The Unwin Award 2025

Guidelines for submission

About The Unwin Award

The Unwin Award is a new, annual literary award administered by The Publishers Association, recognising non-fiction authors in the earlier stages of their careers as authors whose work is considered to have made a significant contribution to the world.  

The Unwin Award is intended to champion and showcase the value of the UK publishing industry to the world. The Unwin Award has been made possible following a donation from the Unwin Charitable Trust. 

Worth £10,000, The Unwin Award will be awarded to the author for their overall body of work, rather than being associated with a specific title. 

The award will be judged by an independent panel of judges with a shortlist revealed in February 2025 and the winner at a ceremony in April 2025. 

  • 4 September 2024: Submissions open
  • 18 October 2024: Submissions close
  • October 2024: Judging panel announced
  • February 2025: Shortlist revealed
  • April 2025: Winner ceremony and The Unwin Award Lecture
  • Nominated authors must have published no more than three non-fiction books.
  • The published work must have made a significant contribution to the world – for example, have impacted public discourse, society or culture, or effected a change in policy (either at governmental level or elsewhere). You do not need to think in only national terms here. We welcome submissions that have had impact in a smaller or local way as long as you can provide examples of this.  e.g.  If a nominated work about the importance of exercise for mental health had prompted a reader to start a running club in their local community, we would welcome this as an example of impact in a submission.
  • Publishers must identify the author’s ‘key work’ – the author’s most important work or the one that encapsulates what they do best.
  • The author must have had a non-fiction work published since 1 January 2018 and before 18 October 2024.
  • Work must have been published in the English language in the UK.
  • Books in translation are eligible.
  • Children’s authors of non-fiction books that have made a significant impact are eligible for the Unwin Award.
  • The award will go to one author. Therefore, the key work must be led or written by one author.
  • We encourage publishers to be collaborative in cases where an author has work published by more than one publisher. In this case, it is the responsibility of the publisher of the work identified as the key work to make the submission.
  • Each imprint may submit a maximum of three authors.
  • The nominated author may be any nationality.
  • Authors must be available to attend the award ceremony, which will take place in London in April 2025. Publishers must cover the cost of author travel to the event. Please keep this in mind if submitting an author who lives outside the UK.
  • Submissions will open on 4 September and close on 18 October 2024.
  • Publishers must submit a form articulating how the author fulfils the requirement to have published work that has ‘made a significant contribution to the world’.
  • Publishers must identify the author’s ‘key work’ – the author’s most important work or the one that encapsulates what they do best.
  • Publishers must supply three copies of the ‘key work’ upon submission (these copies must reach the Publishers Association by 18 October 2024) and may be asked to supply further copies of the ‘key work’ and other titles if the author is shortlisted.
    • FAO: The Unwin Award, The Publishers Association, 50 Southwark Street, London SE1 1UN.
  • The decision of the judging panel as to whether an author is eligible shall be binding and no correspondence shall be entered into.

Submission form