RSL Ondaatje Prize

This is an annual award of £10,000 for a distinguished work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry, evoking the spirit of a place.

The 2013 RSL Ondaatje Prize

We are delighted to announce that this year's prize has been won by Philip Hensher for Scenes from Early Life. 

This year's judges Margaret Drabble, Julia Blackburn and Ian Jack have commented of the award:

"A place, whether it is a small room, a forest floor, or an entire continent, is defined by the limitations and freedoms it offers and by the layers of emotion and history it contains. For this prize we are trying to see where and how this elusive spirit has been best captured in a book, of poetry, fiction, biography or personal memoir."

2013 Shortlist:

Liam Carson                    Call mother a lonely field
(Seren/Poetry Wales Press)

Patrick Flanery                Absolution
(Atlantic)

Gavin Francis                 Empire Antarctica
(Chatto)

Philip Hensher              Scenes from Early Life
(Fourth Estate)

Sarah Moss                   Names for the Sea
(Granta)

Zadie Smith                  NW
(Hamish Hamilton)

Download the press releases from the bottom of this page for more details on the winner and all of our shortlist.

Award Date

The RSL Ondaatje Prize was awarded at a dinner on 13 May at The Travellers Club. If you have any media enquiries, please contact Molly Rosenberg, or download the press releases here.

Past Awards

2012  Rahul Bhattacharya The Sly Company of People Who Care

2011   Edmund de Waal     The Hare with Amber Eyes

2010   Ian Thomson           The Dead Yard: Tales of Modern Jamaica

2009   Adam Nicolson       Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History

2008   Graham Robb         The Discovery of France

2007   Hisham Matar         In the Country of Men

2006   James Meek           The People’s Act of Love

2005   Rory Stewart         The Places In Between

2004   Louisa Waugh       Hearing Birds Fly