Helen DeWitt Declines $175,000 Windham-Campbell Prize Over Promotional Requirements
Helen DeWitt turned down the Windham-Campbell literary prize of $175,000, citing the requirement of six to eight hours of filming for promotional purposes. This prize is designed to grant financial freedom to its recipients. DeWitt, acclaimed for her first novel The Last Samurai, received mixed feedback; some lauded her decision, while others deemed it entitled. Gwendoline Riley, another recipient, expressed surprise at winning. After DeWitt's request for accommodations was rejected, novelist Daisy Lafarge criticized how the publishing industry handles disability issues. An anonymous writer remarked that such challenges are frequently encountered by disabled individuals. Subsequently, DeWitt was awarded a $175,000 grant from a conservative think tank. Liadan Ní Chuinn was also shortlisted for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award.
Key facts
- Helen DeWitt declined the $175,000 Windham-Campbell prize due to promotional obligations requiring six to eight hours of filming
- The prize was awarded to eight writers in 2026, including Gwendoline Riley
- DeWitt's debut novel The Last Samurai was published 26 years ago and is considered innovative
- DeWitt requested adjustments from prize organizers for disability-related reasons, which were refused
- Novelist Daisy Lafarge criticized the publishing industry's approach to disability as outdated
- An anonymous author noted that such situations are common for disabled people and carers, but the money made it notable
- DeWitt cited writers like Emily Dickinson and Franz Kafka as examples of those who would avoid promotion
- DeWitt later received a $175,000 grant with no strings attached from a conservative university thinktank
Entities
Artists
- Helen DeWitt
- Gwendoline Riley
- Daisy Lafarge
- Liadan Ní Chuinn
- Emily Dickinson
- Marcel Proust
- Franz Kafka
- Samuel Beckett
- Fernando Pessoa
- J.D. Salinger
- Harper Lee
- Thomas Pynchon
- Don DeLillo
- Cormac McCarthy
- Elena Ferrante
- Hélène Cixous
- Kaia Gerber
- Dua Lipa
- Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett
Institutions
- Windham-Campbell prize
- Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award
- The Guardian
- BBC Breakfast
- conservative university thinktank