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.[http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/prizeforwriting/about/ About the prize] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20121223174554/http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/cross_fac/prizeforwriting/about/ |date=23 December 2012 }}, official website. It was launched by the University of Warwick in July 2008. Past nominations included scientific research, novels, poems, e-books and plays."Comparing apples and pears, a new writing prize is the first to accept entries across all genres, from novels to scientific research", New Scientist, 21 March 2009, p. 45. Article quote: "Complexity was the theme of the first Warwick prize for writing, the only cross-disciplinary writing competition in any format." 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.

History

= 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 a shortlist of six titles announced on 22 January 2009. The winner, Naomi Klein's The Shock Doctrine, was announced on 24 February 2009.{{cite web |author=Alison Flood |date=24 February 2009 |title=Outstanding 'complexity' wins Naomi Klein £50,000 inaugural Warwick prize |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/24/naomi-klein-warwick-prize |accessdate=7 December 2013 |work=The Guardian |archive-date=26 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200626142309/https://www.theguardian.com/books/2009/feb/24/naomi-klein-warwick-prize |url-status=live }}

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, author and translator Maureen Freely and literary blogger Stephen Mitchelmore completed the Judging Panel.

= 2011 =

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.

The theme for the 2011 award was "colour". The winning book was Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage.{{cite web |author=Benedicte Page |date=24 March 2011 |title=Cultural history of camouflage wins Warwick Prize for Writing |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2011/mar/24/history-of-camouflage-wins-warwick-prize |accessdate=7 December 2013 |work=The Guardian}}

= 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 (Chair), 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.

= 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 winning book was Redeployment by Phil Klay.

Winners and nominees

class="wikitable sortable" border="1"
scope="col" style=width:5%\|Year ! scope="col" style=width:25%\| Author ! scope="col" style=width:25%\|Translator(s) ! scope="col" style=width:30%\| Title ! scope="col" style=width:10%\| Result ! scope="col" style=width:5%\| {{Ref heading}}
style="background:#cddeff" ! rowspan="20" \|2009 \| {{Sortname\|Naomi\|Klein}} \| \| {{Sort\|Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism\|The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism}} \|Won \|{{Cite web \|last= \|first= \|date=2009-02-25 \|title=Awards: Warwick Prize for Writing Winner \|url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=866#m6247 \|access-date=2025-03-16 \|website=Shelf Awareness \|archive-date=20 August 2016 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820023654/http://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=866#m6247 \|url-status=live }}
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \| {{Sortname\|Lisa\|Appignanesi}} \| \| Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 \| rowspan="5" \|Shortlist \|
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \| {{Sortname\|Francisco\|Goldman}} \| \| {{Sort\|Art of Political Murder: Who Killed Bishop Gerardi?\|The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed Bishop Gerardi?}} \|
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \| {{Sortname\|Stuart\|Kauffman}} \| \| Reinventing the Sacred \|
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \| {{Sortname\|Alex\|Ross\|dab=music critic}} \| \| {{Sort\|Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century\|The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century}} \|
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \| {{Sortname\|Enrique\|Vila-Matas}} \|{{Sortname\|Jonathan\|Dunne\|nolink=1}} \| Montano's Malady \|
{{Sortname\|Michael\|Blastland}} and Andrew Dilnot \| \|{{Sort\|Tiger That Isn't\|The Tiger That Isn't}} \| rowspan="14" \|Longlist \|
{{Sortname\|John\|Burnside}} \| \|Glister \|
{{Sortname\|Mike\|Davis\|dab=scholar}} \| \|Planet of Slums \|
{{Sortname\|Rachel Blau\|DuPlessis}} \| \|Torques: Drafts 58–76 \|
{{Sortname\|John\|Hughes\|dab=writer}} \| \|Someone Else \|
{{Sortname\|Thomas\|Legendre}} \| \|{{Sort\|Burning\|The Burning}} \|
{{Sortname\|David N.\|Livingstone}} \| \|Adam's Ancestors: Race, Religion and the Politics of Human Origins \|
{{Sortname\|Robert\|Macfarlane\|dab=writer}} \| \|{{Sort\|Wild Places\|The Wild Places}} \|
{{Sortname\|James\|Martin\|dab=author}} \| \|{{Sort\|Meaning of the 21st Century\|The Meaning of the 21st Century}} \|
{{Sortname\|Ian\|McDonald\|dab=British author}} \| \|Brasyl \|
{{Sortname\|Joseph\|O'Neill\|dab=writer, born 1964}} \| \|Netherland \|
{{Sortname\|Juan Gabriel\|Vásquez}} \|{{Sortname\|Anne\|McLean}} \|{{Sort\|Informers\|The Informers}} \|
{{Sortname\|Ivan\|Vladislavic}} \| \|Portrait with Keys \|
{{Sortname\|James\|Walvin}} \| \|{{Sort\|Trader, The Owner, The Slave\|The Trader, The Owner, The Slave}} \|
style="background:#cddeff" ! rowspan="11" \|2011 \|{{Sortname\|Peter\|Forbes\|dab=author}} \| \|Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage \|Won \|{{Cite web \|last= \|first= \|date=2011-03-24 \|title=Awards: Warwick Prize; Best Translated Book Finalists \|url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1422#m11800 \|access-date=2025-03-16 \|website=Shelf Awareness \|archive-date=25 January 2025 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250125002008/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1422#m11800 \|url-status=live }}
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Nadeem\|Aslam}} \| \|{{Sort\|Wasted Vigil\|The Wasted Vigil}} \| rowspan="5" \|Shortlist \| rowspan="5" \|
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Aminatta\|Forna}} \| \|{{Sort\|Memory of Love\|The Memory of Love}}
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Peter D.\|McDonald}} \| \|{{Sort\|Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship and its Cultural Consequences\|The Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship and its Cultural Consequences}}
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Michael\|Taussig}} \| \|What Color is the Sacred?
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Derek\|Walcott}} \| \|White Egrets
{{Sortname\|Mark\|Bradley\|nolink=1}} \| \|Colour and Meaning in Ancient Rome \| rowspan="5" \|Longlist \|
{{Sortname\|Jasper\|Fforde}} \| \|Shades of Grey \|
{{Sortname\|Rachel\|Polonsky}} \| \|Molotov's Magic Lantern \|
{{Sortname\|Lisa\|Robertson\|dab=writer}} \| \|Lisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip \|
{{Sortname\|Iain\|Sinclair}} \| \|Hackney, That Rose Red Empire \|
style="background:#cddeff" ! rowspan="12" \|2013 \|{{Sortname\|Alice\|Oswald}} \| \|Memorial \|Won \|{{Cite web \|last= \|first= \|date=2013-09-27 \|title=Awards: Mailer Prize; Warwick; Harbourfront Festival \|url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2094#m21642 \|access-date=2025-03-16 \|website=Shelf Awareness \|archive-date=17 September 2024 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917044029/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2094#m21642 \|url-status=live }}
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Jim\|Al-Khalili}} \| \|Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science \| rowspan="5" \|Shortlist \| rowspan="5" \|{{Cite web \|last= \|first= \|date=2013-09-04 \|title=Awards: Warwick Prize for Writing \|url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2077#m21346 \|access-date=2025-03-16 \|website=Shelf Awareness}}
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Amy\|Espeseth}} \| \|Sufficient Grace
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Cordelia\|Fine}} \| \|Delusions of Gender
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Etgar\|Keret}} \| \|Suddenly, a Knock on the Door
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Robert\|Macfarlane\|dab=writer}} \| \|{{Sort\|Old Ways\|The Old Ways}}
{{Sortname\|Julian\|Barnes}} \| \|{{Sort\|Sense of an Ending\|The Sense of an Ending}} \| rowspan="6" \|Longlist \|
{{Sortname\|Jonathan\|Franzen}} \| \|Freedom \|
{{Sortname\|Amitav\|Ghosh}} \| \|River of Smoke \|
{{Sortname\|Robert\|Gray\|dab=poet}} \| \|Cumulus \|
{{Sortname\|Thomas\|Keneally}} \| \|{{Sort\|Daughters of Mars\|The Daughters of Mars}} \|
{{Sortname\|Nidaa\|Khoury}} \| \|Book of Sins \|
style="background:#cddeff" ! rowspan="13" \|2015 \|{{Sortname\|Phil\|Klay}} \| \|Redeployment \|Won \|{{Cite web \|date=2015-11-11 \|title=Awards: Warwick; International Dublin; Samuel Pepys \|url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2632#m30466 \|access-date=2025-03-16 \|website=Shelf Awareness \|archive-date=12 December 2024 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212234919/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2632#m30466 \|url-status=live }}
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Karen Joy\|Fowler}} \| \|We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves \| rowspan="5" \|Shortlist \| rowspan="5" \|{{Cite web \|last= \|first= \|date=2015-10-05 \|title=Awards: IPNE Book Winners; Warwick \|url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2606#m30034 \|access-date=2025-03-16 \|website=Shelf Awareness \|archive-date=9 November 2024 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109061928/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2606#m30034 \|url-status=live }}
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Rebecca\|Goss\|dab=poet}} \| \|Her Birth
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Karl Ove\|Knausgaard}} \|{{Sortname\|Don\|Bartlett\|nolink=1}} \|{{Sort\|Man in Love\|A Man in Love}}
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Marilynne\|Robinson}} \| \|Lila
style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black \|{{Sortname\|Mark\|Vanhoenacker}} \| \|Skyfaring
{{Sortname\|Sara\|Baume}} \| \|Spill Simmer Falter Wither \| rowspan="7" \|Longlist \|
{{Sortname\|Lyndall\|Gordon}} \| \|Divided Lives: Dreams of a Mother and a Daughter \|
{{Sortname\|Cynan\|Jones}} \| \|{{Sort\|Dig\|The Dig}} \|
{{Sortname\|Armand Marie\|Leroi}} \| \|{{Sort\|Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science\|The Lagoon: How Aristotle Invented Science}} \|
{{Sortname\|Louise\|Stern}} \| \|Ismael and His Sisters \|
{{Sortname\|Bryan\|Stevenson}} \| \|Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption \|
{{Sortname\|Jeff\|VanderMeer}} \| \|Annihilation \|

class="wikitable sortable" border="1"

scope="col" style=width:5%|Year

! scope="col" style=width:25%| Author

! scope="col" style=width:25%|Translator(s)

! scope="col" style=width:30%| Title

! scope="col" style=width:10%| Result

! scope="col" style=width:5%| {{Ref heading}}

style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="20" |2009

| {{Sortname|Naomi|Klein}}

| {{Sort|Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism|The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism}}

|Won

|{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2009-02-25 |title=Awards: Warwick Prize for Writing Winner |url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=866#m6247 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=20 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820023654/http://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=866#m6247 |url-status=live }}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

| {{Sortname|Lisa|Appignanesi}}

| Mad, Bad and Sad: A History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800

| rowspan="5" |Shortlist

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

| {{Sortname|Francisco|Goldman}}

| {{Sort|Art of Political Murder: Who Killed Bishop Gerardi?|The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed Bishop Gerardi?}}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

| {{Sortname|Stuart|Kauffman}}

| Reinventing the Sacred

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

| {{Sortname|Alex|Ross|dab=music critic}}

| {{Sort|Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century|The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the 20th Century}}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

| {{Sortname|Enrique|Vila-Matas}}

|{{Sortname|Jonathan|Dunne|nolink=1}}

| Montano's Malady

{{Sortname|Michael|Blastland}} and Andrew Dilnot

|{{Sort|Tiger That Isn't|The Tiger That Isn't}}

| rowspan="14" |Longlist

|Glister

|Planet of Slums

|Torques: Drafts 58–76

|Someone Else

|{{Sort|Burning|The Burning}}

|Adam's Ancestors: Race, Religion and the Politics of Human Origins

|{{Sort|Wild Places|The Wild Places}}

|{{Sort|Meaning of the 21st Century|The Meaning of the 21st Century}}

|Brasyl

|Netherland

|{{Sortname|Anne|McLean}}

|{{Sort|Informers|The Informers}}

|Portrait with Keys

|{{Sort|Trader, The Owner, The Slave|The Trader, The Owner, The Slave}}

style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="11" |2011

|{{Sortname|Peter|Forbes|dab=author}}

|Dazzled and Deceived: Mimicry and Camouflage

|Won

|{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2011-03-24 |title=Awards: Warwick Prize; Best Translated Book Finalists |url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1422#m11800 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=25 January 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250125002008/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=1422#m11800 |url-status=live }}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Nadeem|Aslam}}

|{{Sort|Wasted Vigil|The Wasted Vigil}}

| rowspan="5" |Shortlist

| rowspan="5" |

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Aminatta|Forna}}

|{{Sort|Memory of Love|The Memory of Love}}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Peter D.|McDonald}}

|{{Sort|Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship and its Cultural Consequences|The Literature Police: Apartheid Censorship and its Cultural Consequences}}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Michael|Taussig}}

|What Color is the Sacred?

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Derek|Walcott}}

|White Egrets

|Colour and Meaning in Ancient Rome

| rowspan="5" |Longlist

|Shades of Grey

|Molotov's Magic Lantern

|Lisa Robertson's Magenta Soul Whip

|Hackney, That Rose Red Empire

style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="12" |2013

|{{Sortname|Alice|Oswald}}

|Memorial

|Won

|{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2013-09-27 |title=Awards: Mailer Prize; Warwick; Harbourfront Festival |url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2094#m21642 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=17 September 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240917044029/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2094#m21642 |url-status=live }}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Jim|Al-Khalili}}

|Pathfinders: The Golden Age of Arabic Science

| rowspan="5" |Shortlist

| rowspan="5" |{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2013-09-04 |title=Awards: Warwick Prize for Writing |url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2077#m21346 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=Shelf Awareness}}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Amy|Espeseth}}

|Sufficient Grace

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Cordelia|Fine}}

|Delusions of Gender

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Etgar|Keret}}

|Suddenly, a Knock on the Door

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Robert|Macfarlane|dab=writer}}

|{{Sort|Old Ways|The Old Ways}}

|{{Sort|Sense of an Ending|The Sense of an Ending}}

| rowspan="6" |Longlist

|Freedom

|River of Smoke

|Cumulus

|{{Sort|Daughters of Mars|The Daughters of Mars}}

|Book of Sins

style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="13" |2015

|{{Sortname|Phil|Klay}}

|Redeployment

|Won

|{{Cite web |date=2015-11-11 |title=Awards: Warwick; International Dublin; Samuel Pepys |url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2632#m30466 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=12 December 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241212234919/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2632#m30466 |url-status=live }}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Karen Joy|Fowler}}

|We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves

| rowspan="5" |Shortlist

| rowspan="5" |{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2015-10-05 |title=Awards: IPNE Book Winners; Warwick |url=https://shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2606#m30034 |access-date=2025-03-16 |website=Shelf Awareness |archive-date=9 November 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241109061928/https://www.shelf-awareness.com/issue.html?issue=2606#m30034 |url-status=live }}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Rebecca|Goss|dab=poet}}

|Her Birth

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Karl Ove|Knausgaard}}

|{{Sortname|Don|Bartlett|nolink=1}}

|{{Sort|Man in Love|A Man in Love}}

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Marilynne|Robinson}}

|Lila

style=background:LemonChiffon; color:black

|{{Sortname|Mark|Vanhoenacker}}