Writer's Award 2025 goes to Peter Brathwaite and Joseph Zárate
British Barbadian opera singer and author, Peter Brathwaite, and Peruvian writer and journalist, Joseph Zárate, were announced as the 2025 winners of the Eccles Institute & Hay Festival Global Writer's Award at the British Library last night (Wednesday 4 December).
Brathwaite and Zárate were selected from a seven-strong shortlist of writers, which included voices from the UK, Spain, Peru, Trinidad, and the Caribbean. Braithwaite's work, Not All of Me Will Die, is a non-fiction exploration of identity, history and memory, through the lens of his Barbadian and British heritage. Zárate's submission, Todo nace en el agua y muere en ella, will be the first account of the Amazon River, its communities, cities and history written by a Latin American with Amazonian indigenous roots.
The two winners will each be awarded £20,000 and a residency at the British Library. They will also have the opportunity to showcase their published work at future editions of the Hay Festival and will collaborate with the Eccles Institute to develop and lead events and activities related to their research at the British Library.
Now in its 14th year, the award was judged by a panel comprising Eccles Fisher Associates Director and Chair of Judges, Catherine Eccles; Hay Festival International Director, Cristina Fuentes La Roche; Head of the Eccles Institute for the Americas and Oceania at the British Library, Polly Russell, Director of WritersMosaic, Colin Grant; and Deputy Head of the Eccles Institute, Mercedes Aguirre.
Polly Russell, Head of the Eccles Institute for the Americas and Oceania at the British Library, said: 'We are thrilled to present Peter Braithwaite and Joseph Zárate with this year's Global Writer's Award and cannot wait to see how Library's collection will support and feed into their works. Peter's project promises to uncover hidden collections and connections about Barbados in new and exciting ways and Joseph's project, drawing on his indigenous heritage and more than 300 interviews with people who live along the Amazon, will tell a new story of the river and region.'
Cristina Fuentes La Roche, International Director at Hay Festival, said: 'From a thrilling shortlist of writers, we are delighted to celebrate Peter Brathwaite and Joseph Zárate as this year's Eccles Institute & Hay Festival Global Writer's Award 2025 winners. Each is engaging with important issues preoccupying our world, here and across the Americas. We look forward to seeing their work develop further with this support and one day sharing their stories on our global stages.'
Thanks to the support of the Catherine Aitkin Trust the remaining shortlisted projects will be awarded £2,500. The writers are Spanish novelist, essayist and poet Elena Medel; British Irish music journalist and broadcaster Emma Warren; historian and literary scholar Lauren Working; British Caribbean writer, chef and mental health advocate Marie Mitchell; and Trinidadian writer and artist Ingrid Persaud.
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About the winners: Peter Brathwaite
Award winning British Barbadian opera singer Peter Brathwaite FRSA works across different art forms to excavate and platform the stories of suppressed voices. He has written for The Guardian and The Independent, and he is a prominent speaker on performance, identity, and restorative justice in the arts. His is book, Rediscovering Black Portraiture, was published in 2023.
His submitted work for the Award is Not All of Me Will Die, a non-fiction exploration of identity, history and memory, through the lens of his Barbadian and British heritage.
The judges said: 'We were inspired by the scope and energy of Peter Brathwaite's project. Combining memoir with archival research which promises to weave a complex family legacy together with the history of Barbadian and British enslavement and migration.'
About the winners: Joseph Zárate
Born in Lima, Peru, Joseph Zárate is an award-winning journalist, writer and editor. He is the author of the non-fiction books Guerras del interior and Algo nuestro sobre la tierra. He has served as deputy editor of the magazines Etiqueta Negra and Etiqueta Verde and was awarded a 2018 Ochberg Fellowship by the Dart Center for Journalism and Trauma of the School of Journalism at Columbia University in New York.
His award submission, Todo nace en el agua y muere en ella, takes inspiration from Zarate's 90-day journey on foot and boat following the same route of Spanish conquistador, Francisco de Orellan, five centuries ago when he set out to 'discover' the Amazon River. It will be the first account of the Amazon River, its communities, cities and history written by a Latin American with Amazonian indigenous roots.
The judges explained: 'We are thrilled to support this timely account of a journey along the world's longest river. Through the voices and stories of those to live in and of the Amazon, Zárate will reveal what we should learn from the indigenous, riverside and Afro-Amazonian peoples to address the climate crisis.'
About the Eccles Institute Studies
The Eccles Institute for American Studies exists to support and promote creative research and lifelong learning about the Americas. Our goal is to connect users with the British Library's collection of books, manuscripts, journals, newspapers and sound recordings related to the Americas.
We host events, fund research and work one-on-one to help uncover the quality and breadth of these collections. From fashion design to novels, poetry to research papers, we nurture a growing community of people to explore their ideas, and offer a range of awards that enable great work to come to fruition. Whether you're an independent researcher, creative practitioner, student or academic, if you're interested in the Americas, we can support your work.
About the British Library
We are the national library of the UK and we are here for everyone. Our shelves hold over 170 million items - a living collection that gets bigger every day. Although our roots extend back centuries, we aim to collect everything published in the UK today, tomorrow and far into the future. Our trusted experts care for this collection and open it up for everyone to spark new discoveries, ideas and to help people do incredible things.
We have millions of books, and much more besides. Our London and Yorkshire sites hold collections ranging from newspapers and maps to sound recordings, patents, academic journals, as well as a copy of every UK domain website and blog. Our public spaces provide a place to research, to meet friends, to start up a new business or simply to get inspired by visiting our galleries and events. We work with partners and libraries across the UK and the world to make sure that as many people as possible have the chance to use and explore our collections, events and expertise. And we're always open online.
About the Eccles Institute & Hay Festival Writer's Award
Hay Festival is a charity providing global festivals of stories, ideas, and new possibilities. The antidote to polarisation, Hay Festival brings together diverse voices to listen, talk, debate, and create, tackling some of the biggest political, social and environmental challenges of our time. Through one-of-a-kind festivals, in unique locations around the world - plus forums, digital platforms and learning programmes - Hay Festival celebrates and inspires different views, perspectives, and points of view.
In 1987, Hay Festival was dreamt up in the booktown of Hay-on-Wye, Wales. Thirty-eight years later, the charity runs events and projects all over the world, from the historic town of Cartagena in Colombia to the heart of cities in Peru, Mexico, Spain and the USA.
Hay Festival reaches a global audience of millions each year and continues to grow and innovate, earning multiple awards over the years, including Festival of Sanctuary status from refugee charity City of Sanctuary UK and, in 2020, Spain's Princess of Asturias Award in Communication and Humanities.