Private Event: The Orwell Prize

The Orwell Prize, Britain’s most prestigious prize for political writing, is delighted to be launching the 2010 Prize at the Frontline Club on 29th October. The launch will consist of discussion and drama, as well as marking the opening of submissions and announcement of judges for this year’s Book Prize, Journalism Prize and Blog Prize.

The theme for a whole evening of events will be ‘What next for Burma?’, marking the 75th anniversary of Orwell’s Burmese Days. You can read works by and on Orwell and Burma – including Orwell’s preliminary sketches for Burmese Days, an introduction to the book by journalist and author Emma Larkin, and a photographic essay by Julio Etchart – at http://www.theorwellprize.co.uk/the-award/works/burma.aspx

The evening will run as follows:

5.30     Doors open
5.45     Discussion: Question and answer session with Andrew Mitchell MP, Shadow Secretary of State for International Development
6.15     Drinks
6.40     Launch: Professor Jean Seaton, Director of the Prize
6.50     Drama: Alan Cox, An Incident in Rangoon – exclusive adaptation from Orwell’s sketches for Burmese Days by Dominic Cavendish
7.00     Discussion: What next for Burma? with Dr Michael Charney (Senior Lecturer in the History of South East Asia, SOAS), Derek Tonkin (Chairman of Network Myanmar, former British ambassador to Vietnam, Thailand and Laos), others tbc

Entries for the Orwell Prize 2010 (for all work published in 2009) will remain open until 20th January 2010; full details and entry forms will appear at http://www.theorwellprize.co.uk/the-award/how-to-enter.aspx

As part of the Orwell Prize event to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the publication of George Orwell’s first novel: Burmese Days, photojournalist Julio Etchart is having an exhibition of his pictures taken in the original setting of the novel in Burma.