RSL Ondaatje Prize
This is an annual award of £10,000 for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place.
The 2014 RSL Ondaatje Prize
We are delighted to announce that the 2014 RSL Ondaatje Prize is now open to submissions.
To enter, please download the entry form from the bottom of this page and submit it to:
Paula Johnson
Royal Society of Literature
Somerset House
Strand
London WC2R 1LA
The deadline for applications is Monday 16 December 2013.
The 2013 RSL Ondaatje Prize
We are delighted to announce that this year's prize has been won by
Philip Hensher for Scenes from Early Life.
This year's judges Julia Blackburn, Margaret Drabble, and Ian Jack have commented of the award:
"A place, whether it is a small room, a forest floor, or an entire continent, is defined by the limitations and freedoms it offers and by the layers of emotion and history it contains. For this prize we are trying to see where and how this elusive spirit has been best captured in a book, of poetry, fiction, biography or personal memoir."
2013 Shortlist:
Liam Carson Call mother a lonely field
(Seren/Poetry Wales Press)
Patrick Flanery Absolution
(Atlantic)
Gavin Francis Empire Antarctica
(Chatto)
Philip Hensher Scenes from Early Life
(Fourth Estate)
Sarah Moss Names for the Sea
(Granta)
Zadie Smith NW
(Hamish Hamilton)
Download the press releases from the bottom of this page for more details on the winner and all of our shortlist.
Award Date
The RSL Ondaatje Prize was awarded at a dinner on 13 May at The Travellers Club. If you have any media enquiries, please contact Annette Brook, or download the press releases here.
Past Awards
2012 Rahul Bhattacharya The Sly Company of People Who Care
2011 Edmund de Waal The Hare with Amber Eyes
2010 Ian Thomson The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica
2009 Adam Nicolson Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History
2008 Graham Robb The Discovery of France
2007 Hisham Matar In the Country of Men
2006 James Meek The People’s Act of Love
2005 Rory Stewart The Places In Between
2004 Louisa Waugh Hearing Birds Fly