Warwick Prize for Writing

International literary prize

The Warwick Prize for Writing was an international literary prize, worth £25,000, that was given biennially for writing excellence in the English language, in any genre or form, on a theme that changes with every award.[1] It was launched by the University of Warwick in July 2008. Past nominations included scientific research, novels, poems, e-books and plays.[2] Works were open to be nominated by staff, students and alumni of Warwick University, and since 2014, the publishing industry.[1]

## The Prize Management Group

[edit]

The Prize Management Group of the Warwick Prize for Writing was made up of senior professors and administrative staff drawn from across the faculties and included the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick. The Prize Management Group was responsible for the administration of the prize, including agreeing the rules, the guidelines for the judges and the arrangements for the award of the prize. The Prize Management Group was also responsible for choosing the judging panel.

## History

[edit]

### 2009

[edit]

The theme for the inaugural Warwick Prize for Writing was "complexity". A longlist of 20 candidate titles was announced in November 2008, followed by a shortlist of six titles announced on 22 January 2009. The winner, Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, was announced on 24 February 2009.[3]

China Miéville, award-winning writer of weird fiction, chaired the panel of five judges. Professor Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick, provided a vital link between the Prize Management Group and the Judging Panel. The journalist Maya Jaggi, author and translator Maureen Freely and literary blogger Stephen Mitchelmore completed the Judging Panel.

### 2011

[edit]

Michael Rosen chaired the panel of five judges for the 2011 Warwick Prize for Writing, and was joined by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick, Professor Nigel Thrift, award-winning author Jenny Uglow, Times Literary Editor Erica Wagner and writer, cultural critic, public speaker and broadcaster Baroness Lola Young.

The theme for the 2011 award was "colour".[1] The winning book was Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage.[4]

### 2013

[edit]

The judges for the Warwick Prize for Writing 2013 were Ian Sansom of the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick (Chair), Marina Warner CBE and Ed Byrne, Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.

2013 was the first time the prize was won by a poet.

### 2015

[edit]

The 2015 judging panel was chaired by A. L. Kennedy, accompanied by author and academic Robert Macfarlane, actress and director Fiona Shaw, physician and writer Gavin Francis, and Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler.

The theme for the 2015 prize was "Instinct". The winning book was Redeployment by Phil Klay.

## Winners and nominees

[edit]

Year  | Author  | Translator(s)  | Title  | Result  | Ref.

|
|
|
|
|

2009  | Naomi Klein |  | The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism | Won  | [5]
Lisa Appignanesi |  | Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 | Shortlist  |
Francisco Goldman |  | The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed Bishop Gerardi? |
Stuart Kauffman |  | Reinventing the Sacred |
Alex Ross |  | The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century |
Enrique Vila-Matas | Jonathan Dunne | Montano's Malady |
Michael Blastland and Andrew Dilnot |  | The Tiger That Isn't | Longlist  |
John Burnside |  | Glister |
Mike Davis |  | Planet of Slums |
Rachel Blau DuPlessis |  | Torques: Drafts 58–76 |
John Hughes |  | Someone Else |
Thomas Legendre |  | The Burning |
David N. Livingstone |  | Adam's Ancestors: Race, Religion and the Politics of Human Origins |
Robert Macfarlane |  | The Wild Places |
James Martin |  | The Meaning of the 21st Century |
Ian McDonald |  | Brasyl |
Joseph O'Neill |  | Netherland |
Juan Gabriel Vásquez | Anne McLean | The Informers |
Ivan Vladislavic |  | Portrait with Keys |
James Walvin |  | The Trader, The Owner, The Slave |
2011  | Peter Forbes |  | Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage | Won  | [6]
Nadeem Aslam |  | The Wasted Vigil | Shortlist  | [6]
Aminatta Forna |  | The Memory of Love
Peter D. McDonald |  | The Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship and its Cultural Consequences
Michael Taussig |  | What Color is the Sacred?
Derek Walcott |  | White Egrets
Mark Bradley |  | Colour and Meaning in Ancient Rome | Longlist  |
Jasper Fforde |  | Shades of Grey |
Rachel Polonsky |  | Molotov's Magic Lantern |
Lisa Robertson |  | Lisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip |
Iain Sinclair |  | Hackney, That Rose Red Empire |
2013  | Alice Oswald |  | Memorial | Won  | [7]
Jim Al-Khalili |  | Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science | Shortlist  | [8]
Amy Espeseth |  | Sufficient Grace
Cordelia Fine |  | Delusions of Gender
Etgar Keret |  | Suddenly, a Knock on the Door
Robert Macfarlane |  | The Old Ways
Julian Barnes |  | The Sense of an Ending | Longlist  |
Jonathan Franzen |  | Freedom |
Amitav Ghosh |  | River of Smoke |
Robert Gray |  | Cumulus |
Thomas Keneally |  | The Daughters of Mars |
Nidaa Khoury |  | Book of Sins |
2015  | Phil Klay |  | Redeployment | Won  | [9]
Karen Joy Fowler |  | We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves | Shortlist  | [10]
Rebecca Goss |  | Her Birth
Karl Ove Knausgaard | Don Bartlett | A Man in Love
Marilynne Robinson |  | Lila
Mark Vanhoenacker |  | Skyfaring
Sara Baume |  | Spill Simmer Falter Wither | Longlist  |
Lyndall Gordon |  | Divided Lives: Dreams of a Mother and a Daughter |
Cynan Jones |  | The Dig |
Armand Marie Leroi |  | The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science |
Louise Stern |  | Ismael and His Sisters |
Bryan Stevenson |  | Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption |
Jeff VanderMeer |  | Annihilation |

## See also

[edit]

* University of Warwick
* List of British literary awards
* List of literary awards

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ a b c About the prize Archived 23 December 2012 at archive.today, official website.
2. ^ "Comparing apples and pears, a new writing prize is the first to accept entries across all genres, from novels to scientific research", New Scientist, 21 March 2009, p. 45. Article quote: "Complexity was the theme of the first Warwick prize for writing, the only cross-disciplinary writing competition in any format."
3. ^ Alison Flood (24 February 2009). "Outstanding 'complexity' wins Naomi Klein £50,000 inaugural Warwick prize". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 26 June 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
4. ^ Benedicte Page (24 March 2011). "Cultural history of camouflage wins Warwick Prize for Writing". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 December 2013.
5. ^ "Awards: Warwick Prize for Writing Winner". Shelf Awareness. 25 February 2009. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
6. ^ a b "Awards: Warwick Prize; Best Translated Book Finalists". Shelf Awareness. 24 March 2011. Archived from the original on 25 January 2025. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
7. ^ "Awards: Mailer Prize; Warwick; Harbourfront Festival". Shelf Awareness. 27 September 2013. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
8. ^ "Awards: Warwick Prize for Writing". Shelf Awareness. 4 September 2013. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
9. ^ "Awards: Warwick; International Dublin; Samuel Pepys". Shelf Awareness. 11 November 2015. Archived from the original on 12 December 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2025.
10. ^ "Awards: IPNE Book Winners; Warwick". Shelf Awareness. 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 9 November 2024. Retrieved 16 March 2025.

## References

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

University of Warwick

People|

* Bience Gawanas (Chancellor)
* Stuart Croft (Vice-chancellor)
* Alumni
* Academics

Departments
and buildings|

* Warwick Arts Centre
* Warwick Business School
* Department of Philosophy
* Gibbet Hill Campus
* Main Campus
* WMG
* Warwick Medical School
* Modern Records Centre
* Science Park
* Westwood Campus
* Center for Urban Science and Progress

Student life|

* The Boar
* Radio Warwick
* Boat Club
* Students' Union
* Conservative Association

Other|

* Academic dress
* Manifold
* Pli
* Warwick Prize for Writing

* Category
* Commons

*[Ref.]: Reference(s)
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template