New essay award open for young writers

YOUNG writers from Dumfries and Galloway have the opportunity to win a prize of £2000 by entering a new essay competition created and judged by award-winning historical biographers and historians. Celebrated author, Antonia Fraser, and fellow historical biographers and historians have this week launched a new literary prize worth £2000 for younger writers: the Elizabeth Longford Brief Lives 2025 Essay Award. Entries will be appraised by the judges, all eminent historical biographers and historians, of the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography (2003). The panel consists of professor Roy Foster (chair of judges), Flora Fraser, Antonia Fraser (Elizabeth Longford’s daughter), Richard Davenport-Hines, and professor Rana Mitter. The winning essay will be considered for publication in The Times Literary Supplement. The award is open to writers in the UK and Ireland aged 35 and younger, and essays may be submitted from now until September 30 2025 inclusive. The word limit is 3000 or fewer, and the biographical subject, or subjects, should be historical figures of significance. See https://elhb.uk/brieflives for more details about the Award, including eligibility. Submissions for the Elizabeth Longford Brief Lives 2025 Essay Award, in pdf form, should be made to: [email protected] The winner will be announced at an Elizabeth Longford Night of History at the National Portrait Gallery on January 26, 2026. This will incorporate a panel discussion by leading practitioners of historical biography followed by a reception. The award is sponsored, as is the Elizabeth Longford Prize for Historical Biography, by Peter Soros and Flora Fraser. They founded the Prize, worth £5000, in 2003 in affectionate memory of Flora’s grandmother, the distinguished biographer of Queen Victoria and the Duke of Wellington. Recent winners include books by Julian Jackson on de Gaulle, Jackie Wullschläger on Monet and Ramachandra Guha’s Rebels Against the Raj. Flora and Peter are now sponsoring the new 2025 Essay Award. Submissions should embody the qualities of scholarship and strong narrative drive which distinguish Elizabeth Longford’s own work and that of former recipients of the ELHB Prize. Chair of judges, professor Roy Foster, said: “The Elizabeth Longford Brief Lives 2025 Essay Award seeks to reward younger writers who can offer new insights and bring historical figures vividly to life within a short compass.” Flora Fraser added: “My grandmother was passionate about encouraging younger authors to write and explore the art of historical biography. "We hope that this new award will motivate a new generation to research and write about the past with depth and imagination. We are very much looking forward to receiving and reading submissions.”