The Unwin Award has today announced the Judging Panel 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.
Professor Shahidha Bari – an academic, critic and broadcaster – will Chair the 2025 Judging Panel, and is joined by Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE, social entrepreneur, author, podcaster and speaker, alongside John Cotterill, who is Non-Fiction Buyer at Waterstones.
The closing date for submissions is Friday 18 October 2024. Full guidelines can be found here.
Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association, said: “I am delighted to welcome such an esteemed and experienced panel to judge next year’s inaugural Unwin Award. With submissions shortly coming to a close on Friday (18 October), we are looking forward to Shahidha, Anne-Marie and John considering the raft of brilliant non-fiction authors whose early careers are already making an impact on the world, and to sharing their first shortlist in Spring.”
About the Unwin Award:
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 with a shortlist revealed in February 2025 and the winner at a ceremony in Spring 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.
