Anthony Burgess Prize
Posted: Friday, 27th April 2012
Andrew Biswell's acclaimed book of the life of the celebrated Mancunian writer
ENGLISH lecturer Dr Andrew Biswell has set up the Anthony Burgess Prize to commemorate the author in the 50th anniversary of A Clockwork Orange and to look for new talent in arts journalism.
The £2,000 prize is being run in association with the Observer newspaper for which Burgess wrote articles and reviews for over 30 years and where he ‘discovered’ , among others, Joseph Heller, Sylvia Plath and Umberto Eco.
The prize aims to encourage promising new arts journalists and will be awarded to the best, previously unpublished writing on brand new work in the arts and Dr Biswell would like colleagues to encourage students to enter.
The panel of judges ,which includes Observer associate editor Robert McCrum, Dr Biswell and acclaimed authors William Boyd, Scarlett Thomas and Kamila Shamsie, will be looking for emerging talent, innovative approaches and writing from outside the mainstream.
Keep name alive
The winning essay might be an interview or profile of a writer, artist or musician, a piece on a new artistic movement or venture, a review of a book, film, concert, ballet or stage play and will be published in the Observer .
Dr Biswell who combines his role as a senior lecturer at MMU with his work as director of the Anthony Burgess Foundation said: “It took Burgess a long time to get published so this prize aims to provide the type of opportunity that didn’t exist when he was young – it’s a great way of keeping his name alive.”
Robert McCrum writing for the Observer said: “Anthony Burgess, the prolific writer and composer best known for A Clockwork Orange, wrote many reviews for this newspaper. It's fitting, then, that we and the Burgess Foundation should sponsor a new arts journalism prize in his memory.”