The Koestler Awards
2008 Awards
We have received a record 5,184 entries. Most of the judging is now complete. Click here for a provisional list of 2008 Awards Results.
There are still a few awards to be given for visual arts, and results in the following artforms will be ready by mid-August:
01 Fiction
03 Life story
05 Braille
10 Playwriting for radio
15 Performance of existing music
Please click here for a full list of the 2008 Awards results.
We have already sent Participation Certificates for every entrant. The Awards certificates and prize money will all be sent by the end of September.
2007 Awards
Last year we received a record 4,802 entries.
Please click here for a full list of the 2007 Awards results.
Please click here for facts and figures about entrants and entries.
About the Koestler Awards
The entrants to the awards are from one of the following groups:
- inmates of UK prisons, young offender institutions (16-21-year olds) and secure units (under 16s);
- in-patients of Special Hospitals and high and medium secure psychiatric units;
- detainees held in Immigration Removal Centres;
- offenders supervised by the Probation Service, Youth Offending Teams or Scottish Criminal Justice Social Work Services;
- UK citizens held in prisons overseas.
The aims of the awards include:
- a positive goal towards which inmates can strive;
- a means of acquiring and practising new skills, and often discovering unrecognised talent;
- an outlet for creative energies and emotions;
- recognition of achievements;
- encouragement to continue in the arts and education.
Offenders often tell us that a Koestler Award was the first time that they felt praised for achievement in their lives.
The awards operate on an annual cycle. Entries are usually invited from December, with a submission deadline in March. Heads of Learning & Skills and Education Managers act as local agents for the scheme, encouraging and advising participants on their entries. See How to enter.
The awards cover 49 artforms. Entries are sent to the Koestler Arts Centre at HMP Wormwood Scrubs in London, where they are judged by over 50 experts in the different artforms, all of whom give their service voluntarily.
Many of the Awards are generously sponsored by charitable trusts, businesses and individuals, who will often name an award in tribute or memory of a loved one. Sponsors are invited to the private view of the Koestler exhibition and sent a copy of their awarded work each year. The winning offenders are asked to send anonymous feedback to their sponsors, who then get a real sense of what their donation has achieved.
Prices for sponsoring Koestler Awards start at £60 a year. To find out more, please ring 020 8740 0333 or click here for our awards sponsorship form.
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