Barbara Kingsolver, Tom Crewe, and Caleb Azumah Nelson are among the authors in the running for this year’s Orwell Prizes, given annually to outstanding works of political writing.
Kingsolver was named a finalist in the political fiction category for Demon Copperhead, which was one of two novels to win the Pulitzer Prize earlier this week. Crewe’s The New Life and Azumah Nelson’s Small Worlds also made the fiction shortlist, along with Eleanor Catton’s Birnam Wood, Jonathan Coe’s Bournville, Diana Evans’ A House for Alice, Linda Grant’s The Story of the Forest, and Selby Wynn Schwartz’s After Sappho.
Luke Harding’s Invasion, about Russia’s attack on Ukraine, made the political writing shortlist, as did Phillipe Sands’ The Lost Colony and Annabel Sowemimo’s Divided. Also named finalists in the category were Peter Apps’ Show Me the Bodies, Hannah Barnes’ Time To Think, Emily Kenway’s Who Cares?, John McManus’ Inside Qatar, Angela Saini’s The Patriarchs, and Ian Williams’ Fire of the Dragon.
Boyd Tonkin, the chair of judges for the political fiction category, said in a statement, “The eight novels we have chosen encompass the political life of people in society on many levels, and from many angles. From quests for sexual and emotional freedom, and the struggle for true fulfillment against daily prejudice and injustice, to the abuse of corporate power and the fate of the embattled Earth itself, their authors confront the deepest fears and hopes that drive individuals and communities today.”
The Orwell Prizes were established in 1994. Past winners include Colson Whitehead for The Nickel Boys, Ali Smith for Summer, and Sally Hayden for My Fourth Time, We Drowned. The winners of this year’s awards will be announced on June 22.
Michael Schaub, a journalist and regular contributor to NPR, lives near Austin, Texas.
