Selden’s Sister Essay Prize

Entries are open until 1 November 2025.

Selden’s Sister is pleased to invite undergraduate students to submit essays on any topic relating to women in legal history. Topics could be, but are not limited to, biographical, theoretical, feminist or philosophical research. The selection committee will be looking for an entrant’s ability to construct a clear, coherent, and well-supported argument based upon appropriate sources.

The winner of the Essay Prize will receive book tokens worth £100, generously donated by Hart. The winning essay will feature on the Selden’s Sister blog.

Essays submitted for this competition should be the candidate’s original work with an argument, structure, and analysis. You may discuss the material with colleagues and teachers, but all submitted work should be your own, and generative AI may not be used to create the answer.

Essays should contain referencing – OSCOLA is the preferred format. References or citations in footnotes (and your bibliography, if required by your referencing system) are not included in the word count.  

This Essay Prize is open to any student enrolled in the academic year 2025-2026 in any year of study of an undergraduate course at a UK university, including part time and mature students. Entries must be submitted via university email.

The essay should be no more than 2,500 words and should be submitted in a .docx format to seldenssister@gmail.com

The competition will close on 1 November 2025. A shortlist will be made by the committee members of Selden’s Sister.

We hope to invite shortlisted entries to an in-person event where the winner will be announced - this is subject to confirmation, due to a venue issue with our Annual Lecture for 2025. 

Please direct any enquiries or questions about the competition to seldenssister@gmail.com  

Selden’s Sister Committee