Finding the Next Cundill History Prize Winners
The Cundill History Prize Triage Committee and the Cundill History Prize Jury are the two primary bodies responsible for evaluating the hundreds of submissions that the prize receives every year.
How We Select Our…
The Triage Committee
The triage committee is confirmed annually.
These triage committee members may be joined by an invited guest member from the academic, publishing, or journalism community.
The Jury
Named annually, the Cundill History Prize jury includes one Chair and four jurors. Invitations to join the jury are extended to historians and writers who have distinguished themselves in their field, and who have shown a commitment to the values central to the Cundill History Prize’s mission. Potential jurors are considered early in each prize cycle. Administrators conduct extensive background research on all candidates before presenting them to the Advisory Committee.
While composing our jury, we put a particular emphasis on gender representation, geographical distribution, and fields of historical inquiry.
Further information can be found on the relevant tab of our website.
What We Are Looking For…
A Cundill book, in the words of Advisory Committee and Triage Committee member Faith Wallis, embodies 3 Cs:
C raft
A Cundill book demonstrates mastery of the historian’s craft, drawing on a rich diversity of primary sources in an impeccably-documented and well-argued study which would be right at home in any academic bibliography.
C ommunication
A Cundill book offers a compelling narrative which—written in lively, engaging prose—can be read with pleasure and with profit by non-specialist historians and the general public alike.
C onsequence
A Cundill book is a game-changer; the fresh perspective that its original findings offer on the given topic consequentially alter our way of considering not only the past that it describes, but also the present and future with which its vital links are powerful and manifest.
These criteria guide our selection process, from triaged lists to summer longlists to official shortlist to finalists to winner. Those assessing eligible titles carefully consider each’s fulfilment of the above-mentioned principles. In doing so, assessors (whether triage committee members or jurors) keep in mind the Cundill History Prize’s commitment to celebrating history of all origins and to curating lists diverse in: areas and periods of interest, historical approach, country and publisher of origin, and author background. The prize particularly invites submissions from authors belonging to marginalised communities, including but not limited to members of LGBT2Q+ and BIPOC communites, and people with disabilities. Publishers are encouraged to consider diverse representation while selecting the titles they submit for our consideration.
On McGill University’s commitment to Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI), please see: https://www.mcgill.ca/equity/, including the University’s 2020-2025 EDI Strategic Plan.
How We Select Our Titles…
