Unwin Awards submissions open in inaugural year

The Unwin Award has today announced that submissions are now open for the inaugural year of this new literary award recognising non-fiction authors in the earlier stages of their careers whose work is considered to have made a significant contribution to the world.

The award, administered by the Publishers Association, aims to "champion and showcase the value of the UK publishing industry to the world". The Unwin Award has been made possible following a donation from the Unwin Charitable Trust.

Worth £10,000, the winner of The Unwin Award will be awarded to the author for their overall body of work (comprising no more than three non-fiction books), rather than being associated with a specific title.

The award will be judged by an independent panel of judges, which will be announced shortly, with a shortlist revealed in February 2025 and the winner at a ceremony in April 2025.

UK publishers are now invited to submit up to three authors per imprint that fulfil the submission criteria: full information on The Unwin Award eligibility and submission guidelines can be found here.

The Unwin Award Lecture runs in tandem with the award, and the 2025 Lecture will be delivered at the winner’s ceremony, focusing on the value that publishing brings to society. The inaugural Unwin Award Lecture was delivered by historian and author Peter Frankopan at The Royal Institution in February 2024.

Dan Conway, c.e.o. of the Publishers Association, said: “This new prize will highlight exciting authors in the earlier stages of their writing careers and celebrate the impact publishing has on our world. It’s an important moment for the Publishers Association in launching a truly unique award, and it is only thanks to the Unwin Charitable Trust that we are able to do so.”

The Unwin Award 2025: submissions guidelines

Entering the award & eligible authors:

• Nominated authors must have published no more than three non-fiction books.
• The published work must have made a significant contribution to the world – for example, have impacted public discourse, society or culture, or effected a change in policy (either at governmental level or elsewhere). You do not need to think in only national terms here. We welcome submissions that have had impact in a smaller or local way as long as you can provide examples of this. For e.g. if a nominated work about the importance of exercise for mental health had prompted a reader to start a running club in their local community, we would welcome this as an example of "impact" in a submission.
• Publishers must identify the author’s "key work" – the author’s most important work or the one that encapsulates what they do best.  
• The author must have had a non-fiction work published since 1st January 2018 and before 18th October 2024. 
• Work must have been published in the English language in the UK.
• Books in translation are eligible.
• Children’s authors of non-fiction books that have made a significant impact are eligible for the award.
• The award will go to one author. Therefore, the key work must be led or written by one author.
• We encourage publishers to be collaborative in cases where an author has work published by more than one publisher. In this case, it is the responsibility of the publisher of the work identified as the key work to make the submission.
• Each imprint may submit a maximum of three authors.
• The nominated author may be any nationality.
• Authors must be available to attend the award ceremony, which will take place in April 2025 in London. Publishers must cover the cost of author travel to the event. Please keep this in mind if submitting an author who lives outside the UK.

Entry process:

• Submissions will open on 4th September and will close on 18th October 2024.
• Publishers must submit a form articulating how the author fulfils the requirement to have published work that has "made a significant contribution to the world".
• Publishers must identify the author’s "key work" – the author’s most important work, or the one that encapsulates what they do best.
• Publishers must supply three copies of the "key work" upon submission (these copies must reach the Publishers Association by 18th October 2024) and may be asked to supply further copies of the "key work" and other titles if the author is shortlisted.
• The decision of the judging panel as to whether an author is eligible shall be binding and no correspondence shall be entered into.