Longlists to be announced on Wednesday

Friday 23 March 2012

We received a record number of entrants for the 2012 Prize; 264 authors, 140 journalists and 226 bloggers submitted work. Our judges have been busy reading since the New Year and the longlists are due to be announced at midday on Wednesday 28th March. They will be available on our website. For a reminder of the full list of entrants go to Book PrizeJournalism Prize and Blog Prize on our website.

The new administrator has been appointed

The Orwell Prize has appointed a new full-time administrator to replace Gavin Freeguard. Katriona Lewis joins the Prize after recently completing a postgraduate degree at Goldsmiths, University of London. You can contact her on Katriona.Lewis@mediastandardstrust.org or call 0207 229 5722

Orwell at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival

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:

  • Politics and the Press, 4pm, Sunday 1 April: Gaby Hinsliff, Martin Moore, Lance Price chaired by Jean Seaton

From the archive

One of Orwell’s most interesting essays on political language, ‘In Front of Your Nose’, was first published on 22nd March 1946. You can read the article on our website.

From elsewhere

The Guardian reports on plans for a new film adaptation of George Orwell’s Nineteen Eight-Four. – John O’Sullivan, blogging for the National Review Online, cites Orwell’s essay, ‘Decline of the English Murder’ in a piece about the challenges associated with writing a modern-day murder thriller.

The wartime diaries

This week’s entry was published on 22nd March 1942. Next week’s entries will be published on 27th March 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. And you can subscribe to this newsletter via email.