The Archie L. Dick research development grants support the training and career development of all scholars from or in the Global South working in any language, in all aspects of book history, broadly understood. These research grants are named in honour of Archie L. Dick, Professor Emeritus at the University of Pretoria (South Africa) and a longtime SHARP member. Professor Dick’s important scholarship on the manuscript, print and reading cultures of South Africa and the Indian Ocean world, and his collaborative research projects crossing languages and cultures, continue to inspire researchers around the world. We also recognize through the naming of these awards, Professor Dick’s active participation in SHARP as an advisory Board member for Book History, as a juror for prizes, and as a voice of encouragement for many scholars from the SHARP community. This effort to support book history scholarship from the Global South, an imperfect term for lower income countries typically associated with the G77, expresses SHARP’s commitment to furthering global work that, as we say in our EDID statement, supports “the deconstruction of ideologies that privilege Western thought and approaches to book history above all others.”
Questions? Email Director of Awards (awards@ sharpweb.org)
Five grants of $1000 are available. Research support for this grant could include, but is not limited to, the following:
- Defraying the cost of travel to conduct research or present research in progress
- Development of future scholarly activities
- Equipment, software, database subscriptions, or other resources essential for research
- Help towards open access publishing costs
- Initial project planning and development
- Professional development courses/workshops
Recipients will be granted a 12-month timeframe for completing activities and spending attached to their award. It is expected that expenditure will be tied to the draft budget or outline submitted in the application. Recipients will be expected to provide a report of approximately 500–750 words within a month of completing their project or reaching a major project milestone (within 12 months of receiving the award). The report will be published in SHARP News. Please note that awardees must provide receipts and/or invoices for amounts paid from the award. Awards will be paid via PayPal, and will include free membership during the year of the grant.
Applications
Applications for the 2026 award are now closed. Applications for the 2027 award will open in autumn 2026.
Selection criteria
Applicants will be selected based on the overall strength of their application and personal statement. Awardees will be selected by a panel based on:
- A personal statement and overview of the research to be undertaken
- A broad outline of the research expenses for which the award funds will be used, including a preliminary budget listing estimated costs for specific anticipated expenses
Preference will be given to early career scholars, that is to graduate students working on their PhD and to those within 5 years of receiving their PhD.
Application process
Applications should be submitted through this online application form. In order to be eligible for this award, applicants must:
- Conduct research within the broad field of Book History
- Self-identify as a scholar from or currently located in the Global South
2026 awardees
- Rajarshi Das (Librarian & Coordinator, Banwarilal Bhalotia College; Asansol Curator, Digital Archive of Rarh Bangla) for his work on Santali knowledge systems and their place in book history.
- Doseline Kiguru (University of Bristol) for her work tracing the history of African literary prizes and their influence on the continent’s literary landscape.
- Anushmita Mohanty (University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee) for her project “The Role of Digital Piracy in Shaping Reading Practices.”
- Aderivaldo Ramos de Santana (Independent Researcher) for his project investigating the maritime circulation of books and printed matter in the nineteenth-century Atlantic.
- Pedro Toniazzo Terres (UNICAMP – State University of Campinas) for his project “A Thistle in the Tropics: The Barsa Encyclopedia and the Editorial Market during the Brazilian Military Dictatorship (1964–1975).”