The winners of the 2025 Orwell Prizes, given annually to “the work which comes closest to George Orwell’s ambition ‘to make political writing into an art,’” have been revealed.
Victoria Amelina posthumously won the political writing prize for Looking at Women Looking at War: A War and Justice Diary. Amelina’s memoir, a personal account of the Russia-Ukraine war, was published in February by St. Martin’s, 19 months after the Ukrainian author was killed in a Russian missile attack on a restaurant in Kramatorsk, Ukraine.
Kim Darroch, chair of judges for the prize, said, “She brings to her narrative the acuity of a journalist and the artistry of a born writer. The result is an unforgettable picture of the human consequences of war.”
The political fiction book prize went to Donal Ryan for Heart, Be at Peace, his novel about a small town in Ireland recovering from the country’s economic collapse.
Chair of judges Jim Crace said Ryan’s book was chosen “for its clarity. For its twenty-one perfectly pitched voices. For the neatness and breadth of its form. For its humanity and kindness.”
The Orwell Prizes were established in 1994. Previous winners include Patrick Radden Keefe for Say Nothing, Anna Burns for Milkman, and Hisham Matar for My Friends.
Michael Schaub is a contributing writer.
