Posted on July 6, 2012 by Eric Blair -
This newsletter was written by Olivia De Raadt-St. James Tucked away in Derbyshire’s Peak District, the bustling market town of Buxton annually celebrates art. In two weeks, the area will observe its 34th annual Buxton Festival – a nineteen day event showcasing some of the finest opera, music and literature in the land. For several years, The Orwell Prize has taken a panel of historians, journalists, authors and academics to Buxton. In 2009 we asked what makes a good political novel, in 2010 we debated over whether Dickens or Orwell is the greater writer and last year we discussed the notion that politics could be corrupted by corrupted language. For 2012, on 16th July 2012 Tony Wright will chair a debate; Orwell vs. Kipling. In defence of Orwell will be Paul Anderson and Stuart Evers; fighting for Kipling, Jan Montifiore and Charles Allen. Both Orwell and Kipling were award-winning British authors who were born in India and wrote extensively about the British Empire. However, the manner in which each wrote about the British Empire differed greatly. According to Orwell, Kipling was ‘the prophet of British imperialism in its expansionist phase’ who held ‘romantic ideas about England and the Empire’. Orwell himself was known for writing more critically about British Imperialism and the British Empire, as evidenced in his 1948 essay ‘Shooting an Elephant’; which promoted the idea that both the conqueror and the conquered are destroyed by the process of imperialism. Despite their differences, both Englishmen were incredibly talented intellectuals. Each recognised and utilised the power of publication as a medium through which greater political consciousness could be cultivated within society. In anticipation of the event you could watch the debate that we took to Oxford with a slightly different panel or read ‘Orwell, Kipling and Empire’, a comparison of the men by Douglas Kerr, on our website. We would love to see you on the 16th of July 2012 at the debate between team Orwell and team Kipling, at the Pavilion Arts Centre in Buxton. You can buy tickets here. However, for those of you who are unable to join us a video will be uploaded to our website soon after.
Orwell BBC series announced
We are delighted to share with you that last week Jonathan Holloway’s new radio dramatisation of Nineteen Eighty-Four was recorded at the BBC’s Broadcasting House. Christopher Eccleston plays Winston Smith, Tim Piggott-Smith is O’Brien and Pippa Nixon is Julia. The two-part classic serial for BBC Radio 4 will be broadcast in January 2013 as part of a series celebrating George Orwell which will also include a new dramatisation of Homage to Catalonia and a new production of Orwell’s own radio adaptation of Animal Farm.
From the archive
Thinking about BBC production as well as the man Orwell was, we are reminded of Chris Durlacher’s work to remember Orwell’s life through film. The Emmy-winning dramatised biography was shown in 2003 for Orwell’s birthday which we celebrated again just last week. You can see the footage on our website. If you’re interested in other Orwell adaptations you might also like the video of how Animal Farm was adapted into an animation here.
From elsewhere
Douglas Murray, who was longlisted for the Book Prize this year (and the Journalism Prize last year), wrote a wonderful diary entry on his experience of our 2012 Prize Ceremony
If you missed the Orwell Society’s, ‘One Georgie Orwell’ at the Greenwich Theatre earlier this year, you can now watch a clip of the musical tribute on youtube
On Monday, George Orwell appeared in a Guardian quiz of their suggested questions for a citizenship test. They asked; what did George Orwell identify as the ‘most hateful of all names in an English ear’? a) Tightwad, b)Nosey parker, c) Trollop or d) Lounge Lizard. You can take the whole quiz here
In an interview with The Asian Age, Siddhartha Deb spoke about his 2012 shortlisted book The Beautiful and The Damned
The wartime diaries
This week’s entry was published on 3rd July 1942. Next week’s entry will be published on 10st July 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org. You can also follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Posted on June 29, 2012 by Eric Blair -
George Orwell was born as Eric Blair on 25th June 1903 so Monday could have been his 109th birthday. We had lots of tweets on what people were reading to celebrate and the most prominent were; Nineteen Eighty Four, Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia. If you’d like to celebrate Orwell you can find many of his essays, as well as notes on his novels with their first chapter and much much more on our website.
Buxton Festival 2012
We’re so excited to be returning to Buxton on 16th July. For 2012 we’ll be taking Paul Anderson, Jan Montifiore, Charles Allen, Tony Wright and Stuart Evers to row about who is the better writer; Orwell or Kipling. You can see full details on our website.
From the archive
Independent Booksellers’ Week starts tomorrow. Why not pick up Keep the Aspidistra Flying for a picture of Orwell’s Gordon Comstock working in a book shop? Or you can read ‘Bookshop Memories’ which tells the story of Orwell’s own experiences selling books. Or you could reacquaint yourself with Orwell’s, ‘Confessions of a Book Reviewer’ and have a look at 2012 posthumous Special Prize winner Christopher Hitchens’ ‘Fleet Street’s Finest’. Or you could read Orwell’s brilliant ‘Good Bad Books’.
From elsewhere
Orwell Prize winner Clive James recently looked back across his entire career on BBC Radio 4s Meeting Myself Coming Back.You can listen to the podcast here.
For the week of Orwell’s birthday, news site Flavorwire put together a package of 15 Authors on Why They Write
This week Raja Shehadeh, winner of the 2008 Orwell Prize for Books, wrote a great post for the New York Times blog on Israeli Checkpoints.
The wartime diaries
This week’s entry was published on 26th June 1942. Next week’s entries will be published on 1st and 3rd July 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org. You can also follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Posted on June 22, 2012 by Eric Blair -
This week Myanmar democracy advocate and Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi became the first non-head of state to address both houses of Britain’s parliament. “We have an opportunity to re-establish true democracy in Burma. It is an opportunity for which we have waited decades,” she said. It is therefore wonderfully appropriate that Orwell’s first novel Burmese Days was published first in the UK 77 years ago on Sunday. Set in a 1920s Burma undergoing waning imperialism, the novel was inspired by Orwell’s time as a police officer there. You can read more about Burmese Days including the first chapter on our website. In 2010 we launch the Prize on the debate What next for Burma? you can watch a video of the event here.
Buxton Festival 2012
We’re so excited to be returning to Buxton on 16th July. For 2012 we’ll be taking Paul Anderson, Jan Montifiore, Charles Allen, Tony Wright and Stuart Evers to row about who is the better writer; Orwell or Kipling. You can see full details on our website.
From the archive
Since today is Take Your Dog to Work Day. We’re reading Orwell’s essay A hanging. Also set in Burma, the piece describes a scene in which a criminal is executed. Just as they are ready to begin the hanging a dog wonders into the courtyard in front of the crowd; “It was a large woolly dog, half Airedale, half pariah. For a moment it pranced round us, and then, before anyone could stop it, it had made a dash for the prisoner, and jumping up tried to lick his face. Everyone stood aghast, too taken aback even to grab at the dog.” You can read the full piece on our website.
From elsewhere
Congratulations to Paul Lewis for his win at the Online Media Awards for the Best Twitter Feed. Paul was shortlisted for this year’s Orwell Prize for Journalism, you can read his submitted pieces on our website.
The Guardian have produced an eBook of Amelia Gentleman’s Orwell Prize winning features.
As part of their ‘A brief summary of the short story’ series yesterday The Guardian focused on Rudyard Kipling which might be an especially good read in the lead up to our event at Buxton.
The wartime diaries
This week’s entries were published on 21st and 24th June 1942. Next week’s entry will be published on 26th June 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org. You can also follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Posted on June 15, 2012 by Eric Blair -
This week we celebrated the publication anniversary of Orwell’s novel Coming Up for Air. Written in 1938 and first published on 12th June 1939, Coming Up for Air is a story of a man’s journey home to the setting of his childhood. Imminent war, nostalgia and fear of a changing world set the tone of a philosophical book written by Orwell in the lead up to Nineteen Eighteen-Four. You can read more about Coming Up for Air including the first chapter on our website.
Buxton Festival 2012
We’re so excited to be returning to Buxton on 16th July. For 2012 we’ll be taking Paul Anderson, Jan Montifiore, Charles Allen, Tony Wright and Stuart Evers to row about who is the better writer; Orwell or Kipling. You can see full details on our website.
From the archive
In anticipation of our upcoming debate you can read Orwell’s writings on Kipling or watch our debate on the same topic last year at The Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival on our website.
From elsewhere
The Guardian have produced an eBook of Amelia Gentleman’s Orwell Prize winning features.
Connor Woodman, whose book Unfair Trade was longlisted for this year’s prize, spoke at Hay Festival on how Big Business Exploits the World’s Poor – and why it doesn’t have to.
We had a wonderful response to our Twitter competition this week with lots of people telling us why they write. Toby Harnden picked five winners to receive copies of his Orwell Prize 2012 winning book. You can see the tweets he chose on The Orwell Prize profile.
The wartime diaries
This week’s entries were published on 11th, 13th and 15th June 1942. Next week’s entries will be published on 21st and 24th June 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org. You can also follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Posted on June 8, 2012 by Eric Blair -
Tomorrow it will be 142 years since Charles Dickens died. Two centuries since his death Dickens is still much loved for his great contribution to classic English literature. It is thought by many that he was the quintessential Victorian author. Dickens is quoted as saying; “Every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.” You can read Orwell’s views on Dickens’ message in his essay Charles Dickens on our website. In 2010 we took a debate to Buxton festival called The Greatest Political Writer: Orwell versus Dickens. In July this year we will be returning to Buxton to debate Orwell versus Kipling. On a brighter note tomorrow is also the wedding anniversary of George Orwell and Eileen O’Shaughnessy who married in 1936.
Awards Ceremony 2012
The photographs of this year’s Orwell Prize Ceremony have been uploaded to The Orwell Prize Facebook page. And remember – you can read the first chapter of the winning book, all of the winning journalism and the winning blogposts on our site.
From the archive
All the excitement over the Queen’s Diamond jubilee celebration reminded us of this quote from Orwell’s essay The Lion and the Unicorn; “In England patriotism takes different forms in different classes, but it runs like a connecting thread through nearly all of them.” Today we have celebrated the anniversary of Nineteen Eighty Four which was published on 8th June 1949
From elsewhere
For a chance to win a copy of The Orwell Prize winning, Dead Men Risen tweet The Orwell Prize telling us why you write. The winners will be chosen by Toby Harnden and announced on Monday 11th June
Last week Elton John said the Animal Farm stage musical he’s working on is “really dark”
Ray Bradbury, who wrote Fahrenheit 451, died this week
Orwell Prize 2012 Blog Judge, Hopi Sen, won a gigantic cake carved into a likeness of Her Majesty at Jubilee fete on the weekend
The wartime diaries
This week’s entries were published on 4th, 6th, 7th and 10th June 1942. Next week’s entries will be published on 11th, 13th and 15th June 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org. You can also follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
Posted on June 1, 2012 by Eric Blair -
A week today, Friday 8th June, will be the 63rd anniversary of the publication of Nineteen Eighty-Four. Since its first publication in 1949 reportedly more than 25 million copies have been sold worldwide and Nineteen Eighty-Four is regularly cited as one of the best books of the 20th century. The novel is the source of phrases now used as commonplace in the English language like ‘Big Brother’, ‘thought police’, ‘Room 101′, ‘doublethink’ and ‘newspeak’ and the cultural impact of 1984 has resonated into its imagined time setting and beyond. In the year 1984, Apple Macintosh launched their brand in a once only aired ad inspired by a 1984 film adaptation, more and more the book is used in the style of a cautionary tale upheld to warn against the introduction of a surveillance society. Almost every day Orwell’s arguably most famous work is referenced in the popular press. You can enjoy the anniversary of this much celebrated book with some reading on our website. The first chapter of 1984 is on our dedicated 1984 webpage, along with lots of other pieces about the book. These include some of Orwell’s own articles on language (‘Politics and the English Language’ and ‘In Front of Your Nose’), dystopian fiction (on Zamyatin’s WeWe and Arthur Koestler) and other subjects (‘Just Junk’ and ‘Pleasure Spots’). We also have plenty of other treats: the original reviews of 1984 by The Guardian and the New Statesman (by V. S. Pritchett), articles by Bernard Crick, Robert Harris, Robert McCrum and Ben Pimlott and a video Q&A with Mike Radford (director of the 1984 film version of 1984). You can also watch the BBC’s 1954 TV adaptation on YouTube (Wikipedia has some more information on the controversy around the broadcast).There’s much more on our website.
From the archive
‘Benefit of Clergy’ is Orwell’s analysis of Salvador Dali’s autobiography, his life and work and the difficulties of memoir writing. ‘Why I Write’ containing the Orwell Prize’s motto, ‘What I have most wanted to do… is to make political writing into an art’ was published in June 1946.
From elsewhere
We’ve uploaded a new podcast to our website in which Stephen Armstrong talks about the journey of his book The Road to Wigan Pier: Revisited continuing celebrations for the 75th anniversary of Orwell’s original The Road to Wigan Pier
More listening for you this week as Radio 4 have uploaded all of Clive James’ Orwell Prize winning A point of view essays for you to hear here
Shortlisted blogger Rebecca Omonira-Oyekanmi’s new book with will be among the first published by independent house Lonely Coot. Lonely Coot are launching and celebrating the release of their first titles in Dalston on the evening of 7th June. For more details
Standby for a new Twitter competition to win copies of Orwell Prize for Books 2012 winner, Dead Men Risen, judged by the author Toby Harnden
The wartime diaries
This week’s entry was published on 30th May 1942. Next week’s entry will be published on 4th, 6th, 7th and 10th June 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org or follow us on Twitter.
Posted on May 25, 2012 by Eric Blair -
The winners of the Orwell Prize 2012 were announced on Wednesday at our Awards Ceremony at Church House, Westminster. Christopher Hitchens’ widow Carol Blue accepted an Orwell Prize Memorial for his passionate contribution to political writing, Amelia Gentleman won the Journalism Prize, Rangers Tax-Case won the Blog Prize and Toby Harnden’s Dead Men Risen won the Book Prize. On our website you can read the press release with full details. Footage of the entire evening will be uploaded to our website soon.
New trophies
For The Orwell Prize 2012 we commissioned two Goldsmiths, University of London students to create trophies. Martin Kilner and Tai-li Lee drew inspiration from our recent website redesign by Sid Motion to imagine a prize they aspired to visually represent Orwell’s ambition to make political writing into an art. They laser cut their graphics into ethically sourced oak because they felt it important not to over embellish in any way that would contradict Orwell’s writing. The four pillars of the trophies stand for the four prizes awarded in 2012. Judges presented winners with their handmade trophies and Christopher Hitchens’ widow Carol Blue accepted an Orwell Prize Memorial trophy from Peter Hitchens. Martin Kilner will represent Goldsmiths at the 2012 Design Summit. Goldsmiths University wrote about their students on their website
From the archive
We’ve had some wonderful feedback from the Awards Ceremony and today we are re-reading Politics and the English Language the essay in which Orwell asserts one of his beliefs we took on as a value of the Prize, “In our age there is no such thing as ‘keeping out of politics’. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred, and schizophrenia.”
From elsewhere
Lots of people have written about our winners this week:
Journalism Prize: The Judges’ Remarks (The Guardian)
Daily Mail writer Toby Harnden honoured with the Orwell Prize for ‘Dead Men Risen’ – the book the MoD tried to ban (Daily Mail)
Rangers football finance blog wins Orwell prize (journalism.co.uk)
Orwell prize gets political (Guardian)
Afghan war book wins Orwell Prize for political writing (BBC)
Christopher Hitchens honoured with Orwell memorial (The Telegraph)
The Art of Fiction: George Orwell (Spectator)
The wartime diaries
This week’s entries were published on 21st, 22nd and 27th May 1942. Next week’s entry will be published on 30th May 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org or follow us on Twitter.
Posted on May 18, 2012 by Eric Blair -
The winners of this year’s Orwell Prize awards ceremony will be announced on Wednesday, 23rd May. The 2012 winners – of the Book Prize, Journalism Prize and Blog Prize – will be announced from 7pm, with drinks from 6.30pm, at Church House, Westminster, London SW1P 3NZ. Shortlisted books will be on sale beforehand courtesy of Marylebone books. If you haven’t already RSVP’d and you’d like to join us, do get in touch and we’ll do our best to squeeze you in. Email katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org to reserve your free place. Hopefully we’ll see you there!
From elsewhere
We’re delighted to have had more than 200 entrants to our latest Twitter competition. Thanks to everyone for taking the time to enter. Congratulations to the winner, Nick Ward who will receive copies of all six shortlisted books.
Also on Twitter this week, we’ve been featuring each of our shortlisted blogs, books and journalists. There seems to be plenty of anticipation over who the 2012 winners might be. All will be revealed in just five days.
The wartime diaries
This week’s entries were published on 15th and 19th May 1942. Next week’s entries will be published on 21st, 22nd and 27th May 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org or follow us on Twitter.
Posted on May 11, 2012 by Eric Blair -
The winners of this year’s Orwell Prize awards ceremony will be announced on Wednesday, 23rd May, and it would be wonderful if you could join us. The 2012 winners – of the Book Prize, Journalism Prize and Blog Prize – will be announced from 7pm, with drinks from 6.30pm, at Church House, Westminster, London SW1P 3NZ. Shortlisted books will be on sale beforehand courtesy of Marylebone books. If you’d like to come along, email katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org to reserve your free place. Hopefully we’ll see you there!
From the archive
In the lead up to our celebration of all the wonderful writing we have received this year, here at The Orwell Prize, we are reading Orwell’s consummate classic Why I Write.
From elsewhere
When the shortlist was announced, Miranda Carter wrote a wonderful appraisal of each shortlisted book. Starting on Wednesday we will be featuring each shortlisted entry on Twitter. You can also see the full list of shortlists on our website.
If you missed the musical production One Georgie Orwell, you can read this lovely review. The producers are planning to take it to Edinburgh Festival next year.
The wartime diaries
This week’s entries were published on 8th and 11th May 1942. Next week’s entries will be published on 15th and 19th May 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org or follow us on Twitter.
Posted on May 4, 2012 by Eric Blair -
This year’s Orwell Prize awards ceremony is taking place on Wednesday, 23rd May, and it would be wonderful if you could join us. The 2012 winners – of the Book Prize, Journalism Prize and Blog Prize – will be announced from 7pm, with drinks from 6.30pm, at Church House, Westminster, London SW1P 3NZ. Shortlisted books will be on sale beforehand courtesy of Marylebone books. If you’d like to come along, email katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org to reserve your free place. Hopefully we’ll see you there!
Buxton Festival
We are delighted to announce that The Orwell Prize will also be returning to the Buxton Festival this summer as part of its programme of public events. Tony Wright (Former MP for Cannock Chase, Professor of Government and Public Policy at UCL, co-editor of Political Quarterly) will chair an Orwell vs. Kipling debate 10.30am on 16th July. Speakers for Orwell are Paul Anderson (journalist, author, academic, editor of Orwell in Tribune: ‘As I Please” and other writings 1943-7’) and Stuart Evers (Author of ‘Ten Stories about Smoking’ (Picador 2011) and ‘If This is Home’ (Picador 2012); book reviewer). Speakers for Kipling are Jan Montefiore (Professor at University of Kent, author of ‘Kipling’ (2007) and editor of Kipling’s forthcoming ‘The Man Who Would be King and other stories'(2011 Penguin Classics)) and Charles Allen (historian, author of Orwell Prize-longlisted ‘Kipling Sahib’). You can book tickets here.
From the archive
Orwell’s essay ‘Confessions of a Book Reviewer’ was published in the Tribune 66 years ago this week. The piece is a beautiful insight into Orwell’s own experiences of writing that are still familiar to many writers today.
From elsewhere
We have had a wonderfully overwhelming response to our Twitter competition for a chance to win a set of all the 2012 longlisted books. The winner is Adrian Wooster. If you missed this competition join us on Twitter and standby for the forthcoming chance to win a set of the 2012 shortlisted books.
Today is World Press Freedom Day and here at The Orwell Prize we are celebrating by re-reading ‘The Freedom of the Press.’ This piece was originally intended as Orwell’s preface to Animal Farm but was in fact first published posthumously in a Times supplement on 15th September 1972 with an introduction by Sir Bernard Crick. Ian Angus found the original manuscript in 1972.
The wartime diaries
This week’s entry was published on 29th April 1942. Next week’s entries will be published on 6th, 8th and 11th May 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org or follow us on Twitter.
Posted on April 27, 2012 by Eric Blair -
The shortlists for the Orwell Prize 2012 were revealed on Tuesday at our annual shortlist announcement and debate hosted by the University of Westminster. On our website you can read the full list of 6 shortlisted books and an extract, 6 shortlisted journalists and their submitted articles, 7 longlisted bloggers along with links to their blogposts. Book judge Miranda Carter wrote a piece for The Telegraph on each of the shortlisted books. After the announcement, Brian Cathcart chaired a debate: Our overwhelmingly white media are inevitably delivering ‘white news’. The debate featured Hannah Pool (author and former Guardian writer), Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (Independent columnist and winner of the Orwell Prize 2002 for journalism) and Rob Berkeley (Director of The Runneymede Trust). Footage of the entire evening will be uploaded to our website soon.
An Invitation
This year’s Orwell Prize awards ceremony is taking place on Wednesday, 23rd May, and it would be wonderful if you could join us. The 2012 winners – of the Book Prize, Journalism Prize and Blog Prize – will be announced from 7pm, with drinks from 6.30pm, at Church House, Westminster, London SW1P 3NZ. Shortlisted books will be on sale beforehand courtesy of Marylebone books. If you’d like to come along, email katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org to reserve your free place. Hopefully we’ll see you there!
From the archive
75 years ago Orwell fought in the Spanish Civil War. This week we celebrated the anniversary of the publication of the book inspired by this experience, Homage to Catalonia. Like two of the books on this year’s shortlist (The Beautiful and The Damned and Dead Men Risen), Orwell had to fight for the publication of this novel because of its politics. His controversial criticisms of communists were unpopular with his regular publisher.
From elsewhere
This weekend is your last chance to see One Georgie Orwell, the first-ever “cabaret” celebrating George Orwell, by Peter Cordwell and Carl Picton. The production is being shown at Greenwich Theatre tonight, Saturday and Sunday. Tickets should be available here.
Our 2012 shortlist announcement was covered by a number of major news outlets, including: The Week, Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Guardian, and journalism.co.uk
The wartime diaries
This week’s entries were published on 25th and 27th April 1942. Next week’s entry will be published on 29th April 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org or follow us on Twitter.
Posted on March 30, 2012 by Eric Blair -
The much anticipated longlists for the Orwell Prize 2012 were announced on Wednesday. Read the full list of 18 longlisted books here Read the full list of 12 longlisted journalists here Read the full list of 18 longlisted bloggers here, along with links to their blogposts The Orwell Prize was trending in the UK on twitter as the longlists were being announced – giving an indication of how much interest and anticipation there was around the country. For those interested in the judging process, one of our blogging judges, Hopi Sen, wrote a fascinating piece on his blog.
Orwell at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival this weekend
This weekend we’ll be at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival for a fifth year with three events. Click the links to find out more, to book and to read relevant Orwell essays:
In honour of the 75th anniversary we will be celebrating in Oxford this weekend you can read more about Orwell’s works The Road to Wigan Pier and Homage to Catalonia on our website
From elsewhere
– This week The Big Issue magazine featured a cover piece entitled, What would Orwell say? examining the British north-south divide 75 years after the publication of The Road to Wigan Pier – Our 2012 longlist announcement was covered by a number of major news outlets, including: The BBC, Guardian, and Huffington Post.
The wartime diaries
This week’s entry was published on 27th March 1942. Next week’s entries will be published on 1st, 3rd and 6th April 1942. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on katriona.lewis@mediastandardstrust.org or follow us on Twitter.
Posted on March 16, 2012 by Eric Blair -
With next Wednesday, 21st March, designated World Poetry Day by UNESCO – why not take a look at Orwell’s poems in our poetry section? Orwell’s poetry may not be among his best known work, but according to biographer D.J. Taylor, the young Orwell displayed ‘an enthusiasm for poetry that in [his] formative years seems to have been as least as strong as any desire to write fiction’. As well as a selection of Orwell poems, including ‘A Happy Vicar I Might Have Been’, ‘The Lesser Evil’ and ‘Summer-like for an instant’, you can also read an essay by Orwell on ‘Poetry and the Microphone’ and D.J. Taylor’s take on Orwell and poetry.
Orwell Prize Entries 2012
A reminder that this year’s longlists will be announced on Wednesday 28th March. The full list of entries, for the Book Prize, Journalism Prize and Blog Prize can be found on our website.At the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2012
We’ll be at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival
for a fifth year, with three events. Click on the event titles for full details, to book and to read some relevant Orwell essays:
- Homage to Catalonia: the Spanish Civil War, 2pm, Friday 30 March: Helen Graham, Paul Preston, Francisco Romero Salvado, chaired by Jean Seaton
- The Road to Wigan Pier: 75 years on, 6.30pm, Saturday 31 March: Stephen Armstrong, Beatrix Campbell, Paul Mason, chaired by D. J. Taylor
From the archive
Inside the Whale, a collection of essays by Orwell was first published on 11th March 1940. The selection consisted of some of Orwell’s most famous essays: ‘Charles Dickens’, ‘Boys’ Weeklies’, and ‘Inside the Whale’. Also published on the same day in 1935, was Orwell’s novel A Clergyman’s Daughter. You can find the first chapter on our website, along with the essay ‘Hop-picking’, an activity which features in the book.
From elsewhere
Allan Massie blogs for The Telegraph on ‘The genius of George Orwell’. Suggesting his ‘As I Please’ columns for The Tribune, “remain remarkably fresh and interesting”. Orwell scholar Anthony Lock, reflects on the 75th anniversary of the publication of The Road to Wigan Pier for openDemocracy. He speculates on what a ‘cyber-Orwell, 109 years old’, might remark on if he could travel on his journey again in 2012. Simon Lancaster suggests in the Guardian, that today’s politicians are unable to live by Orwell’s creed outlined in ‘Politics and the English Language’. Instead of ‘constantly seeking to coin new, inspiration phrases’, leaders should, Lancaster says, ‘echo what they hear on the streets’.
Posted on February 10, 2012 by Eric Blair -
Here’s your reading list for the next few months: we’ve published a full list of entries for the Orwell Prize 2012. Yet again, we’ve received a record number of submissions for each Prize, with 263 264 books, 140 journalists and 226 bloggers put forward. More details – and links – can be found on the Book Prize 2012, Journalism Prize 2012 and Blog Prize 2012 entry pages.
Job advert: Orwell Prize administrator
We’re advertising for a new Orwell Prize administrator. The current deputy director, Gavin Freeguard, will be leaving the Prize and the Media Standards Trust (which administers the Prize on behalf of the Council of the Orwell Prize) at the beginning of March. He has been responsible for running the Prize since November 2007. You can find the advert on the w4mp website, on the Orwell Prize website, and on the Media Standards Trust website.
Christopher Hitchens on Animal Farm
The Prize is privileged to be able to give you an exclusive extract of an introduction to Animal Farm by the late Christopher Hitchens. Thanks to publishers Harvill Secker, you can – for a limited time – read Christopher’s thoughts on the publication, and the afterlife, of Orwell’s classic, on our website.
Nineteen Eighty-Four at Foyles
The Foyles Café at Foyles Bookshop, Charing Cross Road is currently exhibiting some of Aleks Krotoski’s photographs inspired by Nineteen Eighty-Four. Aleks spent just over a year telling the first 369 words of the novel, one word at a time, in photographs. You can see the full set of images on her Flickr stream, and you can buy some of the images via her online store. More on the novel on our site.
Nightjack
Nightjack (or properly, Jack Night, blogging at ‘Nightjack: An English Detective’) was the winner of the first Orwell Prize for Blogs, in 2009. A few weeks later, he was revealed by The Times to be Richard Horton, after Lord Justice Eady refused an injunction to protect Nightjack’s identity. The case has been revisited during the course of the Leveson Inquiry on press ethics, with evidence suggesting that Nightjack’s identity was exposed as a result of email hacking by a Times reporter. The police are now investigating, and this Wednesday’s Times carried ‘Times Editor James Harding apologises for email hacking’ (£)Times carried ‘Times Editor James Harding apologises for email hacking’ (£) on its front page. Former Orwell Prize judge, David Allen Green (shortlisted by Richard when he judged the Blog Prize 2010, and who discussed political blogging with him at our 2011 longlist debate) has written about the case here and here (Jack of Kent), and here, here, here, here and here (New Statesman).
At the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival 2012
We’ll be at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival for a fifth year, with three events. Click on the event titles for full details, to book and to read some relevant Orwell essays:
- Homage to Catalonia: the Spanish Civil War, 2pm, Friday 30 March: Helen Graham, Paul Preston, Francisco Romero Salvado, chaired by Jean Seaton
- The Road to Wigan Pier: 75 years on, 6.30pm, Saturday 31 March: Stephen Armstrong, Beatrix Campbell, Juliet Gardiner, Paul Mason, chaired by D. J. Taylor
From the archive
Fans around the world celebrated the 200th anniversary of Charles Dickens’ birth on 7 February. On our website, we have Orwell’s famous essay, ‘Charles Dickens’ (originally published in 1940, along with ‘Inside the Whale’ and ‘Boys’ Weeklies’). We’ve also used the essay as a happy excuse for a couple of debates on Orwell vs Dickens, both of which you can watch video of: Francine Stock, Jenny Hartley, Philip Hensher, Hardeep Singh Kohli and Jean Seaton in Oxford, 2009; and Dame Janet Smith, David Aaronovitch, Lucinda Hawksley, Michael Slater and DJ Taylor in Buxton, 2010. There have been a number of Orwell publication anniversaries over the last few weeks, too. ‘Books vs. Cigarettes’ was first published on 8 February 1946. ‘The Moon Under Water’, on Orwell’s perfect pub, was first published on 9 February 1946 (the late Keith Waterhouse and BBC Radio 4’s Today programme have both considered the essay in the past, while Orwell also wrote a review of Mass Observation’s ‘The Pub and the People’ in 1943). There are a couple of new Orwell essays on poetry on our site. W. B. Yeats died on 28 January 1939 – Orwell wrote an essay on him in 1943 – and you can also read ‘Nonsense Poetry’ from 1945, all about Edward Lear (who died on 29 January 1888). Our section on Orwell’s poetry has poems by Orwell, and some essays by and about him on the subject. Also new to our site recently: Orwell’s ‘Antisemitism in Britain’ (1945) and ‘Reflections on Gandhi’ (1949).
From elsewhere
The Wartime Diaries
The next entry will be published on 14th March. Don’t forget our other Orwell Diary blogs: his Hop-Picking Diary and The Road to Wigan Pier Diary. If you’ve got any suggestions about our website(s), we’d love to hear from you – email us on gavin.freeguard@mediastandardstrust.org or follow us on Twitter. And you can subscribe to this newsletter via email.
Posted on October 21, 2011 by Eric Blair -
We thoroughly enjoyed holding events at The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival for the first time – and we hope that, via video, you enjoy them too.
Orwell Prize 2012 Launch
It’s that time of year again – almost. We’ll be announcing full details of this year’s Orwell Prize launch next week. But you might want to keep 9 November free…
George Orwell Memorial Lecture 2011
The Orwell Lecture is organised by the Orwell Trust with Birkbeck College, University of London.
From the archive
From elsewhere
The Wartime Diaries
The Hop-Picking Diaries
The Wigan Pier Diaries
And you can subscribe to this newsletter via email.
Posted on August 24, 2011 by Eric Blair -
- Each entry to be posted 80 years to the day after it was written
- Prize’s final diary project, after success of 1938-42 diaries and The Road to Wigan Pier diary
The Orwell Prize, Britain’s most prestigious prize for political writing, launches its Hop-Picking Diary blog today, Thursday, 25th August. ‘Post-blogging’ the diary George Orwell kept while tramping in London and hop-picking in Kent between August and October 1931, each diary entry will be published as a blogpost, 80 years to the day since it was first written. Hop-picking was a tradition where urban workers would head to the countryside to harvest hops, one of the main ingredients in beer. Orwell used his experiences in his second novel, A Clergyman’s Daughter (1935), and for a 1931 New Statesman and Nation essay, ‘Hop-picking’, which can be read on our website. The Hop-Picking Diary blog is the third, and final, blog of the Orwell Prize’s Orwell Diaries project. It follows the original 1938-1942 diary blog, nominated for a Webby Award in 2009 and due to publish its final entry in November 1942/2012, and The Road to Wigan Pier diary blog, publishing Orwell’s diary entries from his journey to the north of England between January and March 1936/2011. Jean Seaton, director of the Orwell Prize, said: “The people are desperately poor, and they live unrecognised lives cheek by jowl with the better-off who simply do not even see them. The economy is failing, and there is little hope of any improvement. They resort to criminality, and their lives are stunted by their circumstances. “Walk beside, and share the thoughts and intrepid curiosity of George Orwell, one of our greatest writers and journalists, as he journeys out with the poor working class hop-pickers of Kent. Day by day, in real time, share his developing understanding.” Gavin Freeguard, deputy director of the Orwell Prize and editor of the project, said: “We hope we’ve made Orwell’s work more accessible, by bringing his diaries to public attention, making them available to anyone with internet access, and publishing them a day at a time – reading each entry as it unfolds is a very different experience from racing through them in a book. And the internet gives us access to a wealth of supporting tools and material, whether it’s being able to map Orwell’s progress or link to videos of hop-pickers. “The days of Orwell’s diary may be numbered, but we hope readers will continue to use the blogs to learn about Orwell and the history he records.” The diary entries remain under copyright, and are reproduced by kind permission of the Orwell Estate and Orwell’s son, Richard Blair, and Penguin Books. The hop-picking blog has been made possible through transcriptions by Lucy Snow. The Orwell Prize 2012 will open for entries in late October 2011. ENDS Notes to editors 1. The Orwell Prize is Britain’s most prestigious prize for political writing. Every year, prizes are awarded to the work – for the book, for the journalism and for the blog – which comes closest to George Orwell’s ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’. Each Prize is worth £3000. 2. The Prize was founded by the late Professor Sir Bernard Crick in its present form in 1993, awarding its first prizes in 1994. The Media Standards Trust, Political Quarterly and Orwell Trust are partners in running the Prize, through the Council of the Orwell Prize. Richard Blair (Orwell’s son), A. M. Heath and Thomson Reuters are sponsors. 3. For further information, please contact the deputy director, Gavin Freeguard, at gavin.freeguard@mediastandardstrust.org, or on 0207 229 5722.
Posted on January 30, 2011 by Eric Blair -
The Orwell Foundation has three blogs posting diary entries by George Orwell: the Webby-nominated Orwell Diaries 1938-42 blog which is ‘post-blogging’ Orwell’s domestic and political diaries, each entry published seventy years to the day since it was written; The Road to Wigan Pier blog, which carries the diary Orwell wrote while touring the Midlands and north of England between 31st January and 25th March 1936, with each entry being published seventy-five years after it was originally written; and the Hop-Picking diary blog, about Orwell’s tramping and hop-picking exploits between August and October 1931 (about which he wrote an essay), with each entry being published 80 years after it was originally written.
Orwell Diaries 1938-42
The Road to Wigan Pier 1936
Hop-Picking 1931
