Anne Lake Prescott Prize

The Sixteenth Century Society announces the inauguration of the Anne Lake Prescott Prize. During her distinguished career, Professor Prescott has generously supported students and junior scholars through her assistance with the essays and monographs of rising scholars, her letter-writing for tenure reviews and awards, her editorial work on essay collections and with Spenser Studies, her leadership positions in scholarly organizations, and countless informal conversations and interactions. For her wisdom, wit, and savvy, she is respected and beloved, and her liberality has helped to shape multiple generations of Early Modern and Renaissance scholars.

Anne Lake Prescott, b. 1939, is the Helen Goodhart Altschul Professor Emerita of English at Barnard College where she taught from 1967 to her retirement. Educated at Barnard and Columbia University, Professor Prescott is a specialist in the English Renaissance. Professor Prescott is a Past President of the Sixteenth Century Society, a former trustee of the Renaissance Society of America and a Past President of the International Spenser Society. She served on the editorial boards for SEL, American Notes and Queries, The John Donne Journal, The Sidney Journal, Renaissance Studies, and Moreana. Professor Prescott is the author or editor of numerous books including: Renaissance Historicisms: Essays in Honor of Arthur F. Kinney, edited with J. Dutcher (2008); Approaches to Teaching Shorter Elizabethan Poetry, edited with P. Cheney (2000); Female and Male Voices in Early Modern England, edited with B. Travitsky (2000); French Poets and the English Renaissance: Studies in Fame and Transformation (1998); Edmund Spenser's Poetry, 3rd edition, edited with H. Maclean (1992); & Imagining Rabelais in the English Renaissance (1978).

The Anne Lake Prescott Prize will be awarded at the Sixteenth Century Society’s annual conference beginning in 2023. The prize is presented to a scholar who follows her example, as demonstrated by exceptional mentorship of students and junior scholars.  

If you wish to help support the Anne Lake Prescott Prize, please donate here.

Nominations for the prize may be made by anyone. Nominations should be sent to the Executive Director by 15 August using the Nomination Form.

A nominee should be a long term (at least ten years) current or former member of the Society. The committee cannot consider posthumous nominations or self nominations. Questions about the prize should be directed to the Executive Director.

Nominations will remain in consideration for three years. There is no need to re-nominate a person each year.

Past Winners:

2024: Konrad Eisenbichler, University of Toronto

2023: Thomas A. Brady, University of California, Berkeley