The winners of this year’s Observer/Anthony Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism have been announced at a glittering ceremony hosted in London by The Observer newspaper.

Felicity James wins the £3,000 first prize for her personal take on ‘At My Table’ by Nigella Lawson. Her successful entry will appear in the Observer New Review this Sunday.

Winning £500 runners-up prizes were Rennie McDougall for his piece on Bjork’s Utopia, a subject the judges say would have delighted Burgess, and Zack Hatfield for his review of Debi Cornwall’s ‘Welcome to Camp America’ exhibition.

The ceremony was held at The Observer, and was introduced by the incoming editor Paul Webster. Andrew Biswell, the director of the International Anthony Burgess Foundation, gave some context around the prize, and indeed about Burgess himself who had a long history of penning newspaper reviews. The cash prizes were announced by three of the judges: Observer arts editor Sarah Donaldson, writer Robert McCrum, and book and arts publicist Liz Sich. All the winners received trophies, replicas of the 1979 critic’s award given to Burgess.

Photos coming soon.

The WINNER of this year’s Observer / Burgess Prize for Arts Journalism, receiving £3,000 for her excellent take on ‘At My Table’ by Nigella Lawson, is Felicity James. Congratulations! pic.twitter.com/oEhpNTB2Mk

— Burgess Foundation (@anthonyburgess) February 21, 2018

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