An amount of £1,500 will be awarded to the winner of the Tadeusz Bradecki Prize 2026 for an imaginative work, published in the UK or Europe, that combines story-telling fiction and non-fiction encompassing artistic genres, disciplines, cultures and subjects. Two further authors will be offered a prize of £750 each for a work in this category.

Please complete the online entry form for all entries. Submissions open Monday 15th September 2025 and close Monday 17th November 2025.

ENTRY

• We invite submissions of books that cross and connect artistic genres, disciplines, cultures and subjects – specifically between story-telling fiction and non-fiction. These could include, for example, literature, essays, plays, art, poetry, history, philosophy, music, or travel. Examples are Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald, Travels with Herodotus by Ryszard Kapuściński or HHhH by Laurent Binet. The winner of the Tadeusz Bradecki Prize 2025 was The Modern Fairies by Clare Pollard (Fig Tree), and the runners-up were The Maniac by Benjamín Labatut (Pushkin Press), and Forgottenness by Tanja Maljartschuk, translated by Zenia Tompkins (Bullaun Press).

• Books must have been first published in English or translated into English from a European language. 

• Books written in English must have been first published in the UK between 1st January 2025 and 31st December 2025.

• Translations must be from a European language and first published in English in the UK between 1st January 2025 and 31st December 2025.

• Entries from individual authors of their own work will not be accepted.

• The judging panel will also have the right to call in books that have not been put forward. 

• Publishers are responsible for ensuring that all titles submitted are eligible for the Prize. 

SUBMISSIONS

• Submissions open Monday 15th September 2025.

• The deadline for submissions is Monday 17th November 2025 at 17:00 GMT.

• A maximum of two titles may be submitted. Publishers must supply a description of each book (200 words max.), including one sentence explaining how it fulfils the criteria. Do not include reviews or quotes.

• A completed entry form and copies must be supplied for each title submitted.

• Three copies of each submission must be sent as finished books or as bound proofs to: Helen Bowell, Administrator, Tadeusz Bradecki Prize, Flat 3, Elizabeth Court, Ferris Road, London SE24 0HW.

• We also require that a PDF is emailed to the email address below. 

• Please direct any queries to info@tadeuszbradeckiprize.com

JUDGING

• The judges are: Francis Spufford (Chair), novelist and academic; Krzysztof Zanussi, Polish film director; Carole Welch, publisher and consultant; and Kate Sinclair, wife of Tadeusz Bradecki and Prize founder. 

• Each judge will have one vote. In the event of a tied vote, the Chair will have the casting vote.

• A Prize shortlist of  six books will be announced on Tuesday 31st March 2026.

• Published finished copies of books submitted or bound proofs must be provided once shortlisted.

• Publishers of the shortlisted titles are asked to provide an additional five published copies for promotional purposes. PDFs must also be supplied.

• The winner and runners-up will be announced at the prize-giving ceremony and not disclosed ahead of this event.

• Shortlistees will be asked to record a short video for use on our social media, website and at the prize-giving ceremony.

• The final selection will take place in May 2026 and the Prize will be awarded in May 2026.

ANNOUNCEMENT

The winners will be announced at an event in May 2026. A contribution towards accommodation and travel will be provided, if applicable, for the prize winner and runners-up.