How to Enter

Submissions for the Orwell Prize 2009 are now CLOSED.

• Rules and Regulations in full
• Values of the Orwell Prize

The Orwell Prize is Britain's pre-eminent prize for political writing, and aims to encourage good thinking and good writing about politics in the widest sense. Each year, it awards two prizes – a Book Prize and a Journalism Prize – which reward the works that achieve George Orwell's ambition 'to make political writing into an art'. In 2009, we are running a one-off Special Prize for political blogs, to celebrate this year’s launch of the Orwell Diaries blog. The entry form for the Blog Prize can be found online.

Individuals, their editors or publishers were invited to submit entries in the English language, published or broadcast in the United Kingdom or Ireland, during the calendar year 2008. All entrants must have a clear relationship with the United Kingdom or Ireland.

For the Book Prize, fiction and non-fiction entries are acceptable. Pamphlets published by think-tanks are also eligible. Six copies of each book should be sent along with a completed entry form. Anthologies of more than one author are not acceptable. There is no limit to how many books a publisher may enter, nor is there any charge for entering.

For the Journalism Prize, written and broadcast entries are acceptable, but there must be a written component (a script or transcript in the case of a broadcast entry). Each entry must be made up of four to six items (e.g. four to six articles or broadcasts or a combination thereof). Reporting and commentary is eligible. A single journalist, or small team of journalists (in the case of some broadcast entries), must be clearly identifiable for each entry. Six copies of each item should be sent along with the entry form. There is no limit to how many journalists a publication may enter, nor is there any charge for entering.

'Political writing' is defined in the widest sense, encompassing (but not limited to) party politics, issues of public policy, social and cultural concerns, and works dealing with history, economics, morality, ethics, the media and the environment.