2013 is already proving to be a good year for new writers; only last week The White Review announced Claire-Louise Bennett as the winner of its inaugural Short Story Prize. Now Notting Hill Editions, self-professed 'Home of the Essay,' has stepped up to the mark and launched its own rather impressive £15,000 William Hazlitt Essay Prize.

For those with bated breath and pens or Google Docs at the ready, here are the details straight from the horse's mouth:

GUIDELINES
The prize will be judged on the originality of the ideas, the quality of the prose and the ability to communicate to a wide audience. All entries for the competition must be between 2,000 and 8,000 words.

Award value £15,000. Five runners-up will each receive £1000.

JUDGES
Harry Mount (chair), Gaby Wood, Adam Mars-Jones, Lady Antonia Fraser, David Shields.

ELIGIBILITY / SUBMISSIONS
Authors of any nationality are eligible, but submissions must have been written originally in English.

If already published, the essay must have appeared for the first time in periodical (print or online) but not book form, between 1 January 2012 and 31 July 2013.

Submissions (one entry per author) may be made by author, publication or agent. Submission of an essay by a publisher or other third party will be taken as agreement by the author that he/she is willing for the submitted work to be considered. The judges reserve the right to call in any unsubmitted eligible essay.

Submissions deadline: 1 August 2013.

Entries must include a cover letter and be uploaded to the NHE website using the link www.nottinghilleditions.com/essay-prize. Each entry must be paginated with the title of the essay on the top of each page. All entries must also be double-spaced. Please only include author name on the covering letter so that authors remain anonymous to the judges. There is an entry fee of £10 to cover administration payable via our website. Complete terms and conditions can be found at: http://www.nottinghilleditions.com/about/ep-toc

All essays will be judged with the author(s) unidentified to the judges. Final results will be announced on 26 September 2013.

Copyright in the works submitted remains with the authors, but Notting Hill Editions reserves the right to publish or reprint the winning entries in a dedicated collection.

The judges’ decision is final. Neither discussion nor correspondence can be entered into. No printed submissions will be returned.

For full details, visit the Notting Hill Editions website