Winners announced in six categories, while Ukrainian novelist Andrey Kurkov receives Special Prize
Last night, Thursday 25th June, we revealed the winners of the 2026 Orwell Prizes at a Ceremony at the Bloomsbury Theatre, hosted by Lord Kim Darroch, Chair of Trustees of The Orwell Foundation, on an evening which also saw Ukrainian writer Andrey Kurkov awarded the Special Prize for “one of the finest bodies of work in contemporary literature”.
The Orwell Prizes aim to encourage good writing and thinking about politics, with our panels of independent judges asked to find winning entries which best meet Orwell’s own ambition “to make political writing into an art”.
The Orwell Prize for Political Writing 2026
Winner: Karen Bartlett – The Escape from Kabul (Duckworth Books)
Rohan Silva, Chair of Judges, said:
“For this year’s prize, we especially looked for books that honour Orwell’s commitment to lucid language and intellectual honesty. By both of these standards, The Escape from Kabul smashes it out of the park. It’s taut and crisp, and shines a light on a story that deserves attention. The plight of Afghanistan’s immensely brave female judges in the face of Islamic fundamentalism is a gripping tale – and Karen Bartlett tells it with deep reserves of empathy and compassion. The book is truly Orwellian in the most positive sense, and a richly merited winner.”
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