McGregor joins 2019 judging panel for David Cohen Prize

Novelist Jon McGregor will help to judge the £40,000 David Cohen Prize for Literature as part of the newly unveiled panel.

Writer Viv Groskop will also judge, joined by critic Kate Maltby, writer and historian Zoe Strimpel, poet Imtiaz Dharker and author David Park. Journalist Mark Lawson will again act as chair for the biennial award for a living writer’s lifetime achievement.

The prize recognises the whole body of work of writers from the UK and Ireland with former winners including V S Naipaul, Doris Lessing, Seamus Heaney, Hilary Mantel, and most recently, Tom Stoppard. 

McGregor, author of Reservoir 13 (4th Estate), revealed he was “delighted to be given the opportunity to study the work of some of our finest writers across their entire careers”. He added: “I'm sure I will learn a lot from my reading, and from the discussions with my fellow judges, and I look forward to being part of a careful and well-argued decision.”

Funded by the John S Cohen Foundation, the Prize is worth £40,000 and was founded by David Cohen and his family in 1993. It is managed by the literature development organisation, New Writing North.

Claire Malcolm, c.e.o. of New Writing North, said: “Over three decades, the Prize has honoured the monumental achievements of some of the world’s most remarkable literary talents – writers who have etched their words into the fabric of Britain and Ireland and gifted us incalculable quantities of inspiration.

“This year’s judges have the daunting task of selecting another writer to join this esteemed roster of genius and we’re thrilled to be alongside them on the literary journey that judging this unique prize will take them on.”

The winner will be announced at a ceremony in London on 12th November 2019.