Avert Your Eyes, George

27/10/2016
Avertyoureyes,George.TheOrwellPrizehasbecomeanestablishmentlovein|TheIndependent
Voices Comment
Avert your eyes, George. The Orwell Prize has

become an establishment love-in
Here are just a few of the radical writers left off the longlist
Conrad Landin | @conradlandin | Tuesday 1 April 2014 | 0 comments
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http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/avertyoureyesgeorgetheorwellprizehasbecomeanestablishmentlovein9228421.html
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27/10/2016
Three days after the death of Margaret Thatcher, former Lib

Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell accused his fellow Question
Time guest, Thatcher biographer Charles Moore, of exhibiting a
persecution complex that is quite unjustied. Moore had slated
the BBC for promoting the idea that Thatcher was divisive.
Last week, Moore was longlisted for the Orwell Prize probably
Britains most prestigious award for political writing. Every
year, the organisers say, we award prizes for the work which
comes closest to George Orwells ambition to make political
writing into an art. Along with Moores Thatcher book,
nominees for this years book category include Tory MP Jesse
Normans Edmund Burke, Simon Sebag Monteores new novel
and former cabinet minister Alan Johnsons childhood memoir.
No doubt theyre all written in exemplary prose. But Orwell
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27/10/2016
would have cutting words about a prize for daring polemic

heaping laurels on establishment gures who write about
fashionable establishment subjects.
If anyone recognised that artful political writing was not simply
writing well about politics, it was Orwell. Any writer or
journalist who wants to retain his integrity nds himself thwarted
by the general drift of society rather than by active persecution,
he wrote in 1946. The revivalist hymn Dare to be a Daniel /
Dare to stand alone, he said, could be updated with a Dont at
the start of each line.
Orwell knew the price of going against the grain: he found
himself a pariah on the left for his criticism of Stalin, and
subsequently struggled to nd a publisher for Animal Farm. 64
years after his death, being a Daniel in political writing still
pushes one to the margins. Its hard enough getting a publisher to
pay attention if youre not already prolic, but say the unsayable
and your chances are all but scuppered. Orwell blamed the
concentration of the press in the hands of a few rich men, the
grip of monopoly on radio and the lms, the unwillingness of the
public to spend money on books Add to that publishers
increasing reluctance to pick up either literary ction or any nonction that isnt as seen on TV or infatuated biography. Perhaps
a prize for political writing could give those who dare move
against this some much needed cash and publicity.
An obvious candidate from this years nominees is Robin Bunce
and Paul Fields political biography of the activist and journalist
Darcus Howe. The book is political in far more than its content:
as the authors rightly say, Britains Black Power movement is in
danger of being written out of history. True, Bloomsbury has so
far given it a limited print-run and a high cover price. But if the
Orwell Prize had not capitulated to establishment backscratching and fashionable publishing trends, perhaps books like
this could reach the wider audience they were written for.
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Undercover, by Rob Evans and Paul Lewis, is a remarkable

expose of police inltration of activist groups. In The State We
Need, Michael Meacher has penned a thorough and astute
riposte to the austerity consensus dominating all mainstream
political parties. The rules allow political pamphlets too, so why
not consider Carol Turners powerful short biography of Walter
Wolfgang? It truly challenges the accepted wisdom that ordinary
citizens are irrelevant to our political ongoings. Instead, the
judges have gone for a safety-rst longlist. Their chosen books
will have been in shop windows anyway.
It hasnt always been this way. The longlists for the book and
journalism categories have always been biased towards
establishment gures, but in 2009 the Prize took the innovative
step of introducing a blog category. First awarded to NightJack
police blogger Richard Horton, for four years the blog prize gave
mainstream prominence to online writing that was truly
politically challenging. When the category was withdrawn for the
2013 cycle, prize director Jean Seaton wrote that blogs had "been
subsumed into the mainstream", and could now be nominated for
the journalism category. What a shame that the only journalist
from outside the mainstream print commentariat on this years
longlist is Exaros David Hencke, formerly an established
1
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Guardian reporter. Hencke
and others on the list have produced
sterling work, but eleven of the fteen are white men who
already have a name for themselves. Would the likes of Sue
Marsh, author of hit blog Diary of a Benet Scrounger get a fair
hearing? Where is Priyamvada Gopal, whose originally-angled
freelance contributions to a number of platforms have sparked
discussion on everything from Valentines day to Ralph
Milibands patriotism?
Some will say that this years judges cant help it if a certain
dinner party circuit are more likely to self-nominate. But prize
organisers urge the public to get in touch if they feel someone
is worthy of the accolade so they clearly take a pro-active role in
the nominations. Its time for them to think about whether their
task to reward writing that is truly admirable for its political dare,
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or to promote the sort of infatuation and self-importance that

Orwell loathed.
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27/10/2016

Avert your eyes, George. The Orwell Prize has

Three days after the death of Margaret Thatcher, former Lib

would have cutting words about a prize for daring polemic

Undercover, by Rob Evans and Paul Lewis, is a remarkable

or to promote the sort of infatuation and self-importance that

Japan Eyes Fercer Fghter Jets to Counter China

24 Smartest Celebs In Hollywood

Eat At 50 Restaurants Without Leaving The Building

1,000,000 are using this app to learn a new language

These Congress Members Are Insanely Rich

Which of These Top 2 Website Builders is Right for You?

Duterte says U.S. rivals have his back

Say Goodbye to These Disappearing Baby Names

Tiny Device Turns Old Computer into New Fast PC

Log in or register to comment

This dog waited a month

this 120 days of snow

Meet A High School Dropout Who

The Untold Story Of Tiffany Trump's

36 Terrifying Military Photos

Portions shrink as Japan says 'single

How To Make Your Old, Slow Computer

Like-New Again (it's easier than you

Trailer conrms return date

Donald Trump speaks

Man named Rambo in

My Glasgow: food writer

Install our Apps

You might also like