Karen Bartlett, Ben Lerner win 2026 Orwell Prizes

Karen Bartlett’s The Escape from Kabul (Duckworth Books) has won the 2026 Orwell Prize for Political Writing, while Ben Lerner’s Transcription (Granta) has won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction, reported the Bookseller.

The Escape from Kabul recounts the evacuation of Afghanistan’s women judges after the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

Chair of judges for the Political Writing prize Rohan Silva said the book “shines a light on a story that deserves attention. The plight of Afghanistan’s immensely brave female judges … is a gripping tale, and Karen Bartlett tells it with deep reserves of empathy and compassion.”

Lerner’s Transcription follows a writer attempting to recover a lost interview with an ageing mentor, using that search to explore the relationship between memory, storytelling and digital technology.

Chair of judges for the Political Fiction prize Fiammetta Rocco said: “For a book so slim, Transcription does so much. A forensic study of our insatiable appetite for new technology, it explores the unreliable stories we tell ourselves about hunger, love and connection.”

Founded in 1994, the Orwell Prizes recognise writing that fulfils George Orwell’s ambition “to make political writing into an art”. Each winner receives £5,000.

Category: International news