Wednesday 28 October 2015
- Second Year of Joseph Rowntree Foundation – sponsored Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils
- Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils to be judged by Emily Ashton, Faisal Islam, Nicholas Timmins, Julia Unwin
- Book prize to be judged by Andrew Gamble, David Goodhart, Fiammetta Rocco and William Waldegrave
- Journalism prize to be judged by Frances Cairncross, John Lloyd and Richard Tait
- Prize will open for entries on 30th October 2015
- Prize will close for entries on 15th January 2016
You can read about the judges here. The Orwell Prize 2016 was launched on the evening of Wednesday 28th October, at a debate at the Frontline Club titled ‘Something must be done’: The Challenges of Aid and the Humanitarian and Refugee Crisis. There will be three 2016 prizes awarded: the Book Prize, the Journalism Prize and the Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils (supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation). The director of the Orwell Prize, Professor Jean Seaton, said “We are delighted to launch the Orwell Prize for 2015 with a debate about such a difficult issue. We look forward to a year developing our Unreported Britain project and our new Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils, supported by the JRF. We hope to provide you with the best and most challenging reads of the year.” Lord Ken Macdonald QC, Chair of The Orwell Prize’s Board of Trustees said “The Orwell Prize exists to recognise and promote the value that political writing brings to Britain’s public and cultural life. Over generations, political writers have fed Britain’s intellect, making us a noisier, less reverent country, inspiring reform and reaction, insight and debate. Sharing Orwell’s belief in the importance of this art form, the Prize salutes each year the finest examples that its judges can find”. The launch of the Prize was followed by a debate between Andrew Mitchell MP (Former Secretary of State for International Development), Suzanne Franks (Professor of Journalism at City University and author of Reporting Disasters) Ian Birrell (journalist and foreign correspondent) and Jonathan Foreman (author of Aiding and Abetting). The debate was chaired by David Loyn (BBC Foreign Correspondent). Following the launch, The Orwell Prize 2016 will open for entries on Friday 30th October 2015. The Orwell Prize 2016 is for work published in 2015, and will close for entries on 15 January 2016. Full entry details can be found on the Orwell Prize website from 30th October 2015. All entries must have a clear relationship with the UK or Ireland, and there is no charge at any point to enter any of the Prizes. Longlists will be announced in March 2016, and the shortlists will be announced in April 2016. The winners will be announced at a ceremony in May 2016. The prizes are awarded to the work which comes closest to George Orwell’s ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’. Each winner receives £3000 and a trophy commissioned by students at Goldsmiths, University of London. Press-Release-2016-Launch-281015.pdf (558 downloads )