RSL Ondaatje Prize - Royal Society of Literature
- ️@RSLiterature
- ️Mon Feb 17 2025
An annual award of £10,000 for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place
The 2025 Prize
We are now closed for entries for the 2025 RSL Ondaatje Prize. This year’s judges are Ruth Gilligan (Chair), Charlie Craggs and Roy McFarlane. The winner will be announced in May 2025.
History
First awarded in 2004, the premise and broad remit of the Prize creates unique lists of outstanding works and authors that you would not usually find sitting side by side. We are grateful to Sir Christopher Ondaatje for sponsoring the Prize.
Past Winners
| 2024 | Ian Penman | Fassbinder Thousands Of Mirrors |
| 2023 | Anthony Anaxagorou | Heritage Aesthetics |
| 2022 | Lea Ypi | Free |
| 2021 | Ruth Gilligan | The Butchers |
| 2020 | Roger Robinson | A Portable Paradise |
| 2019 | Aida Edemariam | The Wife’s Tale: A Personal History |
| 2018 | Pascale Petit | Mama Amazonica |
| 2017 | Francis Spufford | Golden Hill |
| 2016 | Peter Pomerantsev | Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible |
| 2015 | Justin Marozzi | Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood |
| 2014 | Alan Johnson | This Boy |
| 2013 | Philip Hensher | Scenes from Early Life |
| 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 |