The 2026 Orwell Prize Ceremony

“What I have most wanted to do… is to make political writing into an art.” - George Orwell

Join us for the announcement of the UK’s most prestigious prizes for political writing and reporting. As part of UCL200 - the bicentenary of University College London - this year’s prize ceremony will be held on Orwell’s birthday, June 25th, at the wonderful Bloomsbury Theatre, a stone’s throw from Senate House - the inspiration for Nineteen Eighty-Four’s Minister of Truth 

In a year that marks two centuries of radical thinking at UCL, we gather to celebrate the writers and journalists who continue Orwell’s legacy: 

Hosted by The Orwell Foundation’s newly appointed Chair of Trustees Lord Kim Darroch, the ceremony will celebrated finalists and announce the winners of our annual prizes.

The Orwell Prize for Political Writing
The Orwell Prize for Political Fiction
The Orwell Prize for Journalism
The Orwell Prize for Reporting Homelessness
Sponsored by Centre for Homelessness Impact
The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain’s Social Evils
Sponsored by Prospect magazine
The Orwell Youth Prize
The Orwell Youth Prize celebrates the next generation of socially engaged writers who have responded to this year’s theme: TRUTH.

The Orwell Foundation

The Orwell Foundation exists to promote Orwell’s values of bravery, integrity, decency and fidelity to truth. An independent charity without an endowment, we are officially licensed by the Orwell Estate, but raise all of our funding through grants, sponsorship and individual donations. 

Please consider making a donation. If you would like to know more about supporting the Foundation or becoming a Friend or Patron, please visit: https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/support-us/ or email graham.self@orwellfoundation.com.

The Orwell Foundation would also like to thank partners: University College London, A. M. Heath and Penguin Books, and sponsors The Political Quarterly, Richard Blair, The Centre for Homelessness Impact, Argus Media and Prospect.