Kingsolver, Azumah Nelson and Kenway shortlisted for Orwell Prizes

Authors including Barbara Kingsolver, Caleb Azumah Nelson and Emily Kenway have been shortlisted for the Orwell Prizes for Political Writing and Political Fiction.  

Seventeen books have been shortlisted for the two book prizes, including eight works of fiction and nine non-fiction titles. 

Kingsolver has made the cut for political fiction with Demon Copperhead (Faber), also nominated for the Women’s Prize, while Azumah Nelson has been shortlisted for Small Worlds (Viking). 

Kenway’s Who Cares?: The Hidden Crisis of Caregiving, and How We Solve It (Headline) is a finalist for the political writing prize alongside Show Me the Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen by Peter Apps (Oneworld). 

The only previous shortlistee on the political fiction list is Diana Evans, who was shortlisted in 2019 for her novel Ordinary People (Chatto & Windus). In 2023, her shortlisted novel A House for Alice (also Chatto) is a sequel to Ordinary People. None of the political writing finalists have been shortlisted before.   

Each prize is worth £3,000 and will be presented to the winner at a ceremony closing the Orwell Festival of Political Writing on 22nd June.  

Boyd Tonkin, chair of judges for political fiction prize, said: “This is a list of finalists packed with vital, urgent stories delivered by hugely gifted storytellers. 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 fulfilment 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. They do so, just as George Orwell would have wished, not by preaching, lecturing or veiled propaganda but in engrossing narratives full of wonder, surprise, delight, tragedy and comedy. We hope that you read, and enjoy, all of them.” 

Martha Lane Fox, chair of judges for political writing prize, added: “In Nineteen-Eighty-Four, Winston Smith observes that ‘the best books... are those that tell you what you know already’. I respectfully disagree. I defy anyone not to learn something new from the shortlisted books this year. The range and depth of the subjects reveal what strange and complex times we live in, while the clarity of the storytelling helps us understand so much more about some of the challenges we face, from geopolitics and the overcoming of historical inequalities, to the future of health and care. These books will move you, inform you and help you to make sense of what’s going on around you.” 

The shortlists in full:  
Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2023  

• Show Me the Bodies: How We Let Grenfell Happen by Peter Apps (Oneworld) 
• Time to Think: The Inside Story of the Collapse of the Tavistock’s Gender Service for Children by Hannah Barnes (Swift Press) 
• Invasion: Russia’s Bloody War and Ukraine’s Fight for Survival by Luke Harding (Faber) 
• Who Cares?: The Hidden Crisis of Caregiving, and How We Solve It by Emily Kenway (Headline) 
• Inside Qatar: Hidden Stories from One of the Richest Nations on Earth by John McManus (Icon) 
• The Patriarchs: How Men Came to Rule by Angela Saini (HarperCollins) 
• The Last Colony: A Tale of Exile, Justice and Britain’s Colonial Legacy by Philippe Sands (Weidenfeld & Nicolson) 
• Divided: Racism, Medicine and Why We Need to Decolonise Healthcare by Annabel Sowemimo (Profile Books) 
• Fire of the Dragon: China’s New Cold War by Ian Williams (Birlinn) 

Orwell Prize for Political Fiction 2023 

• Small Worlds by Caleb Azumah Nelson (Viking) 
• Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton (Granta) 
• Bournville by Jonathan Coe (Viking) 
• The New Life by Tom Crewe (Chatto & Windus) 
• A House for Alice by Diana Evans (Chatto & Windus) 
• The Story of the Forest by Linda Grant (Virago) 
• Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver (Faber) 
• After Sappho by Selby Wynn Schwartz (Galley Beggar)