Not everyone is familiar with the British-based Orwell Prizes, which recently announced their slate of 2026 finalists.
Sponsored and administrated by The Orwell Foundation in the United Kingdom, the prizes aim to recognize work that comes closest to George Orwell’s ambition “to make political writing into art.”
Orwell certainly achieved that goal with his most widely acclaimed and enduring novels Nineteen Eighty-Four and Animal Farm, both later inducted into the Prometheus Hall of Fame for Best Classic Fiction. So it’s nice to see another award honoring Orwell’s spirit.