The winner of our 2024 Mavis Batey Essay Prize is Emma Poynter for her essay on ‘The production, use, and significance of the Hortus Malabaricus (1678-1693) in the creation of colonial botanical knowledge.’
Emma who recently graduated with an MPhil from Cambridge University said “I am delighted to have won the Mavis Batey Essay Prize 2024. Researching the Hortus Malabaricus has uncovered a rich intersection of colonial encounters, economic drivers, and contemporary curiosity in botany and the natural environment. I hope that this paper contributes to ongoing historical conceptions of how botanical knowledge has been gathered and made within the seventeenth-century context.”
Emma was presented with her award and £500 prize at our Unforgettable Gardens book launch in October.
Two more essays were highly commended by our judging panel, including an essay on ‘The Sculpture Garden at Denham Place‘ by Oxford University student Struan Bates and “Self-fashioning in the Theatre of the Early Modern English Garden” by University of London student Anna Brueck Seeley.
Congratulations to our two commended essay authors and our winner Emma!
