Sidney Prize is a award given to writers of poetry or prose, or to groups of poems or prose, that are distinguished by the excellence of their formal precision and their original, innovative, or iconoclastic approach to subject matter. The prize is named after the late American playwright Sydney Howard (1891–1939). Howard was a member of the Writers’ Company and wrote plays that were either Broadway flops or international classics. The first winner of the prize was Robert Ardrey for his calamitous production of Thunder Rock, which eventually won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize.
The foundation’s founder, Sidney Hillman, was the president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America labor union (a predecessor to Unite Here and Workers United, SEIU), and left-leaning celebrity Danny Glover sits on the board. The foundation’s mission includes “illuminating the great issues of our time—from the search for a basis for lasting peace to the need for more housing, medical care, and employment security, to the promotion of civil liberties and democracy, and the battle against discrimination based on race, nationality, religion or gender.”
Each year, the Hillman Foundation awards monetary prizes to journalists who pursue social justice and public policy in service to the common good. In addition to honoring contributors to the daily, periodical and union press, the Hillman Prizes have been awarded for journalism in photography, book writing, online opinion and analysis, and television reporting.
In 2024, Hillman also announced a monthly journalism prize focused on reporting on the need for racial and economic justice. In the United States, submissions to the Sidney Prize will automatically be considered for this monthly journalism prize, which is called the SEIU Reporting on Racial and Economic Justice.
The Neilma Sidney Short Story Prize is open to Australian and New Zealand writers at any stage of their careers who have published no more than two stories or novels. The winning story will be published in Overland and receive a cash prize of $5000. A shortlist of eight authors will be selected by a panel of judges. The prize was established in 1967 by a donation from Miss A.M. Ardern, in memory of her brother, Philip Sidney Ardern, who was a lecturer and Associate Professor of English at Auckland University College from 1912 to 1947.
