Contemporary Art Writing Prize

The Burlington Contemporary Art Writing Prize seeks to discover talented writers on contemporary art. The winner of the Prize receives £1,000, their review is published on Burlington Contemporary and they have the opportunity to publish a review of a future contemporary art exhibition in The Burlington Magazine.

Since its foundation in 1903 The Burlington Magazine has considered the art of the present to be as worthy of study as the art of the past. The Burlington Contemporary Art Writing Prize advances our commitment to the study of contemporary art in the magazine and on Burlington Contemporary. Designed to encourage aspiring writers, the Prize promotes clear, concise and well-structured writing that is able to navigate sophisticated ideas without recourse to over-complex language.

Deadline 17th July 2023

£1,000 prize

This year’s judges are the art historian, writer and editor Huey Copeland and the artist Adam Pendleton.

Submission criteria and how to enter

Entrants must have published no more than six pieces of writing in print or online prior to their submission. This does not include personal blogs and websites.

‘Contemporary’ is defined as art produced since 2000.

There is no age limit for applicants.

To enter the prize, entrants should submit one unpublished review of a contemporary art exhibition by the specified deadline: 17th July 2023.

The exhibition under review should be current or have closed within the last six months at the date of submission. Texts about the applicant’s own work or project will not be accepted.

The review must be between 800 and 1,000 words in length and accompanied by up to three low-resolution images.

The submitted review must be written in English (although the art considered may be international) and emailed as a text document together with a completed submission form to: burlingtoncontemporary@burlington.org.uk.

Please include your full name in the submitted file names.