The RSL Christopher Bland Prize was inaugurated by the Royal Society of Literature to encourage the work of older writers. It is awarded annually to an author of a fiction or non-fiction book who was first published when aged 50 or over. The prize is valued at £10,000 and was launched in September 2018. It is named in recognition of Sir Christopher Bland, who was 76 when his first novel was published.
Judges The initial panel of judges was chaired by Gillian Slovo, and comprised Sanjeev Bhaskar, Archie Bland (son of Sir Christopher) and Anne Chisholm. The 2020 prize was judged by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (Chair), Sara Collins and Andrew Lycett. The 2021 judges were Mary Beard (Chair), Monica Ali, Georgia Byng and Ben Hunte. The judging panel for the 2022 prize was David Baddiel (Chair), Naga Munchetty and Caroline Criado Perez. In 2023, the judges were Lemn Sissay (Chair), Simon Savidge and Meena Kandasamy. Judges for the 2024 prize were Shaparak Khorsandi (chair), Josh Cohen and Niall Griffiths. The judges for the prize in 2025 were Jacqueline Wilson (chair), Richard Coles and Margaret Busby.
Winners Year Author Title Publisher 2019 Raynor Winn The Salt Path Michael Joseph2020Michele KirschCleanShort Books2021Pete PaphidesBroken GreekQuercus2022Julia ParryThe Shadowy Third: Love, Letters, and Elizabeth BowenDuckworth Books2023Paterson JosephThe Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius SanchoDialogue2024Chidi EbereNow I Am HerePan Macmillan2025Kathryn FaulkeEvery Kind of PeopleFig Tree
Shortlists
Year Author Title Publisher 2019 Thomas Bourke The Consolation of Maps RiverrunBarbara JenkinsDe Rightest Place Peepal Tree Press A. J. Pearce Dear Mrs Bird Picador Roland Philipps A Spy Named Orphan The Bodley Head Alex Reeve The House on Half Moon Street Raven Books Raynor Winn The Salt Path Michael Joseph2020Anne GriffinWhen All is SaidSceptreMichele KirschCleanShort BooksStephen MorrisBlack TeaClaret PressDavid NottWar Doctor: Surgery on the Front LinePicadorCelia PaulSelf-PortraitJonathan Cape2021Rosanna AmakaThe Book of EchoesDoubledayRichard AtkinsonMr Atkinson's Rum Contract4th EstateMichael CashmanOne of ThemBloomsburyLouise FeinPeople Like UsHead of ZeusPete PaphidesBroken GreekQuercusMarina WheelerThe Lost HomesteadHodder & Stoughton2022Yvonne Bailey-SmithThe Day I Fell Off My IslandMyriad EditionsJohn CarrEscape From the Ghetto: The Breathtaking Story of the Boy Who Ran Away from NazisHodder StudioJulia ParryThe Shadowy Third: Love, Letters, and Elizabeth BowenDuckworth BooksCharlotte RavenPatient 1: Forgetting and Finding MyselfJonathan CapePeter StottHot Air: The Inside Story of the Battle Against Climate Change DenialAtlantic Books2023Susie AlegreFreedom to ThinkAtlantic BooksJo Browning WroeA Terrible KindnessFaber & FaberBonnie GarmusLessons in ChemistryDoubledayJill NalderLove from the Pink PalaceWildfirePaterson JosephThe Secret Diaries of Charles Ignatius SanchoDialogueDevika PonnambalamI Am Not Your EveBluemoose Books2024Chidi EbereNow I Am HerePan MacmillanCarole HaileyThe Silence ProjectAtlantic BooksRachel MellerThe Box with the Sunflower ClaspIcon BooksTom ParfittHigh CaucasusHeadlineAllyson ShawAshes & Stones: A Scottish Journey in Search of Witches and WitnessHodder & Stoughton2025Diane AbbottA Woman Like MeVikingJane CholmeleyA Bookshop of One's OwnHarperCollinsKathryn FaulkeEvery Kind of PeoplePenguinHugh GreenhalghThe Diaries of Mr LucasAtlanticAnne HawkThe Pages of the SeaWeatherglassRichard ShimellTrees in WinterSphere
Controversy In 2019, Raynor Winn was awarded the £10,000 Christopher Bland Prize for debut writers after deceptively representing The Salt Path as her first book, despite it being her second.
References
External links Official website