The Proverse Prize

ABSTRACT

This feature article consists of an overview of the history and practices to date of the Proverse Prize, a literary prize for unpublished fiction, non-fiction, or poetry, submitted in English (but which may be in translation), which was founded in 2008. It discusses the rationale for the Prize’s creation, including the provision of a literary prize open to all aged 18 years old or above, the background and writing experience of the writers at the time of submission, the genre of works submitted, the support and attention received for the prize and winning works, and the continuing progress in the literary careers of winning writers. There is also some discussion of the impact of COVID-19 on the participation of writers and the flexible evolution in response to pandemic protocols of the biannual promotional events which have been regularly held by the publishers in a heritage building in central Hong Kong.

KEYWORDS:

• Literary competition
• international writing in English
• translation
• Hong Kong
• fiction
• non-fiction
• poetry

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. The Proverse Prize opens for entries on May 7 each year and the deadline is June 30. There may be a late entry period of a week or so.

2. The name “Proverse” is a combination of the words “Prose” and “verse” (being pronounced appropriately) and is a description of the broad remit of both the press and the prize. The complete Proverse Prize terms and conditions and entry form, updated very slightly from year to year as the need arises, can be seen on the Proverse Hong Kong website: https://www.proversepublishing.com.

3. The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press Proverse page is at https://cup.cuhk.edu.hk/Proversehk.

4. The annual entry period for the Proverse Poetry Prize (single poems) is identical to that of the Proverse Prize; that is, May 7 to June 30.

5. Photographs taken at these events can be found on the proversepublishing.com website. Additionally, videos and video-clips, some arranged into playlists, are publicly available on the YouTube channel used for Proverse purposes. As was obligatory at the time the channel was initiated, it carries the name of the person with whose email account it is linked; in this case, the name of Gillian Barbara Bickley, one of the co-founders (with Dr Verner Bickley), of the Proverse Prizes and Proverse Hong Kong as publishers: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UcxMvyKOp7o4MWQvsIN0FdWQ.

6. Blackford (2021), Caronni (2021), Nanda (2021), Watt (2021), and West (2021). A complete list of titles published as a result of entering for the Proverse Prize is available on the website, <proversepublishing.com>. All are distributed by the Chinese University of Hong Kong Press in paperback and by an increasing number of online retailers in both paperback and ebook editions.

7. Caronni (2021, 2).

8. Jennifer Wong, advance comment, in Blackford (2021, 115).

9. Philip Mead, advance comment, in Blackford (2021, 97).

10. Mayer, advance comment, in Blackford (2021, 98–99).

11. Nanda (2021, 2).

12. Neil Douglas, advance comment, in Nanda (2021, 68).

13. George W.H. Cautherley OBE, DBA Hons, advance comment, in Watt (2021, 347).

14. Dr Stephen Brobeck, advance comment, in West (2021, 346).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gillian Bickley

Gillian Bickley is the co-founder, with Verner Bickley, of the International Proverse Prize, administered from Hong Kong. She has held academic positions at the University of Lagos, Nigeria; the University of Auckland, New Zealand; the University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Baptist University. She has worked for Longman Far East as an editor, the British Council as a language teacher, and for the then Hong Kong Examinations Authority as a subject officer for English literature and English language. Her research is in the area of 19th-century studies, including Hong Kong educational, law-court, and literary history with a focus on biography. She is also a prize-winning poet.