Derry writer Darran Anderson wins prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize for Non-Fiction

The Windham-Campbell Prizes have announced this year’s recipients of a $175,000 award to support their work. Celebrating both literary legends and emerging talent, the list includes Derry writer Darran Anderson, recognised for his writing at the intersections of culture, politics, urbanism, and technology.

Critically acclaimed novelist Percival Everett, TONY nominated writer Dominique Morisseau, Iñupiaq-Inuit poet dg nanouk okpik, and trailblazing playwright Jasmine Lee-Jones – the youngest ever recipient of a Windham-Campbell Prize are among the other recipients.

This major global prize recognises eight writers each year for literary achievement across four categories – fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and drama.

Derry born and raised, Darran Anderson is recognised for his writing including his dazzling debut Imaginary Cities: A Tour of Dream Cities, Nightmare Cities, and Everywhere in Between (2015), a hugely ambitious omnivorous analysis of real and imagined cities throughout history and Inventory (2020), his  searing memoir about growing up in poverty in Derry.

Of the news, Darran said: “My initial response was 'Holy ****! Is this real?' or, to put it more diplomatically, 'I'm surprised, grateful, and slightly dazed at this very welcome and generous news.”

With annual prize money exceeding $1.4m USD – and total prize money awarded over the past decade at almost $16m USD – they are one of the most significant prizes in the world. Each recipient is gifted an unrestricted grant to support their writing and allow them to focus on their work independent of financial concerns rewarding each with $175,000, marking a $10,000 increase from previous years.

Michael Kelleher, Director of the Windham-Campbell Prizes, said: “Reading this year’s recipients excited me because each one taught me new ways of seeing the past, the present, and the future. I can’t wait to see what each of them does next!”

The Windham-Campbell Prize 2023 selection committee said: “With divinatory attention, Darran Anderson gives voice to the testimony of objects and geographies, chronicling the passage of individual memory as it turns into a community's archive and sustaining myth.”

The eight Windham-Campbell Prizes 2023 recipients are: Percival Everett (United States) – fiction; Ling Ma (United States) – fiction; Susan Williams (United Kingdom) – nonfiction; Darran Anderson (Ireland/United Kingdom) – nonfiction; Dominique Morisseau (United States) – drama; Jasmine Lee-Jones (United Kingdom) – drama; Alexis Pauline Gumbs (United States) – poetry; dg nanouk okpik (Iñupiaq-Inuit) – poetry.