George Orwell demonstrated that the strongest writing almost always comes from a place of personal experience and direct observation. Through the last year, we’ve all been locked down. Many of us feeling like we know our towns, villages, streets and local parks better than ever before. With this year’s theme, it’s our goal to support you to think hard about your local environment, encourage you to trust your observations and use the authority you have to report and write creatively on the changes you’d like to see to create a better society, starting with what’s on your doorstep.
Scroll down for our resources and interactive ways to engage with the theme – and some suggested reading to spark ideas. In the meantime, we better start with George Orwell himself.
George Orwell and thinking small
Orwell provides an example of a writer who addressed, in the clearest terms, the major political issues of his day, from economic injustice at home to imperialism and totalitarianism abroad, while also taking deep pleasure in the things which make places and people unique. As a columnist for the magazine Tribune he would write about war in Europe one week, and English cookery the next. His belief in the importance of seeing for oneself was not limited to taking an active part in history, as he did in the Spanish Civil War and the Road to Wigan Pier: it was an everyday injunction. It was only by paying close attention to what is ‘in front of one’s nose’ that the ordinary citizen could equip themselves to resist the barrage of political propaganda they are subject to and see more clearly what steps were necessary to make the world a better place.
“To see what is in front of one’s nose needs a constant struggle.”
In Front of One’s Nose, George Orwell
“I write… because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing.”
Why I Write, George Orwell
“Perhaps a man really dies when his brain stops, when he loses the power to take in a new idea.”
Coming Up for Air, George Orwell
Here are some examples of essays from The Orwell Foundation library, where Orwell starts small:
- In Front of Your Nose
- Some Thoughts on The Common Toad
- A Good Word For The Vicar of Bray
- The Lion and The Unicorn (1941)
- In Defence of English Cooking (1945)
The Need for a New Direction – Prompts
The world feels overwhelming at the moment. A pandemic, the looming threat of the climate crisis, increasing inequality, and the rise of big data seem insurmountable due to the sheer magnitude of the problems we face. At the same time, the urgency of these threats is galvanising young people like you into action but where do you start when these issues seem incomprehensibly large?
To get you started, you might want to consider:
- What does your support network look like? (is it a person, is it online, where is it?)
- What do you most like about where you live? What makes it unique?
- Think about your daily routine. Which bits do you look forward to, which bits could be better and who/what could help you improve your day-to-day?
- Go for a walk and examine the built environment and nature around you. What do you see? What is worth protecting? What steps can be taken to ensure that future generations can value the environment?
- Research the street names in your local area, who or what is represented? What’s interesting/disappointing/exciting about that?
- Many young people feel pessimistic about the possibility of changing the future. What do you think is the cause of this pessimism, and what steps can be taken by young people to regain their agency?
- The pandemic has increased our reliance on digital spaces and communities. Digital spaces can bring us together, provide entertainment, joy and help us learn, but constant connectedness also raises concerns about privacy, status anxiety and mental health. How do you relate to the online world? What problems can you identify with digital spaces? What could be done to address them?
Resources and reading
We’ve teamed up with writers, journalists and experts to create a series of resources around specific topics relating to this year’s theme: each resource includes an introduction to the topic and more prompts to get writing and researching, from creative writing to football.
Stories From the Ground Up: Local Journalism
- Learn about the importance of local journalism, and get some tips for trying your own, from the team at The Bristol Cable.
- Football teams are rooted in places, but that link is being shaken by globalisation. Wyn Grant, author of Political Football, explores the implications.
- in a series of videos and prompts, poet Miriam Nash will help you play get writing about the places you know.
In addition, we are creating a reading list below for you to explore how to approach this question. We will update this list throughout the course of the prize, but your reading doesn’t have to be limited to it: be inquisitive and critically engage with news items and articles you read.
Climate Change and Local Action
Read
- Our very own Climate Change resource
- Pupils draft their own climate bill as anxiety grows over lack of guidance for schools, Louise Tickle, Guardian
- Policy Actions – 33 actions local authorities can take on climate change – Friends of the Earth
- ‘The Bristolian 17-year-old campaigning for racial justice in climate change movement’, Priyanka Raval, (The Bristol Cable)
- Author Q&A Daisy Hildyard – (Big Issue North)
- This small German town took back the power – and went fully renewable, Bertie Russell (The Conversation)
Listen
Orwell Youth Prize Inspiration
Education
Read
- ‘Just Change’ – Tyne & Wear Citizens – by Luke, Park View School
- ‘Summer on the Farm’ – Sharon Hendry, (The Sunday Times)
- How “cradle-to-career” schools provide all-round support and tackle inequality, Victoria Hirst, (The Conversation)
- Daisy Christodoulou ‘What skills will be needed in the economy of the future?’ (Blog)
Listen
Orwell Youth Prize Writing
- Orwell Youth Prize Writing ‘Knifepoint’, Jessica Tunks (OYP 2020)
- Orwell Youth Prize Writing ‘Teeth’, Silke Dale Brosig, (OYP 2019)
- Orwell Youth Prize Writing ‘The Aptitude Test Kid’, Nadia Lines (OYP 2019)
Public Spaces
Read
- The National Trust – Report on colonialism and historic slavery
- ‘Haringey street could be renamed La Rose Lane’ – Simon Allin, (Enfield Independent)
- ‘London becomes the world’s first national park city, committed to giving people access to nature’, Edward Trunch (The Conversation)
- ‘What difference would it make?’ – Jo Glanville (London Review of Books Blog)
- ‘Covid has finished off the old high street, but we can replace it with something better’, Owen Hatherly (The Guardian)
Listen
Watch
- Watch: The 2020 Orwell Lecture ‘Decolonising the Wonder House: Orwell Empire and Museum’ Tristram Hunt
Place and Identity
Read
- Mass Observation Project – Recording Everyday Life in Britain
- Black Lives Matter in Rural England (BBC news)
- The dark side of rural England’ James Bloodworth (UnHerd)
- ‘John Clare, poet of the Somewheres’ – Mary Harrington (UnHerd)
- ‘Irreversible Shift’ – This should be a single issue election, Omar Robert Hamilton (n+1)
- ‘Integrate, migrants are told. But can they ever be good enough for the likes of Blair?’ – Aditya Chakrabortty (The Guardian) – Shortlisted for The Orwell Prize for Journalism 2020
- ‘The Necessary Death of Orwell’s England’ Nick Cohen, Standpoint
- ‘A Portable Paradise’ – Poem by Roger Robinson
- ‘The Missing’ – Poem by Roger Robinson
- ‘London’ – Poem by William Blake
Listen
- Art and Ideas Podcast: ‘Individuals and Community’ (BBC Sounds)
- Witness Black History podcast – ‘The Battle of Lewisham’ (BBC Sounds)
- ‘United Kingdom’ Podcast by Zing Tsjeng (BBC Sounds)
- ‘A North West Story’ – ‘Have you heard George’s Podcast’ (BBC Sounds – Listen to more of George’s podcasts too!)
- ‘Landscapes, Real and Imaginary’ (BBC4 Start the Week)
Watch
- Anywhere but Westminster, John Harris and John Domokos (The Guardian)
- Darren McGarvey’s Scotland
- Britain on Film Map – (British Film Institute)
- ‘There is another way to Essex’ – (A review of ‘Excellent Essex’ by Gillian Darley)
- ‘Nowt but a fleeting thing: a young farmer’s fight for survival’ Guardian and Joseph Rowntree Foundation Documentaries (The Guardian)
- Roger Robinson talks about his work – T.S. Eliot Prize
- Nairn Across Britain – BBC iPlayer
Orwell Youth Prize Inspiration
Work
Read
Listen
Orwell Youth Prize Inspiration
Housing
Read
Listen
Orwell Youth Prize Inspiration
- Orwell Youth Prize Writing, ‘Streets in the Sky’ Rosaleen Tite Ahern (OYP 2020)
- Orwell Youth Prize Writing ‘Designing for Distance’ Madeleine Hobern (OYP 2020)
Daily Life & The Self
Read
Listen
- Podcast ‘In Our Time: Authenticity’ (BBC Sounds)
- Podcast ‘The Digital Human: Connections’ (BBC Sounds)
Orwell Youth Prize Inspiration
Local Democracy
Read
- ‘From Paternalism to Participation: How one London borough dealt with the Covid crisis and built a new collaborative institution’ Neal Lawson, Compass (2020)
- ‘Local Actions for Global Problems: Climate Change, communities and changing mindsets’ Luca Tiratelli, New Local
- ‘Left behind – life beyond the London Bubble’ James Bloodworth (UnHerd)
- ‘Hate globalisations? Try localism, not nationalism’, Kevin Albertson, (The Conversation)
Writing Advice (new writing, short stories, writers discuss their work)
Read
- New Writing North
- Our writing resources:
- Also remember that all youth prize winners and runners up from 2019 and 2020 gave their own writing advice, visible in interviews at the bottom of their pages
Listen
Watch
If you have any further questions, suggestions, or thoughts, please get in touch with Alex Talbott, alextalbott@orwellyouthprize.co.uk