Martha Kearney to chair 2020 Baillie Gifford judges

News - Prizes Tuesday, 31st March 2020

£50,000 prize opens for entries


BBC Radio 4 Today presenter Martha Kearney is to chair the 2020 Baillie Gifford Prize judging panel. Her fellow judges will be BBC presenter, professor and author Shahidha Bari; editor and novelist Simon Ings; New Statesman writer Leo Robson; New York Times opinion editor Max Strasser; and journalist and author Bee Wilson.

Submissions for the prize, worth £50,000 to the winner, have opened, with a deadline of 12 June. Eligible titles are published between 1 November 2019 and 31 October 2020. Further details at www.thebailliegiffordprize.co.uk.

Toby Mundy, director of the Baillie Gifford Prize said: "With all that that's happening in the world, the role of non-fiction writers is more critical than ever to enable us to separate fact from fiction; and genuine explanation from mere opinion. We're very grateful Martha Kearney for agreeing to chair of our award this year. She and her stellar collection of judges will once again have the task of selecting the best of this year's non-fiction from another hugely diverse range of submissions."

The 2019 prize went to Hallie Rubenhold for The Five (Doubleday). The 2020 prize dinner will take place on 19 November.