The Mervyn Heard Award
The 2025 Mervyn Heard Award is to support planned or ongoing work (not yet completed) relating to the magic lantern or lantern slides.
This can be in any form including research, archival work, performance, artwork, animation, film making or creative writing.
There will be two cash awards of £300, plus a book of the winner’s choice from the
Society’s catalogue of available publications.
How to Apply
Your application should be a single document (Word, PDF or equivalent, or on paper) and must include:
- A title.
- The words ‘Application for the Mervyn Heard Award 2025’.
- The name(s) of the applicant(s).
- A brief description (maximum 400 words) of the completed work, explaining how you feel this adds to a greater knowledge,
understanding or enjoyment of the magic lantern. There is no set format for this, but you might like to consider:
- What will you hope to achieve through this project?
- When do you expect it to be completed?
- How would winning a cash Award benefit your work now or in the future?
- What will your project add to a greater enjoyment or understanding of the magic lantern?
- Will there be a direct benefit to members of the MLS? (e.g. an article for publication in The Magic Lantern; links to an online resource; a public performance or presentation)
- Would you benefit from discussion with members of the MLS?
- A brief description (maximum 400 words per applicant) of yourself, explaining how you came to be interested in the lantern and how this project fits into your present and/or future work. We request a written description, not a formal CV.
You may include links to supporting online resources (e.g. publications, performance video, etc.) – but please do not submit any other items as separate files.
General Conditions of the MLS Awards
Please read these points carefully – we will assume that all applicants agree to these conditions.
- Closing date for all entries is Sunday 7 December 2025. Winners will be announced at the MLS Annual General Meeting on 24 January 2026.
- Entry is open to both members and non-members of the MLS, from all backgrounds, with or without affiliation to any academic institution.
- Previous entrants may enter again but their proposal must be different from the one entered before. You can enter for one or both of the Awards (or submit more than one entry for the same Award) but each entry must be submitted as a separate application.
- The judges will be appointed by the MLS Committee. Current Committee members are not eligible for the Awards.
- The judges will be looking for originality, practicality and relevance to the field. All submissions must be made in English, but don’t worry if this is not your first language. The judges will assess the quality and appeal of your ideas rather than your written English.
- Applicants are invited to contact the Judges at the addresses below for help in formulating and strengthening their proposals at any time up the closing date for entries. The Judges may also try to contact you to clarify points in your application, even after the closing date, if they believe this might strengthen your application.
- Entries must be sent by email to awards@magiclantern.org.uk, or by post to Magic Lantern Society Awards, 17 Dean Street, Exeter EX2 4HH, U.K. Enquiries about the Awards may be made to the same addresses.
- The decision of the judges will be final. The judges reserve the right to make shared awards or no awards, as they see fit, based on the entries received. The judges will not be able to discuss or correspond about their decisions.