Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction announces increased prize pot

The Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction has announced an increased prize pot for authors shortlisted for the prize, as well as the prize cycle dates.

As part of the celebrations marking the prize’s 25th anniversary, it has been decided that as well as the winner receiving £50,000, the other shortlisted authors will each receive £5,000 (up from £1,000), bringing the total prize value up to £75,000.

Designed to recognise and reward the best of non-fiction, the prize is open to authors of any nationality. It covers all non-fiction in the areas of current affairs, history, politics, science, sport, travel, biography, autobiography and the arts.

The longlist for the 2023 Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction award will be announced at 9am on Wednesday 6th September.

The 12 books on the longlist will be chosen by this year’s judges: literary editor of the Financial Times, Frederick Studemann (chair); award-winning author, Andrea Wulf; theatre critic for the Guardian, Arifa Akbar; writer and historian, Ruth Scurr; journalist and critic, Tanjil Rashid; and chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts, Andrew Haldane.

The shortlist of six will be announced on 9th October at a live event at Cheltenham Literature Festival. In addition to this, there will be a special Baillie Gifford Prize podcast which will air after the event.

The winner will be announced at an award ceremony at the Science Museum, supported by the Blavatnik Foundation, on Thursday 16th November.

This winner announcement will also be livestreamed across the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction social channels. Last year’s winner was Katherine Rundell for Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne (Faber).