The Orwell Foundation is a charity registered in England and Wales, the aim of which is "to perpetuate the achievements of the British writer

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950), better known by his pen name George Orwell, was an English novelist, essayist, journalist, and critic. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to totalitar ...

(1903–1950)". The Foundation runs the

Orwell Prize The Orwell Prize, based at University College London, is a British prize for political writing. The Prize is awarded by The Orwell Foundation, an independent charity (Registered Charity No 1161563, formerly "The Orwell Prize") governed by a boa ...

, the UK's most prestigious prize for political writing. In addition to the Prizes, the Orwell Foundation also runs free public events, debates and lectures and provides free online resources by and about Orwell. Since 2014, they have also run "Unreported Britain". The Orwell Youth Prize, a separate charity, work with young people aged 12–18 around the UK. The Orwell Youth Prize organises writing workshops for young people and runs a writing prize, culminating in an annual Celebration Day. The foundation is based at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

, and is a registered charity no. 1161563.

Orwell Prize

The

, established in 1994, is an annual award recognising and rewarding the books and journalism that come closest to realizing Orwell's ambition to "make political writing into an art". Between 2009 and 2012, a third prize was awarded for blogging, and in 2015, The Orwell Prize for Exposing Britain's Social Evils was launched. For more information, including past shortlists and winners, see the separate Orwell Prize page.

Unreported Britain

The Foundations "Unreported Britain" initiative was started with the aim of finding stories that are otherwise ignored from communities whose voices are unheard, and giving them platform, profile and leverage.

Lectures and debates

The Orwell Foundation organises free public lectures and debates. There are currently two annual Orwell Lectures: the Orwell Lecture at University College London and, from 2017, the Orwell Lecture in the North at the

University of Sheffield , mottoeng = To discover the causes of things , established = – University of SheffieldPredecessor institutions: – Sheffield Medical School – Firth College – Sheffield Technical School – University College of Sheffield , type = Pu ...

Previous Orwell Lectures

* 1989: "Big Brother, Big Sister and Today's Media" –

Bruce Kent Bruce Kent (22 June 1929 – 8 June 2022) was a British Roman Catholic priest who became a political activist in the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, and held various leadership positions in the organisation. Early life Born on 22 June 1929 ...

* 1990: "Must Revolutions Fail?" –

Sir Ralf Dahrendorf Ralf Gustav Dahrendorf, Baron Dahrendorf, (1 May 1929 – 17 June 2009) was a German-British sociologist, philosopher, political scientist and liberal politician. A class conflict theorist, Dahrendorf was a leading expert on explaining and a ...

* 1991: "Fiction and Agnosticism" –

Penelope Lively Dame Penelope Margaret Lively (née Low; born 17 March 1933) is a British writer of fiction for both children and adults. Lively has won both the Booker Prize (''Moon Tiger'', 1987) and the Carnegie Medal for British children's books ('' Th ...

* 1992: "Socialist Values" –

Robin Cook Robert Finlayson "Robin" Cook (28 February 19466 August 2005) was a British Labour politician who served as a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1974 until his death in 2005 and served in the Cabinet as Foreign Secretary from 1997 until 2001 whe ...

* 1993: "Changing the Legal Culture" –

Helena Kennedy Helena Ann Kennedy, Baroness Kennedy of The Shaws, KC, FRSA, HonFRSE (born 12 May 1950), is a Scottish barrister, broadcaster, and Labour member of the House of Lords. She was Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford, from 2011 to 2018. Early ...

* 1994: "But is it Socialism?" –

Roy Hattersley Roy Sydney George Hattersley, Baron Hattersley, (born 28 December 1932) is a British Labour Party politician, author and journalist from Sheffield. He was MP for Birmingham Sparkbrook for over 32 years from 1964 to 1997, and served as Depu ...

* 1995: "Risk" –

Anthony Giddens Anthony Giddens, Baron Giddens (born 18 January 1938) is an English sociologist who is known for his theory of structuration and his holistic view of modern societies. He is considered to be one of the most prominent modern sociologists and is t ...

* 1996: "The Ministry of Agriculture: The Ministry of Truth" –

Richard Lacey Air Vice Marshal Richard Howard Lacey, (born 11 December 1953) is a retired Royal Air Force officer who served as the Commander of British Forces Cyprus and UK National Military Representative to the NATO HQ at SHAPE in Belgium. Education Lacey ...

* 1997: "Inside the Whale: the Relationship between the State and the Individual" – Frank Field * 1998: "Orwell's 'little list'" –

Peter Davison Peter Malcolm Gordon Moffett (born 13 April 1951), known professionally as Peter Davison, is an English actor with many credits in television dramas and sitcoms. He made his television acting debut in 1975 and became famous in 1978 as Tristan ...

* 1999: "The English Problem: National Identity and Citizenship" –

Sir Bernard Crick Sir Bernard Rowland Crick (16 December 1929 – 19 December 2008) was a British political theorist and democratic socialist whose views can be summarised as "politics is ethics done in public". He sought to arrive at a "politics of action", as ...

* 2000: "Nation, State and Globalisation" –

Martin Wolf Martin Harry Wolf (born 16 August 1946 in London) is a British journalist of Austrian-Dutch descent who focuses on economics. He is the associate editor and chief economics commentator at the ''Financial Times''. Early life Wolf was born in ...

* 2001: "House of Memory and London's Orbital Motorway" –

Iain Sinclair Iain Sinclair FRSL (born 11 June 1943) is a writer and filmmaker. Much of his work is rooted in London, recently within the influences of psychogeography. Biography Education Sinclair was born in Cardiff in 1943. From 1956 to 1961, he was educate ...

* 2002: Patrick Wright * 2003: "From Authority to Celebrity – Intellectuals in Modern Britain" –

Stefan Collini Stefan Collini (born 6 September 1947)COLLINI, Prof. Stefan Anthony
''Who ...

* 2004: "Just Law: The changing fact of justice and why it matters" –

* 2005: "Projections of the inner 'I': George Orwell's Fiction" – D.J. Taylor * 2006: "Homo Brittanicus, Soctophobia and All That" –

Neal Ascherson Charles Neal Ascherson (born 5 October 1932) is a Scottish journalist and writer. He has been described by Radio Prague as "one of Britain's leading experts on central and eastern Europe". Ascherson is the author of several books on the history ...

* 2007: "The Politics of Response – Orwell's contribution to the questions of how we read and what reading is for" –

Michael Rosen Michael Wayne Rosen (born 7 May 1946) is a British children's author, poet, presenter, political columnist, broadcaster and activist who has written 140 books. He served as Children's Laureate from 2007 to 2009. Early life Michael Wayne Ro ...

* 2008: "The English" –

Andrew O'Hagan Andrew O'Hagan (born 1968) is a List of Scottish novelists, Scottish novelist and non-fiction author. Three of his novels have been nominated for the Booker Prize and he has won several awards, including the Los Angeles Times Book Award. His m ...

* 2009: "'More like a castle than a realm': Thomas Cromwell's Radical England" –

Hilary Mantel Dame Hilary Mary Mantel ( ; born Thompson; 6 July 1952 – 22 September 2022) was a British writer whose work includes historical fiction, personal memoirs and short stories. Her first published novel, ''Every Day Is Mother's Day'', was releas ...

* 2010: "Orwell and the Oligarchs" –

Ferdinand Mount Sir William Robert Ferdinand Mount, 3rd Baronet, FRSL (born 2 July 1939), is a British writer, novelist, and columnist for ''The Sunday Times'', as well as a political commentator. Life Ferdinand Mount, brought up by his parents in the isolate ...

* 2011: "Hacking away at the truth: an investigation and its consequences" –

Alan Rusbridger Alan Charles Rusbridger (born 29 December 1953) is a British journalist, who was formerly editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' and then principal of Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford. Rusbridger became editor-in-chief of ''The Guardian'' in 1995, hav ...

* 2012: "Secrets of the Cuban Missile Crisis" – Christopher Andrew * 2013: "Democratising the Middle East: A New Role for the West" –

Tariq Ramadan Tariq Ramadan ( ar, طارق رمضان, ; born 26 August 1962) is a Swiss Muslim academic, philosopher, and writer. He was a professor of contemporary Islamic studies at St Antony's College, Oxford and the Faculty of Theology and Religion, Univ ...

* 2014: "'Whatever Happened to Social Mobility'" –

David Kynaston David Thomas Anthony Kynaston (; born 30 July 1951 in Aldershot) is an English historian specialising in the social history of England. Early life and education Kynaston was educated at Wellington College, Berkshire and New College, Oxford, ...

* 2015: "War, Words and Reason: Orwell and Thomas Merton on the Crises of Language" –

Dr Rowan Williams Rowan Douglas Williams, Baron Williams of Oystermouth, (born 14 June 1950) is a Welsh Anglican bishop, theologian and poet. He was the 104th Archbishop of Canterbury, a position he held from December 2002 to December 2012. Previously the Bi ...

* 2016: ** "The Right to Dissent (and the Left too)" –

Ian Hislop Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, writer, broadcaster, and editor of the magazine ''Private Eye''. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes and has been a team captain on the BBC quiz show ...

** ''The Orwell Prize Shortlist Lecture:'' "'Nationalism should not be confused with patriotism' – Our Divided Politics" –

Ruth Davidson Ruth Elizabeth Davidson, Baroness Davidson of Lundin Links (born 10 November 1978), is a Scottish politician who served as Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party from 2011 to 2019 and Leader of the Scottish Conservative Party in the Scottish ...

Previous Orwell Lecture in the North

* 2017: "I've read all the academic texts on empathy" –

Grayson Perry Grayson Perry (born 1960) is an English contemporary artist, writer and broadcaster. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "pre ...

The Orwell Lecture in the North 2017: Grayson Perry
, The Orwell Foundation. Accessed 8 January 2017.

Orwell's legacy

The foundation also organises events and anniversary celebrations about George Orwell. As the only website authorised by the Orwell Estate, the foundation also publishes online resources by and about Orwell, which can be read for fre
here.

Orwell Youth Prize

The Orwell Youth Prize works with young people aged 12–18

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Orwell Foundation Charities based in the United Kingdom