The Unwin Award has today announced that submissions are now open for the inaugural year of this new, literary award recognising non-fiction authors in the earlier stages of their careers, whose work is considered to have made a significant contribution to the world. The closing date for submissions is Friday 18 October 2024.
The Unwin Award – administered by The Publishers Association – is intended to champion and showcase the value of the UK publishing industry to the world. The Unwin Award has been made possible following a donation from the Unwin Charitable Trust.
Worth £10,000, The Unwin Award will be awarded to the author for their overall body of work (comprising no more than three non-fiction books), rather than being associated with a specific title.
The award will be judged by an independent panel of judges – to be announced shortly – with a shortlist revealed in February 2025 and the winner at a ceremony in April 2025.
UK publishers are now invited to submit up to three authors per imprint that fulfil the submission criteria: full information on The Unwin Award eligibility and submission guidelines can be found here.
The Unwin Award Lecture runs in tandem with the literary award, and the 2025 Lecture will be delivered at the winner ceremony, focusing on the value that publishing brings to society. The inaugural Unwin Award Lecture was delivered by esteemed historian and author Peter Frankopan at The Royal Institution in February 2024.
Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, said:
“I’m thrilled that submissions are now open for the inaugural Unwin Award. This new prize will highlight exciting authors in the earlier stages of their writing careers and celebrate the impact publishing has on our world. It’s an important moment for the Publishers Association in launching a truly unique award and it is only thanks to the Unwin Charitable Trust that we are able to do so. We’re really looking forward to seeing the submissions come in.”
