Author, journalist and broadcaster Baroness Joan Bakewell DBE has been announced as the chair of the Wellcome Book Prize 2016 judging panel, which features leading figures from across the worlds of literature, academia, science and the media.
Joan Bakewell will be joined on the panel by: Frances Balkwill OBE, Professor of Cancer Biology at Barts Cancer Institute and author of science books for children; Damian Barr, writer, columnist and salonnière; Tessa Hadley, award-winning novelist; and Sathnam Sanghera, award-winning journalist and author.
“It’s a privilege to chair such a distinguished panel of judges for the Wellcome Book Prize 2016,” said Joan Bakewell. “The space where medical science and literature meet remains one of the most informative and inspiring areas in publishing today as shown by the strong shortlists the Prize has enjoyed in recent years. I look forward to this year’s submissions and finding a shortlist equally as fine.”
Worth £30,000, the Wellcome Book Prize celebrates the best new books that engage with an aspect of medicine, health or illness. It showcases the breadth and depth of our encounters with medicine through exceptional works of fiction and non-fiction.
“We are so thrilled to announce this exceptionally talented panel of judges for the 2016 Prize,” said Kirty Topiwala, Wellcome Collection Publisher and Wellcome Book Prize manager. “This year’s judges embody an especially eclectic mix of personal experience and professional expertise – from literary to political, autobiography to biology. I think this will make for supremely exciting discussions and an insightful selection of books that spotlight the human experience at the heart of medicine.”
The shortlist for the Wellcome Book Prize 2016 will be revealed in March next year, with the winner announced at the end of April.