Every year, The Orwell Foundation awards prizes for the work which comes closest to George Orwell’s ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’.
The Orwell Prizes aim to encourage good writing and thinking about politics. The winning entries should strive to meet Orwell’s own ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’. They should be of equal excellence in style and content – the writing must be both political and artful.
Judges are appointed each year, with a separate panel for each prize.
Two original prizes for books and journalism were originally established by the late Professor Sir Bernard Crick in 1994, ‘to encourage writing in good English – while giving equal value to style and content, politics or public policy, whether political, economic, social or cultural – of a kind aimed at or accessible to the reading public, not to specialist or academic audiences.’
- Read a brief history of The Orwell Prize by Orwell’s biographer D. J. Taylor
Today, in addition to The Orwell Youth Prize for young writers, there are four prizes:
- The Orwell Prize for Political Writing
- The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction
- The Orwell Prize for Journalism
- The Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness, in partnership with the Centre for Homelessness Impact
Each prize is worth £3,000 to the winner.
In addition, Special Prizes may be awarded at the discretion of the judges.
From 2015-2023, the Foundation awarded The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils. Sponsored and supported by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, the prize encouraged original, insightful, and impactful reporting on social issues in the UK. The prize is currently on hiatus.
The Orwell Prize for Political Writing (1994 – )
The Orwell Prize for Political Writing (previously, the Orwell Prize for Books) is for a work of non-fiction, whether a book or pamphlet, first published in the UK or Ireland. ‘Political’ is defined in the broadest sense, including (but not limited to) entries addressing political, social, cultural, moral and historical subjects and can include pamphlets, books published by think tanks, diaries, memoirs, letters and essays.
The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction (2019 – )
In 2019, The Orwell Foundation launched a new book prize, The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction. The Orwell Book Prize, which was previously for both non-fiction and fiction, was renamed the Orwell Prize for Political Writing and is open to non-fiction only.
The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction rewards outstanding novels and collections of short stories, first published in the UK or Ireland, that illuminate major social and political themes, present or past, through the art of narrative.
The prize was originally established with support from the Orwell estate’s literary agency, A. M. Heath, and George Orwell’s son, Richard Blair. The Foundation, which is based at UCL’s Institute of Advanced Studies, works closely with the Department of English Language and Literature at UCL, who also nominate one of the prize’s judges.
The Orwell Prize for Journalism (1994 – )
The Orwell Prize for Journalism is awarded to a journalist for sustained reportage and/or commentary working in any medium.
A submission should consist of a minimum of three and a maximum of four articles in any combination of media. This might consist of, for example, three printed articles, three television or radio broadcasts or a combination of different media.
The prize is free to enter, with no charges at any point, and entrants may include work published by different organisations.
The Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness (2023 – )
The Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness is awarded for reportage and/or commentary on homelessness. It aims to encourage reporting – whether person-centred, data-driven or policy-led – about homelessness and initiatives that could bring an end to it.
Entries may be in any medium, such as written journalism or creative writing, video and audio content including video diaries, photojournalism (which must include text as well as photos) and social media content. Books are not eligible for the Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness.
The prize is free to enter, with no charges at any point.
Find out more about the prize, its inspiration and previous winners here.
The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils (2015-2023)
The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils, established in 2015 with the support of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, is currently on hiatus. However, The Orwell Prize for Journalism remains open to sustained reporting in any medium, including social reporting.
The prize was named after the task which Joseph Rowntree set his organisation ‘to search out the underlying causes of weakness or evil’ that lay behind Britain’s social problems. It supports and encourages original, insightful and impactful reporting on social issues in the UK. Rewarding innovative journalism, the prize welcomes reporting that extends the reach of traditional media.
How the prizes work
Each year features four ‘milestones’: the launch and opening of submissions; the closing of submissions; the announcement of the finalists; and the announcement of the winner.
The Foundation aims to tell as many publishers, editors and journalists about the opportunity as possible: please subscribe to our newsletter for the latest updates or contact us to be added to the individual call for entry lists. Journalists can be entered by themselves or their editors; authors should consult with their publisher.
Eight finalists in each prize are announced in mid May. The finalists will be celebrated and invited to participate in events, before winners are announced at the awards ceremony, on or around George Orwell’s birthday (25 June) where the judges may also opt to award a special prize at their discretion.
Rules are updated every year. The latest rules for all our prizes can be found here.
Please be aware that while our winners and finalists are all announced on the same dates, eligibility periods and closing dates vary across the prizes.
External guidelines
The Orwell Prizes aim to encourage excellence in writing and reporting about politics. The winning entries should strive to meet Orwell’s own ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’. They should be of equal excellence in style and content, and the writing must live up to the values of The Orwell Foundation.
Rules of entry for all The Orwell Prizes can be found on The Orwell Foundation website.
Key principles
George Orwell’s writing spanned a huge range of viewpoints, issues, problems, and concerns which The Orwell Foundation hopes will be reflected, over time, by the winners of The Orwell Prizes. The Orwell Foundation, which administers The Orwell Prizes, is politically independent. The Prizes do not promote the political purposes of any particular writing or take account of the political orientation of the writing.
The prize process, including the appointment of the judges, should encourage and recognise diversity of political/ideological standpoints, expertise, professional skills and experience as well as gender and ethnicity. Judges are required to put aside any personal political beliefs and assess submissions purely on their merit and on whether they meet the prize criteria.
Prize criteria and rules are reviewed annually by the Board of The Orwell Foundation.
Process
1/ Appointment of judges
The Orwell Foundation strives to achieve a balance of judges across political/ideological standpoints, expertise, professional skills and experience as well as gender and ethnicity. Judges are appointed each year, with separate panels for each prize. The Director and Prize Administrators nominate suitable candidates in accordance with the Foundation’s policies for approval by the Board of The Orwell Foundation.
Throughout the judging process, the decisions made by the judges are theirs alone: the Trustees, the Director and administrative team of The Orwell Foundation, and sponsors, have no role in decision making. Judges are required to be as objective as possible and to put their own political views aside. They are also asked to take into account the criteria, including the values of The Orwell Foundation, and to observe The Orwell Foundation’s equality and diversity policy.
2/ Call for entries
The call for entries is sent out to publishers in November and publicised widely through social media and via The Orwell Foundation website. The Orwell Foundation is committed to ensuring entries come from a wide range of writers and publishers; there is no charge for entry. Individuals may enter one or more Orwell Prize in a single year.
3/ Finalists
The judges should abide by the key principles detailed above and take into account the values of The Orwell Foundation. They are tasked with agreeing a shortlist of eight finalists at a meeting at which the administrators of the Prize (whose role is solely to ensure due process and who play no part in the judging) will be present.
4/ Winner
The judges should abide by the key principles listed above and take into account the values of The Orwell Foundation. They are tasked to agree a single winner at a meeting at which the administrators of the Prize (whose role is solely to ensure due process and who play no part in the judging) will be present.