Five writers, some of whom knew him in person, explore Burgess’s life and reflect on their favourite Burgess works, exploring the extraordinary twentieth-century man of letters from different angles. The Essay: Burgess at 100 offers personal as well as critical insight into why he remains a literary figure of such importance. These essays look beyond […]
The International Anthony Burgess Foundation and the Observer newspaper are delighted to announce the winners of the latest Observer / Anthony Burgess Prizes for Arts Journalism, who were unveiled at a special event at King’s Place, London on Thursday 23 February. Judges Robert McCrum (Associate Editor), Sarah Donaldson (Arts Editor) and Andrew Biswell (Director, International Anthony Burgess Foundation) welcomed […]
ONE: He wrote books under three different names. Born John Burgess Wilson in 1917, he adopted the pen-name ‘Anthony Burgess’ in 1956, when he published his first novel, Time for a Tiger. He also published two books as Joseph Kell, and a volume of literary history as John Burgess Wilson. He wanted to publish his […]
Our new exhibition examines Anthony Burgess’s experiences in Malaya in the 1950s, where he worked as a teacher at the Malay College in Kuala Kangsar and at the Malayan Teachers’ Training College at Kota Bharu in the district of Kelantan. As a fluent speaker of Malay and Chinese, Burgess was able to experience the […]
The actual Observer / Anthony Burgess Arts Journalism prize is an elegant thing of modernist beauty — a clear Perspex block, small and neat, stamped with the picture of a stylish black typewriter. It is, charmingly, modelled after an arts journalism prize once won by Burgess himself (this detail tells something of the care with […]
Being awarded the Observer/Anthony Burgess Prize was an unbelievable privilege. Apart from being published in the Observer and the cash prize (which I put towards research trips for future writing), it was an invaluable insight into newspapers’ commissioning processes. I’m very grateful for the contact and guidance I’ve had since. It was a pleasure to […]
What makes good criticism? It’s a big question, especially in this age where there are more critics than ever. Specialist blogs proliferate; anyone with a social media handle can review the latest films, novels, albums, plates of food…. Firstly, it’s important to separate general cultural criticism from academic criticism. The latter is deep-delving, forensically detailed. […]
I am delighted to be judging the Anthony Burgess prize. At a time when the arts pages in many of our newspapers are under threat, it seems doubly important to celebrate the role of arts journalism both as a necessary tool in enabling the circulation of books, pictures and films and as an art form […]
For me, winning the first ever Anthony Burgess/Observer Prize in 2012 – as opposed to an award given in any other similarly esteemed writer’s name – had a uniquely personal resonance. To someone who grew up in the north-west, without obvious advantages of birth or connection, and who went on to study and compose music, all the while harbouring a passion […]
The International Anthony Burgess Foundation invites papers to be presented at the centenary conference, ANTHONY BURGESS: LIFE, WORK, REPUTATION. The conference will take place in Manchester on 3, 4, and 5 July 2017. The conference will have three main points of focus: LIFE Born and educated in Manchester, Burgess spent the Second World War in […]