The Orwell Prize

The Orwell Prizes were founded in 2018 and are awarded for political writing.

The Orwell Prize for Political Writing (previously, Orwell Prize for Books) is for a work of non-fiction, whether a book or pamphlet, first published in the UK or Ireland in the calendar year preceding the year of the Prize. ‘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 Foundation launched a political fiction prize in November 2018, which was awarded for the first time in June 2019. This prize rewards outstanding novels and collections of short stories first published in the UK that illuminate major social and political themes, present or past, through the art of narrative.

The Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2023 Winner

Show Me The Bodies by Peter Apps

The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2023 Winner

The New Life by Tom Crewe

Important dates to follow:

Finalists ~ May/Early June 2024
Winner announced~ July 2024

The Orwell Prize for Political Writing

2022 Past Winner - My Fourth Time, We Drowned by By Sally Hayden

2021 Past Winner ~ Between Two Fires Truth, Ambition, and Compromise in Putin's Russia by Joshua Yaffa 

The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction

2022 Past Winner - Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

2021 Past Winner ~ Summer by Ali Smith