Edmund de Waal to chair the Wellcome Book Prize 2018
We are thrilled to announce that artist and writer Edmund de Waal OBE has been appointed as Chair of the judging panel for the 2018 Wellcome Book Prize. Now in its ninth year, the prize celebrates exceptional books that engage with the topics of health and medicine and the many ways they touch our lives.
Edmund is joined by Dr Hannah Critchlow, neuroscientist and Science Outreach Fellow at Magdalene College, University of Cambridge; Bryony Gordon, journalist, author and mental health campaigner; Sumit Paul-Choudhury, editor-in-chief of New Scientist; and Sophie Ratcliffe, writer, critic and associate professor of English literature at the University of Oxford.
Edmund commented on behalf of the judging panel:
“It’s a privilege to have been asked to chair the 2018 Wellcome Book Prize alongside such esteemed fellow judges. The prize celebrates the infinite ways we can connect with the themes of health and medicine through reading, and I have no doubt that we will be entertained, challenged and moved by this year’s submissions. I am looking forward to discussing these books with the panel, as we explore this dynamic relationship between art, science and the human experience.”
Kirty Topiwala, Publisher at Wellcome Collection and Wellcome Book Prize manager, said:
“We couldn’t be more thrilled to announce Edmund de Waal as the Chair of the 2018 Wellcome Book Prize, alongside a talented panel of judges. Each judge will bring something different and valuable to the deliberations. I can’t wait to see what Edmund, Hannah, Bryony, Sumit and Sophie choose for their longlist.”
Worth £30,000, the Wellcome Book Prize celebrates the best new books that engage with an aspect of medicine, health or illness, showcasing the breadth and depth of our encounters with medicine through exceptional works of fiction and non-fiction.