Windham-Campbell Prize

Reviews

Helen DeWitt Turned Down $175,000. The Literary World Has Opinions.

When Helen DeWitt announced she had rejected a Windham-Campbell Prize this spring, the internet did what it does — divided cleanly into camps. But the story underneath is more unsettling than the takes.

Reviews

Helen DeWitt and the Price of a Prize

The author of The Last Samurai turned down a $175,000 Windham-Campbell Prize. Her reasons reveal uncomfortable truths about how literary awards serve their institutions more than their recipients.

News

No Shortlist, No Campaign: The Windham-Campbell Prizes Honor Eight Writers

Yale's most quietly administered literary prize has announced eight 2026 recipients, each receiving $175,000. The list spans continents and forms — from Gwendoline Riley's brittle British fiction to Karen Solie's Canadian poetry of grief and northern light.