The Orwell Prize

"Orwell's values are a light in the darkness of these troubled times."

We are delighted to welcome Kim Darroch, former British ambassador to the US, as our incoming Chair of Trustees.

Read the full story via our website: www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-f...

Big congratulations to Kim Darroch on his appointment as new Chair of
@orwellprize.bsky.social.

Kim takes over from Ken Macdonald who has been a superb Chair over the last decade.

www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-f...

Volunteering | The Orwell Foundation How you can help support our young writers

Volunteer as a Reader for the Orwell Youth Prize!

The @orwellprize.bsky.social is looking for experienced professionals across publishing, literature, academia, civil society (and more) to provide personalised feedback as part of their judging process.

"Fairly much a leftist, George Orwell is a defender of freedom, even though most of the time he violently disagrees with the people beside whom he is fighting." - Allene Talmey for Vogue, 15 September 1946

👏 thank you!

Thanks Paul - do share the starter pack with us if you haven't already. Great idea. :)

It's always a good time to read Notes on Nationalism! Thanks for sharing @samanthaasumadu.substack.com.

@sdp.bsky.social @sannewman.bsky.social @jomcmillan.bsky.social @jennykleeman.bsky.social @jwassers.bsky.social @doubledayuk.bsky.social

"It all made such shockingly perfect sense." Animal Farm at Eighty Friends of the Foundation recall their first encounters with George Orwell's masterpiece

"It all made such shockingly perfect sense."

With Animal Farm turning 80, we asked some friends of the Foundation to share their first encounters. Our thanks (and an extra helping of apples) to all who took part!

orwellfoundation.substack.com/p/it-all-mad...

"It all made such shockingly perfect sense." Animal Farm at Eighty Friends of the Foundation recall their first encounters with George Orwell's masterpiece

Isn't this a brilliant read...and there's so much more to come.

Thank you.

@orwellprize.bsky.social
@theguardian.com
@jomcmillan.bsky.social
@waterstonesoxf.bsky.social

orwellfoundation.substack.com/p/it-all-mad...

📢 Teachers & educators!

The Orwell Youth Prize gives students:

✍️ Freedom to write about their world
💡 Individual support to improve
📣 A platform for their ideas
🏆 The chance to win for themselves & their school

Follow us on LinkedIn for updates and resources 👉 www.linkedin.com/company/the-...

"It all made such shockingly perfect sense." Animal Farm at Eighty Friends of the Foundation recall their first encounters with George Orwell's masterpiece

Animal Farm at Eighty

“I took it out of the library, and read it quietly, in bed, under the covers.”

On the 80th anniversary of its publication, read my first encounter with Orwell’s Animal Farm:

orwellfoundation.substack.com/p/it-all-mad...

@ofmooseandmen.bsky.social
@orwellprize.bsky.social

‘Animal Farm was my parents’ teamwork’: Orwell’s son on 80 years of the satirical classic Richard Blair on the role his mother played in developing the 1945 political fable – and how it nearly didn’t get published

"We need Animal Farm by our side more than ever now." Read Richard Blair, George Orwell's son, on eighty years of Animal Farm.
www.theguardian.com/books/2025/a...

Ukraine’s writers at war, and the life and death of Victoria Amelina Julian Evans on the life and work of Orwell Prize-winning Ukrainian author Victoria Amelina, and the fragmented nature of writing about war.

"War not only shatters linear stories but also destroys those writing them."

Julian Evans for the Royal Literary Fund on Ukraine’s writers at war, and the life and death of Victoria Amelina - winner of the 2025 Orwell Prize for Political Writing.

www.rlf.org.uk/posts/ukrain...

"In this country we are not troubled by lack of water. If anything we have too much of it, especially on Bank Holidays. As a result water hardly enters into our consciousness."

- George Orwell, #OTD 1944

“Journalism that refuses to look away”: Prospect to sponsor The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils The prize, last awarded in 2023, will re-open for entries this Autumn

📰 In this month’s Orwell News:

The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils returns for 2026, supported by @prospectmagazine.co.uk

Meet the 2025 Orwell Youth Prize winners!

Sam Hill in @politicalquarterly.bsky.social: Can we all belong?

👉 orwellfoundation.substack.com/p/journalism...

Can We All Belong? Insights from the The Political Quarterly Conversation 'Can We All Belong?' at the Orwell Festival.

"We lack not only a clear sense of who we are, but we are also devoid of policy which makes Britain feel fairer... and which dignifies those that come to this country in search of a new life."

politicalquarterly.org.uk/blog/can-we-...

Sam Taylor Hill from @orwellprize.bsky.social

The Orwell Prizes - Five Books Expert Recommendations The Orwell Prizes are the UK's most prestigious prizes for politics books, pursuing Orwell's ambition "to make political writing into an art."

ICYMI, the winners of @orwellprize.bsky.social have been announced:
fivebooks.com/books/the-or...

Jo McMillan and Kevin Duffy

Thanks to the Orwell Foundation for a fantastic awards ceremony; to the judges for choosing The Accidental Immigrants as a finalist; to every writer there for deciding to write about things that matter. And many congrats to Donal Ryan. Cheers!

@orwellprize.bsky.social @ofmooseandmen.bsky.social

We're thrilled to be awarding The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain's Social Evils again in 2026, sponsored by @prospectmagazine.co.uk.

This prize - for social reporting that shines a light on injustice and drives public understanding of complex issues - will open for entries in November.

Prospect to sponsor Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils Prospect magazine is delighted to announce it will become the sponsor of The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils

Prospect is delighted to announce we will become the sponsor of the @orwellprize.bsky.social for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils!

This new sponsorship reflects Prospect’s commitment to supporting fearless reporting that shines a light on injustice.
www.prospectmagazine...

Orwell Prize winner says ceremony 'very emotional' Irish writer Donal Ryan, who was named as the winner of the prestigious Orwell Prize for Political Fiction for his novel 'Heart, Be At Peace', said the award ceremony was "very emotional".

Donal Ryan speaks to @rte.ie on his 2025 Orwell Prize for Political Fiction win - for Heart, Be at Peace

"When you write about ordinary people and ordinary lives, or so-called ordinary people... it is going to have political resonance."

@doubledayuk.bsky.social

www.rte.ie/news/ireland...

Totally bowled over by this.

Victoria Amelina's husband, Alex, accepted the 2025 Orwell Prize for Political Writing on her behalf last night.

The £3,000 prize money will support the New York Literary Festival, which Victoria founded in the Ukrainian village of New York. Her work lives on.

Orwell prize for political writing awarded to novelist killed in Ukraine war Victoria Amelina wins with her unfinished book Looking at Women Looking at War while Donal Ryan takes the award for political fiction with an intimate portrait of an Irish town

Victoria Amelina, killed in the Ukraine war, wins the Orwell Prize for Political Writing posthumously for Looking at Women Looking at War. The prize will go towards the literary festival which she started in Donetsk

@orwellprize.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

Congratulations @jennykleeman.bsky.social, winner of the 2025 Orwell Prize for Journalism! 🎉

"Her writing brings out the humanity of her subjects with emotional intelligence and great sensitivity." - @mattwalshjourno.bsky.social, Chair of Judges

Read more: www.orwellfoundation.com/journalist/j...

Thrilled to have won the Orwell Prize for reporting homelessness among such an impressive group of finalists. Thank you to the judges, @orwellprize.bsky.social, my brilliant @mirror.co.uk colleagues & editors, charities who helped with our coverage & to those who trusted us to tell their stories.

The winner of the 2025 Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness is Simon Murphy, for his work in the Mirror.

Congratulations @simon-murphy.bsky.social, thank you to all our judges and to Reporting Homelessness prize sponsors @homelessnessimpact.bsky.social.

Many congratulations to James Hampshire, who has been awarded the 2025 Bernard Crick Prize for his article ‘“Full-Fat, Semi-Skimmed or Skimmed?” The Political Economy of Immigration Policy since Brexit’ @orwellprize.bsky.social

Read the winning article now: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

Victoria Amelina, killed by a Russian missile in Ukraine on 1 July 2023, has posthumously won the 2025 Orwell Prize for Political Writing for Looking at Women, Looking at War.

"An unforgettable picture of the human consequences of war." Kim Darroch, Chair of Judges

@wmcollinsbooks.bsky.social