We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2025 Observer / Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism.

Now in its fourteenth year, the prize exists to recognise and reward new talent in writing about the arts. Its other purpose is to commemorate the long connection between Anthony Burgess and the Observer newspaper, to which he contributed for more than 30 years. Previous winners have included Shahidha Bari, En Liang Khong and Oscar Jelley.

The prize result was announced at a ceremony in London on 14 May. This year’s guest judges were Sarah Donaldson, the former editor of the Observer New Review, and Rowan Moore, the architecture critic of the Observer.

The first prize of £3000 has been won by Richard Pound for his review of Sunday, a graphic novel by Olivier Schrauwen. The winning entry will be published on the Observer‘s website.

The runners-up in this year’s competition are Anuj Mishra for his review of Paval Kapadia’s film All We Imagine as Light, and Damien Le-Hoste for his review of the Making a Rukus! exhibition at Somerset House. Each of the runners-up wins £500.

Many congratulations to the three winners, and to all of this year’s short-listed and long-listed writers.

The competition is due to re-open in September, with a closing date of 28 February 2026.

The shortlist

Fatima Ahmed Ballah on the Rashid Diab exhibition at One Off Gallery
Will Franken on Richard Gadd’s TV series Baby Reindeer
Robert Leeming on the Robert A. Caro exhibition at the New York Historical
Damien Le-Hoste on Making a Rukus! at Somerset House
Anuj Mishra on Payal Kapadia’s film All We Imagine as Light
Richard Pound on Olivier Schrauwen’s graphic novel Sunday

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The longlist

Fatima Ahmed Ballah on the Rashid Diab exhibition at One Off Gallery
Adam Alcock on Roland Barthes’ writings on Marcel Proust
Thomas Barrie on Walter Salles’ film I’m Still Here
Ishmael Bradley on Jesse Eisenberg’s film A Real Pain
Janice Chan on Mohammad Rasoulof’s film The Seed of the Sacred Fig
Sian Dennis on Lottie Mills’s short story collection Monstrum
Susan Finlay on Nate Lippens’ novel Ripcord
Will Franken on Richard Gadd’s TV series Baby Reindeer
Ami Guest on Gia Coppola’s film The Last Showgirl
Alexa Hall on the Bruno Zhu exhibition at the Chisenhale Gallery
Phoebe Harper on Nora Fingscheidt’s film The Outrun
Oliver Hodges on Sky Original TV drama The Day of the Jackal
James Howell on Brady Corbet’s film The Brutalist
Robert Leeming on the Robert A. Caro exhibition at the New York Historical
Damien Le-Hoste on Making a rukus! at Somerset House
Ross McIndoe on Wim Wenders’ film Perfect Days
Anuj Mishra on Payal Kapadia’s film All We Imagine as Light
Amelia Moran on the Helen Chadwick exhibition at the Tate Modern
Caroline Oulton on the Lonnie Holley exhibition at the Camden Arts Centre
Richard Pound on Olivier Schrauwen’s graphic novel Sunday
Mia Ramage on Rich Peppiatt’s film Kneecap: The Movie
Henry Roberts on Alex Garland’s film Civil War
Miriam Sallon on Eline Arbo’s stage adaptation of The Years
Gayle Sequeira on Rose Glass’ film Love Lies Bleeding
Mischka de Silva on Clair Wills’s memoir Missing Persons, Or My Grandmother’s Secrets
Stephen Smith on the Francis Bacon exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery
Kirsten Tambling on The Lost Gardens of London at the Garden Museum
Elizabeth Tiskina on Edward Berger’s film Conclave
Katie Tobin on the Francis Alÿs exhibition at the Barbican
Qifei Zou on Huzama Habayeb’s novel Before the Queen Falls Asleep

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