The Bookseller.com

2nd December 2008

Orwell launches blog

30.07.08 Anna Richardson

The Orwell Prize for political writing will publish George Orwell’s diaries as a blog, to inspire interest in Orwell and political writing in general.

Starting on 9th August, entries from his domestic and political diaries will be published as text on www.theorwellprize.co.uk, 70 years to the day since they were written.

The domestic diaries cover his diverse interests, including nature, woodwork and cookery, while the political diaries carry his thoughts on the Spanish Civil War, his time in Morocco, British politics and the descent of Europe into world war. They start on 9th August 1938 and run until 1942.

Although the diaries featured in Peter Davison’s Complete Works and in fragments in other editions, public access to the diaries has been limited and this will be the first time they have been made widely available. The diary project has the potential to be of considerable interest to the public, organisers said.

This year’s Orwell Prize was won by Raja Shehadeh for Palestinian Walks (Profile), who will appear in conversation at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on 21st August. Proceedings for next year’s prize start on 22nd October with a launch debate.

The Orwell Prize

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