“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.” - George Orwell, Why I Write
Dear Friends,
The Orwell Prize for Journalism and The Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness close for entries at the end of the month, 31 March 2025. As the UK’s foremost prizes for political writing and reporting, The Orwell Prizes celebrate the work published in the previous calendar year that best meets Orwell’s own ambition to “make political writing into an art.” Each prize is worth £3,000 to the winner.
Uniquely among our awards, The Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness is open to both published and unpublished work. This year, in addition to the main prize, there is an Arvon writing course and a John Schofield Trust mentorship on offer for the best unpublished entries. We are delighted to be partnering with Arvon and the John Schofield Trust this year, supported by our sponsors Centre for Homelessness Impact.
In other news, we are delighted to report that we have received over 1000 responses from young writers to our Orwell Youth Prize theme “Freedom is…”. This marks a new record, and our volunteer readers are now preparing individual feedback for each entrant. Our unique feedback model is only possible thanks to our volunteers, donors, partners, and sponsors. We are always looking for experienced writers to offer feedback - and there is still time to get involved. Find out more about volunteering, or help us support more young writers as a Friend or Patron.
Elsewhere in this newsletter you will find recommended reading from our partners Political Quarterly and a highlight from our serial Orwell Daily. We also have news of our online Arvon masterclass, “Telling Other People’s Stories”, with Orwell Prize winner Peter Apps.
For more exciting events look out for month’s newsletter, when we will be launching The Orwell Festival 2025, which will take place here in London in the weeks preceding The Orwell Prize Ceremony on 25 June.
The Orwell Foundation team
“Just as Orwell’s work focuses the mind, so the prize in his name lends weight and reach to the recipient.” - Gary Younge
We are currently inviting entries for both The Orwell Prize for Journalism and The Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness (deadline 31 March 2025). All the information you need to prepare your entry is on our website. Journalists may enter material from a range of outlets and there are no charges for participation. Entries are welcome in any medium except books, including podcasts, video and written reports.
Become a volunteer reader
The work of our volunteers is what makes the Orwell Youth Prize unique, and with over 1000 draft entries we need your help more than ever. Our feedback provides young people with a personalised response to their work, with experienced professionals across the spheres of publishing, literature, academia, civil society and more offering their perspectives and knowledge to ensure young people’s work is the best it can be when they submit it to the prize.
To get involved, please email admin@orwellyouthprize.co.uk
“Volunteering… was such a fantastic opportunity… it was an uplifting to be able to engage with such imaginative writing from young people from such a wide range of backgrounds.” - Emma, Oxford University Press Volunteer
Masterclass: Telling Other People’s Stories
Tuesday June 17th 2025, 19:00-21:00 GMT
£40 / £20 concessions / free places available
In this rescheduled Arvon Masterclass Peter Apps, author of the Orwell Prize-winning Show Me The Bodies, will discuss the techniques of approaching subjects for interview, getting the most out of the interview itself and what comes next. It will cover the most pressing ethical questions that naturally arise, from issues relating to copy approval and payment to dealing with traumatic subject matter and privacy. Whether you’re writing political polemic or a more intimate personal account, you will learn the tools to tell people’s stories in a truthful, emotive and engaging way.
We are delivering this workshop as part of this year’s Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness, supported by the Centre for Homelessness Impact. There are a limited number of free places for those who cannot afford the concession price.
“The consequences of the July 2024 general election are likely to continue to shape British politics for the rest of the decade, and perhaps beyond.”
Head to the
blog to explore a series of reports on the “strange political earthquake” which brought Sir Keir Starmer to power in the UK, with responses from political scientists, historians, and policy specialists.PQ is the leading academic journal for analysis, insight and informed opinion on politics and public policy in the UK and globally. In addition to their essential journal, blog and events programme, PQ are the founding sponsors of The Orwell Prizes. You can also find them right here on Substack.
“Literature as we know it is an individual thing, demanding mental honesty and a minimum of censorship.” - George Orwell, Inside the Whale (11 March 1940)
“What then did I learn from the Orwell Prize? That I should be proud of the book, despite my regrets. But also that insecurities are important.”
We asked Matthew Longo, author of The Picnic, to share some thoughts on winning The Orwell Prize. The result was a profound reflection on the act of writing - and the role of “unsurety” in George Orwell’s work. Read it on Substack.
