Bronwen Maddox, Ritula Shah and Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad join 2024 British Academy Book Prize judging panel

The British Academy Book Prize announces three new members of the judging panel as it opens for submissions today, Monday 15 January.

The Academy’s £25,000 international prize celebrates well-researched, well-written non-fiction that furthers global cultural understanding. It is chaired by Professor Charles Tripp FBA, Professor Emeritus of Politics at SOAS, University of London.

In 2024 he is joined by a distinguished panel of judges, all experts in their fields. New to the panel this year are Bronwen Maddox Hon FBA, Director and Chief Executive of Chatham House; the journalist and broadcaster Ritula Shah; and Professor Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad FBA, Distinguished Professor of Comparative Religion and Philosophy at Lancaster University. Professor Rebecca Earle FBA, food historian and Professor of History at the University of Warwick, serves for a second year.

Professor Charles Tripp FBA comments:

“It is a great pleasure to announce the British Academy Book Prize 2024 judging panel. With our three new members, we have expertise from across the humanities and social science disciplines and from a mix of professional backgrounds, bringing to the table academic experience and first-rate knowledge of international affairs. I am very much looking forward to reading the submitted books and to working with my colleagues to identify a shortlist and a winner.”

To mark the opening of the 2024 cycle, Nandini Das – winner of the 2023 British Academy Book Prize for Courting India: England, Mughal India and the Origins of Empire – will be in conversation with Charles Tripp at an in-person and online event hosted by the British Academy on Monday 15 January. The event will also be available to view afterwards on the Academy’s YouTube channel.

The judges are seeking books that demonstrate original and high-quality research that will also appeal to the wider reading public. They will select a shortlist of up to six books to be announced in September, and the winner will be announced in October. The winner will receive £25,000 and each of the shortlisted authors £1,000.

Submissions are open from today, Monday 15 January. The deadline for submissions is Thursday 29 February 2024.

Further information about the British Academy Book Prize for Global Cultural Understanding is available.

For enquiries about submissions, please contact: [email protected] with the subject line 'Query: British Academy Book Prize 2024'.

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Jane Acton

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