IAS Welcomes The Orwell Prize

20 October 2016

The Institute of Advanced Studies is delighted to welcome The Orwell Prize to UCL, which is also home to the Orwell Archive, the most comprehensive body of research material relating George Orwell anywhere, and a centre for Orwell scholarship. The Orwell Prize's new base at the IAS fits perfectly with the IAS's commitment to critical thinking across conventional boundaries.

The Orwell Prize is a registered charity dedicated to promoting public understanding of and interest in politics and current affairs. It organises free public events, and awards annual prizes for books and journalism which best align with Orwell's ambition to 'make political writing into an art'.

The Director of the IAS, Professor Tamar Garb says,

"The Orwell Prize's move to UCL is as logical as it is exciting. UCL has been home to the Archive since 1960 - it was presented to UCL on permanent loan by his widow, ten years after Orwell's death from tuberculosis at University College Hospital - and has hosted the Orwell Lecture since 2013. Now, the Orwell Prize will be based at UCL's Institute of Advanced Studies. The Orwell Prize is a natural fit within our commitment to critical thinking across conventional boundaries. We look forward to working with The Orwell Prize to develop Orwell scholarship, and to stimulate cultural and political discourse in the name of one of the world's most incisive and relevant writers."