
The aim of the competition is to reward new and exciting writing on arts and cultural subjects. The winning piece will be a 1,500-word review of a book, film, a concert, a ballet, a stage play or a TV show. The winner will receive £2,000 and the opportunity to have their work published in print and online editions of the Observer and on the International Anthony Burgess Foundation website. You can read more about Burgess’s journalism in the Observer here.
The 2014 winning piece, “On the National Theatre’s Medea” by Shahidha Bari is here, as well as the runners-up pieces by Liam O’Brien and Christopher Hyland.
When choosing the winner, the judges will be looking for imaginative, original, and thought-provoking arts journalism that would be suitable for publication in the Observer. They will be looking for emerging talent, innovative approaches and writing from outside the mainstream, and they are especially keen to read entries from those who have not previously had work published by major media organisations. They are also, as William Boyd commented while judging the 2012 entries, looking for “some Burgessian fizz and crackle and a bit of well-displayed erudition”.
The prize will be judged by a panel chaired by Kate Mosse and including Ruth Scurr, Alexandra Harris, as well as Robert McCrum from the Observer and Will Carr from the Burgess Foundation.
Entry can be made online here or by post to:
Observer/Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism
International Anthony Burgess Foundation
Engine House, Chorlton Mill,
3 Cambridge Street,
Manchester M1 5BY
Deadline for submission is 30 November 2015.
The winner will be announced at a prizegiving ceremony in London in February 2016.
Full terms and conditions are here
