The Bodley Head/FT Essay Prize 2020
Every year, the Financial Times and The Bodley HeadRandom House imprint, one of Britain's leading publishers of non-fiction, team up to find the best young essay-writing talent from around the world. Now in its eighth year, The Bodley Head/FT Essay Prize competition has been the springboard for many exciting writers. This year our regular judging panel is joined by the award-winning writer Yiyun Li and leading literary agent Emma Paterson. The judges are looking for 'a dynamic, authoritative and lively essay' up to 3,500 words and written in English. The essay can address any topic and the judges are 'simply looking for writing that brings its subject alive, and turns the reader's head with its style'.
The Bodley Head/FT Essay competition is open to anyone between 18 and 35 years old. The judges are looking for a dynamic, authoritative and lively essay of no more than 3,500 words in English, on any subject. The winner will receive: £1,000 cash and an e-publication with The Bodley Head, publication in the FT of their winning essay and a mentoring session with The Bodley Head. Two runners-up will win £300 cash each and an e-publication with The Bodley Head.
Stuart Williams, publishing director at The Bodley Head, said: "We're delighted to launch this year's prize. Reading hundreds of essays has become a revealing annual litmus test of what's on younger writers' minds, concerns that always range from the extremely timely to the timeless. I expect our profoundly changed world will be the catalyst for a lot of exceptional writing this year."
You can find tips on how to write a winning entry on this page. https://www.ft.com/content/c92be874-9da7-11e9-b8ce-8b459ed04726
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