Over the weekend, The Orwell Foundation announced the finalists for the Orwell Prizes in Political Writing, Political Fiction, Journalism and for Reporting Homelessness.
The judging criteria looks for the work which comes closest to George Orwell’s ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’. Each section has its own judging panel (the list of who’s who can be found here). The winners will be announced on the 27th June.
Peter Frankopan, the Chair of Judges for the Political Writing Prize said of this year’s nominees:
We’ve been lucky to read an astonishing range of books for this year’s prize – covering a vast set of topics that resonate in a quickly-changing world. Many of the books we have chosen for the shortlist are sure to become modern classics: books that will not just be read this year, but long into the future. All represent cases of outstanding writing; but they also speak to the importance of expert insights, the value of perspective and the power of political commentary. It will not be easy to choose a winner; but we’re proud to have these nine books as our shortlist.
- Eve by Cat Bohannon (Hutchinson Heinemann)
- The Achilles Trap by Steve Coll (Allen Lane)
- Hitler, Stalin, Mum and Dad by Daniel Finkelstein (William Collins)
- The Picnic by Matthew Longo (Bodley Head)
- Revolutionary Acts by Jason Okundaye (Faber)
- The Incarcerations by Alpa Shah (William Collins)
- We Are Free to Change the World by Lyndsey Stonebridge (Jonathan Cape)
- A Day in the Life of Abed Salama by Nathan Thrall (Allen Lane)
- Our Enemies will Vanish by Yaroslav Trofimov (Michael Joseph)
The Chair of Judges for the Political Writing Prize is Alexandra Harris. She said:
We’re delighted to present a shortlist that affirms the enormous vitality and variety of political fiction. These books grapple with histories that are always contemporary. They offer magnifying glasses and telescopes. They renew our sense of how radical an act it can be to tell a story, to read a book, or still more to share what we have read – with strangers and with lovers. Every work here is testament to the power of blazing imagination and patient craft in our complex times.
- Ocean Stirrings by Merle Collins (Peepal Tree Press)
- James by Percival Everett (Mantle)
- Orbital by Samantha Harvey (Jonathan Cape)
- My Friends by Hisham Matar (Viking)
- Ordinary Human Failings by Megan Nolan (Jonathan Cape)
- Caledonian Road by Andrew O’Hagan (Faber)
- The Future Future by Adam Thirlwell (Jonathan Cape)
- Blackouts by Justin Torres (Granta)
For more information on the other two prizes, please click on the links in the opening paragraph. From there it is possible to click on links to read the various articles, essays and reports written by the nominees.
The winners of the 2023 Prizes were Peter Apps for Show Me the Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen (Political Writing), Tom Crewe’s The New Life (Political Fiction), Gary Younge’s The Guardian, The New Statesman, We Are Unedited (Journalism) and Freya Marshall Payne & Daniel Lavelle both won the inaugural Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness.
In 2023 a fifth prize was awarded to Shanti Das & Mark Townsend for the Exposing Britain’s Social Evils Prize – this prize is having a ‘hiatus’ in 2024.
Amazingly, I have four of the Political Fiction books on my TBR (James, Orbital, My Friends and Caledonian Road) and I’ve heard lots of good reports on Eve: How the female body drive 200 million years of human evolution? in the Political Writing list.
Have you read any of these books?
This post was written in the area we now call the Blue Mountains within the Ngurra [country] of the Dharug and Gundungurra peoples. This Reading Life recognises the continuous connection to Country, community and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. They are the traditional custodians of the lands, seas, and skies on which we live and they are this nations first storytellers.
This Reading Life 
Alas, no…
I don’t read much NF, and most of what I do read is Australian.
LikeLike
The large bulk of my non-fiction reading is Australian too, but I do dabble with others that appear on lists like this, or via NonFic Nov. Eve is the main one from this list I might be tempted to try.
LikeLike
Yes, because sometimes their choices are of universal interest, or, more importantly for me, enduring interest. I’ve read some interesting UK history, for example, about the slave trade.
LikeLiked by 1 person
The Political Ficiton section interests me, I wonder what their criteria are for inclusion? I loved My Friends and would say it will be one of my books of the year, but I’m failing to see why something like Ordinary Human Failings would even be considered as a piece of ‘political’ writing,
LikeLiked by 1 person
I haven’t read Ordinary Human Failings, but from the blurb I would suspect its the public housing in London/immigrant experience that ticks the political as art box.
LikeLike
Yes, probably. And maybe tabloid culture too…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I’m pleased to see James on the list, also My Friends, both of which I’ve read. I’m also keen to read Orbital and Caledonian Road – Orbital, in particular, seems to have lots of fans.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Well, they are the four books on my TBR, so we’re in sync on this one 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
The political fiction is interesting. I have two on my list: James and My Friends. Will either win?? I will have to stay tuned to see which book gets it. I need to find out what Orbital is … thx for the list.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, I’m pleased they have now divided the prize into political non-fiction and politcal fiction (the previous award was simply for a political book of either genre). I’m more likely to read the fiction titles than the non-fiction.
LikeLike
No I haven’t, but of the fiction, a couple in my reading group have asked me to add Caledonian Road on our Schedule Suggestions list. They heard an interview on Conversations and were inspired. Then they saw the length! Maybe, one suggested, we could do it for next year’s January read. That sounds a possibility. (This year we did Demon Copperhead.) I have heard of Orbital, but I don’t think I’ve heard of the others, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t heard of any of the nonfiction. Like Lisa, I don’t read a lot of nonfiction, and when I do it tends to be Australian.
LikeLike
No, I’ve not read any of them, but I’d like to. Definitely a prizelist with a lot of potential to slam hard into one’s TBR.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Indeed!
I already four of the books, but the subtitle for Ocean Stirrings is ‘A Work of Fiction in Tribute to Louise Langdon Norton Little, Working Mother and Activist, Mother of Malcolm X and Seven Siblings’ (I don’t mind reading fictionalised biographies if they are done well).
The Future Future intrigues me too. I love books that play around with time and genres. One reviewer likened the protagonist to Virginia Woolf’s Orlando, which was enough to pique my interest.
LikeLike
Out of all those I have only read Eve (yes, v g) and I have Revolutionary Acts on my wishlist. A fascinating selection.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s good to see the two lists, I just finished reading Orbital which was an interesting read and perspective and I have My Friends and James on my shelf to read, this makes me want to get them sooner, summer reads perhaps!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s how I felt after reading this list – I want to prioritise these 3 books for my winter reading list (I’ve just stared Caledonian Road).
LikeLiked by 1 person