Canadian Hillman Prizes. This year, Grant Robertson and Kathryn Blaze Baum of the Globe and Mail won the Canadian prize for their story about failures at Canada’s food safety system that led to a deadly listeria outbreak and avoidable deaths.
The prize honours the life and work of Sidney Black, a pioneering female engineer. It inspires new female engineering students to achieve their full potential and follow their dreams wherever they may lead. This award is offered to a graduating female student who can demonstrate a combination of academic achievement, personal attributes or contribution to society/student life.
Each of the award winners will receive the festival’s mesmeric swirl trophy, a design and handmade in Sydney by Dinosaur Designs. Each of the finalists will also receive a ticket to attend the Sidney Film Festival screening at Event Cinemas and a runner-up certificate.
In 2024 the Overland Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize was awarded to Rachel Ang for her story ‘Thalassophobia’. Ang, a writer and editor living on unceded Wangal land, has had their writing published in Island, Kill Your Darlings and the Big Issue. She is also the author of a graphic novella titled I Ate the Whole World to Find You (Scribe, ANZ) and a collection of short stories titled I Am Not a Cactus (Drawn & Quarterly, global). Her win will see her story published in Overland’s autumn edition and she was also given two runners-up and a highly commended.
The Sidney M. Edelstein Prize is offered annually to the best scholarly book on the history of technology. The prize is named in memory of the founder of the Dexter Dye Corporation and a past president of SHOT. The 2023 prize was awarded to Stephan Miescher for his book A Dam for Africa: Akosombo Stories from Ghana (Indiana University Press, 2022). Previous winners of this prestigious prize have included the 1988 recipient of the Leonardo da Vinci Award, Dr. Mark Valeri, for The Opening of the Protestant Mind: How Anglo-American Protestants Embraced Religious Liberty (Oxford University Press, 2023). The citation reads: