2026 Orwell Prizes: Ben Lerner’s Transcription, Karen Bartlett’s The Escape from Kabul win

4 min readUpdated: Jun 26, 2026 08:01 PM IST

Ben Lerner and Karen Bartlett’ won the 2026 Orwell Prizes. (Wikimedia Commons, karenbartlett.co.uk)

The American poet-novelist Ben Lerner and British writer-journalist Karen Bartlett have won the prestigious 2026 Orwell Prizes for their political novels Transcription and The Escape from Kabul, respectively, while the Ukrainian author Andrey Kurkov, best known for his book, Death and the Penguin, was awarded the Special Prize, which has been awarded only eight times since 1997.

The three writers were among eight honored at the ceremony, held at London’s Bloomsbury Theatre for work embodying 1984 and Animal Farm author George Orwell’s ambition “to make political writing into an art,” including The Crick Prize, named after the founder of the Orwell Prize.

Transcription by Ben Lerner

Lerner’s novel (Granta Books 2026), which won in the political fiction category, follows a writer, who has a rare chance to interview his 90-year-old mentor, a famous scholar. Given his mentor’s advanced age and recalcitrance towards interviews, this may well be the last time anybody records him, however, there is a hiccup when the interviewer loses his recording device right before the interview, and must write based on his memory of the conversation alone. Thus, emerges the award-winning meditation on how technologies “enrich and impoverish our connections” and “store and obliterate our memories.”

At 144 pages, the book’s slimness has been remarked upon in most reviews and the judge’s citations. Calling the book “funny, brainy and timely,” Fiammetta Rocco, Chair of Judges, said that “for a book so slim, Transcription by Ben Lerner does so much.”

Rocco described the book as “a forensic study of our insatiable appetite for new technology, it explores the unreliable stories we tell ourselves about hunger, love and connection. It is about dying with dignity and growing up in a new world.”

Speaking to the British news outlet, The Telegraph, Lerner, 47, said his novel was not “essayistic” or “one that makes a kind of political statement.” However, he conceded that “the question of how certain forms of media flatten or monetise our attention” did fall in “political territory.”

He is the author of Leaving the Atocha Station (2011), 10:04 (2014) and The Topeka School (2019), and his poetry collections The Lichtenberg Figures (2004) and The Lights (2023) and the essay ‘The Hatred of Poetry’ (2016).

Story continues below this ad

The novels winning the 2026 Orwell Prizes are Transcription and The Escape from Kabul in the fiction and non-fiction categories. (Source: amazon.in)

The Escape from Kabul by Karen Bartlett

Bartlett’s book (Duckworth Books, 2025), which won in the category of political writing, tells the story of how nearly 200 Afghan women judges and their families escaped the country after the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 with the help of a global network of female judges and lawyers.

Rohan Silva, Chair of the judging panel, called the book “truly Orwellian in the most positive sense,” commending it for its lucid language, intellectual honesty and empathetic storytelling.

She is the author of After Auschwitz: A Story of Heartbreak and Survival by the Stepsister of Anne Frank, Architects of Death, The Family Who Engineered The Holocaust, Health of Nations: The Campaign To End Polio and and Dusty, An Intimate Portrait of a Musical Icon among others.

A special prize for Andrey Kurkov

The Foundation also used the evening to honour Kurkov, recognising what organisers called “one of the finest bodies of work in contemporary literature.”

Story continues below this ad

On why the judges’ decided to award Kurov in the special category, which as its name suggests is not given annually, they said, “Today, people going about their daily lives in Sudan, Gaza, Myanmar and many more besides – are sadly familiar with the realities of war. And so too, of course, are our European neighbours in Ukraine. Nobody has documented their daily struggle – and the resilience, humour and togetherness emerging from it – as well as Andrey Kurkov.”

Remarking on Kurkov’s vast oeuvre including diaries, essays and novels, including a recent trilogy set in pre-Revolutionary Kyiv Lord Kim Darroch, Chair of Trustees, said, “Orwell’s warnings against the dangers of totalitarianism and war read today as though they were written yesterday. Similarly, we believe Andrey’s books and journalism will endure.”

© IE Online Media Services Pvt Ltd

Aishwarya Khosla is a senior editorial figure at The Indian Express, where she spearheads the digital strategy and execution for the Books & Literature and Puzzles & Games sections. With over eight years of experience in high-stakes journalism, Aishwarya specializes in literary criticism, cultural commentary, and long-form features that explore the complex intersection of identity, politics, and social change.

Aishwarya’s analytical depth is anchored by her prestigious Nehru Fellowship in Politics and Elections. This intensive research fellowship in policy analysis and political communications informs her nuanced approach to cultural journalism, allowing her to provide readers with unique insights into how literature and media reflect broader political shifts.

As a trusted voice for the Indian Express audience, she authors the popular newsletters, Meanwhile, Back Home and Books 'n' Bits, and hosts the podcast series, Casually Obsessed.

Before her current role, Aishwarya spent several years at Hindustan Times,  where she provided dedicated coverage of the Punjabi diaspora, theater, and national politics. Her career is defined by a commitment to intellectual rigor, making her a definitive authority on modern Indian culture and letters.

Areas of Expertise

Literary Criticism, Cultural Politics, Political Strategy, Long-form Investigative Features, and Newsletter Curation.

Write to her

You can reach her at [email protected] or [email protected]. You can follow her on Instagram:

@aishwarya.khosla, and X: @KhoslaAishwarya.

Her stories can be read here. ... Read More

Tags:

books

George Orwell

literature