Chris van Tulleken, Catherine Belton and Caroline Criado-Perez have been shortlisted for the inaugural £10,000 Unwin Award.
The prize recognises non-fiction writers who are in the earlier stages of their careers as authors but have already made an impact with their body of work. The winner will be revealed at a ceremony at The Royal Institution in London on 1st April 2025.
Infectious diseases doctor van Tulleken is the author of Ultra-Processed People (Cornerstone Press), and has been praised by the judges for highlighting the issue of the impact ultra-processed foods have on our health.
Meanwhile, Belton is the author of Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia and then Took on the West (William Collins) and a former Moscow correspondent for the Financial Times. The panel highlighted Belton’s “deeply scholarly and investigative approach” and her “continued bravery to champion free speech”.
Criado-Perez’s Invisible Women (Vintage) won the FT & McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award, the Books Are My Bag Readers’ Choice Award and the Royal Society Science Book Prize. The Unwin Award Judging Panel 2025 praised the scope of research, use of statistics and the “persuasive, resonant power of Criado-Perez’s writing”, as well as the impact of her work on shaping policy, research and public discourse.
Physicist, oceanographer, broadcaster and Blue Machine author Helen Czerski (Penguin) is also featured on the shortlist, and is celebrated for the way she uses data to “highlight ocean science literacy and the vital role the seas play in sustaining life”. She is joined by writer, filmmaker and journalist Afua Hirsch, the author of Brit(ish): On Race, Identity and Belonging (Vintage) – for which she was awarded the Royal Society of Literature Jerwood Prize for Non-Fiction – who the judges praised for her exploration of national identity post-Brexit.
Moreover, The Lost Rainforests of Britain (William Collins) author Guy Shrubsole was shortlisted for his “lyrical, inspiring and educational prose”, as well as “the ways in which his work has shaped public understanding of land ownership, conservation and our relationship with the natural world”.
The judging panel for the 2025 Award is chaired by professor Shahidha Bari, who is joined by Waterstones non-fiction buyer John Cotterill, as well as social entrepreneur and author Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE.
Bari said: “What a pleasure it has been to be part of the judging process for the first iteration of the Unwin Award: to explore the impact of astonishing writing beyond the page, and the many ways in which words can transform public awareness, influence policy, shape general conversation and much more. The shortlist reflects the power that books and publishing has across all facets of our lives – from national identity to the natural world, freedom of speech and gender politics.”
Dan Conway, CEO of the Publishers Association (PA), which administers the award, added: “I am proud to present this inaugural shortlist for the new Unwin Award – made possible thanks to the generous support of the Unwin Charitable Trust – and to see these six incredibly talented authors in contention for our first prize. This shortlist is a wonderful showcase of the impact of publishing on the world, in a multitude of varied and vital ways. I’m thankful to our judging panel for their careful consideration, and I do not envy them in what I’m sure will be a challenging final decision.”
The award is supported by the Unwin Charitable Trust, and runs in tandem with the Unwin Award Lecture, which will be delivered at the winner ceremony.
