Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize

{{Short description|Award for travel-focused novel}}

File:Volcano prize logo.png

The Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize is a British and Irish literary award for a novel focusing on travel, awarded annually by the Society of Authors. It was inaugurated in 2022, and is named for Malcolm Lowry's book Under the Volcano and endowed in memory of Gordon Bowker (1934-2019), Lowry's biographer, by Ramdei Bowker.{{cite web |title=The Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize |url=https://societyofauthors.org/Prizes/Society-of-Authors-Awards/The-Volcano-Prize |website=societyofauthors.org |publisher=The Society of Authors |access-date=30 June 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220630093719/https://societyofauthors.org/Prizes/Society-of-Authors-Awards/The-Volcano-Prize|archive-date=30 June 2022}}

The three judges in the inaugural year of the prize were Caroline Brothers, Philip Hensher and Aamer Hussein. Brothers said of the shortlist:

{{blockquote|... these novels stood out for their sophisticated understanding of people, places and history, for their courage in exploring complexity and the search for meaning, for the way they harnessed the power of language to help us see the world with fresh eyes.{{cite web |title=The Snow Line shortlisted for Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize |url=https://scribepublications.co.uk/blog/the-snow-line-shortlisted-for-gordon-bowker-volcano-prize |website=scribepublications.co.uk |publisher=Scribe UK |access-date=30 June 2022}}}}

The prize is awarded for "a novel focusing on the experience of travel away from home" written in English, published in Britain or Ireland, by a British or Irish author or resident. The winner receives £2,000, and a runner-up receives £750.