photo of Daniel Singer by Gennaro Foco
Published by Nation Books (Amazon link):
DESERTER FROM DEATH: Dispatches from
Western Europe 1950-2000
a selection of Daniel Singer's writing from his years
as a young correspondent for The Economist
through his decades at The Nation.
From Monthly Review Press:
WHOSE MILLENNIUM?
...also available in French (Éditions Complexe):
À qui appartient l'avenir ? Pour une utopie réaliste
Winners’ Roster
History of contest questions
& links to essays
There was no essay deemed worthy to win the
2012 Daniel Singer Millennium Prize.
Comments about the website?
Write the Webmanager (no submissions, please).
THE DANIEL SINGER
MILLENNIUM PRIZE
Daniel Singer was a man of the left who was a great optimist. He believed in the people taking control of their own lives and forging new truly democratic institutions that would introduce real social and economic justice. The historical moments that he lived through that were most exciting to him were 1968 in France (and the rest of the world from Tokyo to Prague) and the uprising in Eastern Europe to overthrow the oppressive Communist governments there. His two happiest books are perhaps Prelude to Revolution and Road to Gdansk, in which he chronicled the possibility of genuine popular revolution. As a critic of Western capitalism and Eastern Stalinism, his analyses were based on deep knowledge and delivered with a biting sarcasm that evinced a thorough dislike of all banal, ready-made rhetoric. Daniel both dreamed and had the eye of a realist who could see the inner machinations of the institutions that usually rule society. His final major work, Whose Millennium: Theirs or Ours, combined his two greatest qualities: his inspiring hopes and his astonishing ability to dissect the workings of power. What is extraordinary today is that his words are as fresh and exciting as they were when he wrote them, something only a very few topical journalists have ever accomplished. At this best, he is in the same class with John Reed and George Orwell.
The Daniel Singer Foundation is seeking an original essay of no more than 5,000 words to address some aspect of the current scene in the spirit that Singer exemplified. The winning essay will receive a prize of $2,500. Please see our Statement of Principles. Essays may be submitted in English, Spanish or French and will be judged by an international panel of distinguished scholars and activists. The winner will be announced in December 2013.
Submissions must be received no later than Saturday, August 31, 2013. Essays can be mailed to:
The Daniel Singer Millennium Prize Foundation
P.O. Box 2371, El Cerrito, CA 94530
Essays can also be e-mailed.