Warwick Prize for Writing


The Warwick Prize for Writing was an international literary prize, worth £25,000, that was given biennially for writing excellence in the English language, in any genre or form, on a theme that changes with every award. It was launched by the University of Warwick in July 2008. Past nominations included scientific research, novels, poems, e-books and plays. Works were open to be nominated by staff, students and alumni of Warwick University, and since 2014, the publishing industry.

The Prize Management Group

The Prize Management Group of the Warwick Prize for Writing was made up of senior professors and administrative staff drawn from across the faculties and included the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick. The Prize Management Group was responsible for the administration of the prize, including agreeing the rules, the guidelines for the judges and the arrangements for the award of the prize. The Prize Management Group was also responsible for choosing the judging panel.

2015

The 2015 judging panel was chaired by A. L. Kennedy, accompanied by author and academic Robert Macfarlane, actress and director Fiona Shaw, physician and writer Gavin Francis, and Lonely Planet founder Tony Wheeler.
The theme for the 2015 prize was 'Instinct'. The winner is in bold.
AuthorShortlist titles
Marilynne RobinsonLila
Phil KlayRedeployment
Rebecca GossHer Birth
Karen Joy FowlerWe Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Mark Vanhoenacker
Karl Ove Knausgaard, translator Don BartlettA Man in Love

2013

The judges for the Warwick Prize for Writing 2013 were Ian Sansom of the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick, Marina Warner CBE and Ed Byrne, Vice-Chancellor and President of Monash University in Melbourne, Australia.
2013 was the first time the prize was won by a poet.
Winner is in bold.
AuthorShortlist titles
Jim Al-KhaliliPathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science
Amy EspesethSufficient Grace
Cordelia FineDelusions of Gender
Etgar KeretSuddenly, a Knock on the Door
Robert MacfarlaneThe Old Ways
Alice OswaldMemorial

AuthorAdditional longlist titles
Julian BarnesThe Sense of an Ending
Jonathan FranzenFreedom
Amitav GhoshRiver of Smoke
Robert GrayCumulus
Thomas KeneallyThe Daughters of Mars
Nidaa KhouryBook of Sins

2011

The theme for the 2011 award was "colour".
Michael Rosen chaired the panel of five judges for the 2011 Warwick Prize for Writing, and was joined by the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Warwick, Professor Nigel Thrift, award-winning author Jenny Uglow, Times Literary Editor Erica Wagner and writer, cultural critic, public speaker and broadcaster Baroness Lola Young.
Winner is in bold.
AuthorShortlist titles
Nadeem AslamThe Wasted Vigil
Peter Forbes
Aminatta FornaThe Memory of Love
Peter D McDonald'
Michael TaussigWhat Color is the Sacred?
Derek WalcottWhite Egrets

AuthorLonglist titles
Nadeem AslamThe Wasted Vigil
Mark BradleyColour and Meaning in Ancient Rome
Jasper Fforde'
Peter Forbes'
Aminatta FornaThe Memory of Love
Peter D McDonald'
Rachel PolonskyMolotov's Magic Lantern
Lisa RobertsonLisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip
Iain SinclairHackney, That Rose Red Empire
Michael TaussigWhat Color is the Sacred?
Derek WalcottWhite Egrets

2009

The theme for the inaugural Warwick Prize for Writing was complexity. A longlist of 20 candidate titles was announced in November 2008, followed by the shortlist of six titles announced on 22 January 2009. The winner, Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, was announced on 24 February 2009.
China Miéville, award-winning writer of weird fiction, chaired the panel of five judges. Professor Ian Stewart, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Warwick, provided a vital link between the Prize Management Group and the Judging Panel. The journalist Maya Jaggi, the author and translator Maureen Freely and the literary blogger Stephen Mitchelmore completed the Judging Panel.
Winner is in bold.
AuthorShortlist titles
Lisa Appignanesi'
Francisco Goldman'
Stuart A KauffmanReinventing the Sacred
Naomi Klein
Alex Ross
Enrique Vila-Matas Montano's Malady

AuthorLonglist titles
Michael Blastland & Andrew DilnotThe Tiger That Isn't
Rachel Blau DuPlessisTorques: Drafts 58-76
John BurnsideGlister
Mike DaviesPlanet of Slums
John HughesSomeone Else
Thomas LegendreThe Burning
David LivingstoneAdam's Ancestors: Race, Religion and the Politics of Human Origins
Robert MacfarlaneThe Wild Places
James MartinThe Meaning of the 21st Century
Ian McDonaldBrasyl
Joseph O'NeillNetherland
Juan Gabriel Vasquez The Informers
Ivan VladislavicPortrait with Keys
James WalvinThe Trader The Owner The Slave