News & Events

Launch 2012, ‘Writing the Riots’

02 November 2011

The Orwell Prize 2012 will open for entries on Wednesday 9th November following a debate about ‘Writing the Riots’ at the Frontline Club in London. Artistic director of the Tricycle Theatre Nicolas Kent, previously shortlisted journalists Paul Lewis … find out more

Poverty and Political Blogging – Videos from Cheltenham

21 October 2011

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. You can watch our ‘Victorian Values’ debate, with social historian Jose Harris, author of Chavs … find out more

Orwell, Raffles and Gulliver

14 October 2011

We’re very pleased to bring you two new Orwell essays this week. First up is ‘Raffles and Miss Blandish’, first published in October 1944. In it, Orwell compares the crime stories featuring gentleman thief Raffles from the early 20th Century with t… find out more

One week to Cheltenham

07 October 2011

Next weekend, the Orwell Prize will be at The Times Cheltenham Literature Festival for the first time. On Saturday 15th October at 10am, we’ll be discussing ‘Victorian Values’, and how the ‘deserving’ and ‘undeserving’ poor have returned t… find out more

Orwell on Tramping

30 September 2011

With the final entry of Orwell’s Hop-Picking diary being published shortly, we’ve just added some more of Orwell’s writing on tramping to our website. ‘A Day in the Life of a Tramp’ was written by Orwell in 1929. Signed ‘Eric Blair’, it wa… find out more

The Orwell Prize and Johann Hari

29 September 2011

UPDATED Johann Hari has contacted the Prize and offered to repay the Prize money. Political Quarterly, one of the partners in running the Prize and the partner responsible for paying the prize money that year, has decided not to pursue the prize money, bu… find out more

Report on Johann Hari

27 September 2011

The Orwell Prize has made what it hopes to be a final statement on Johann Hari and the Journalism Prize 2008. The statement sets out, briefly, the sequence of events over the summer and clarifies the Prize’s position. Orwell Prize at The Times Cheltenh… find out more

Johann Hari returns Orwell Prize

16 September 2011

Johann Hari, who was awarded the Orwell Prize for Journalism 2008, has returned the Prize. This followed allegations about Hari’s journalism, and the completion of an investigation by The Independent. The Orwell Prize accepted Hari’s withdrawal in a… find out more

Press Statement: The Orwell Prize for Journalism 2008

14 September 2011

The 2008 Orwell Prize for Journalism, which had been awarded to Johann Hari, was returned this afternoon by courier. The Orwell Prize accepts Hari’s withdrawal. ENDS … find out more

Orwell in Defence of P. G. Wodehouse

02 September 2011

The British author P. G. Wodehouse, best known for his Jeeves and Wooster stories, was in the news recently with the release of his MI5 files. A contemporary of Orwell’s, Wodehouse was interned by the Nazis in 1941 and controversially broadcast from Naz… find out more