The prize has led to many exciting opportunities for winners and runners-up, including working with both The Financial Times and Penguin Random House UK.
The prize has led to many exciting opportunities for winners and runners-up, including working with both The Financial Times and Penguin Random House UK.
The Financial Times and The Bodley Head are proud to launch their eighth annual essay prize. The prize aims to discover young talent from around the world in long-form essay writing. The prize has led to many new and exciting opportunities for winners and runners-up.
This competition is open to anyone between 18 and 35 years old.
Judges will be looking for a dynamic, authoritative and lively essay of no more than 3,500 words in English. It can be journalistic, a case study, wide-ranging or minutely focused. In keeping with the ethos of both sponsors, it can address any topic — from finance and current affairs to history and scientific discovery. We aren’t looking for a particular subject; we’re simply looking for writing that brings its subject alive, and turns the reader’s head with its style.
This year we are joined by two new judges: award-winning novelist Yiyun Li and literary agent Emma Paterson, of Aitken Alexander Associates.
Deadline for submissions is Thursday 24 September 2020 (12:00 GMT).
The winner announcement will be made in November 2020 (exact date TBC).
The winner will receive:
Two runners up will each win:
Visit ft.com/bodley2020 to submit your essay and for further information follow the competition using #BHFTessaycomp.
Stuart Williams, Publishing Director, The Bodley Head says, ‘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.’
Alec Russell, Editor, FT Weekend added, ‘Discovering new writing talent is one of the great privileges of being an editor. I look forward to seeing what writers around the world have to say about our strange present moment.’