The Burlington Magazine Contemporary Art Writing Prize seeks to discover talented young writers on contemporary art, with the winner receiving £1000 and the opportunity to publish a review of a contemporary art exhibition in The Burlington Magazine.

Since its founding in 1903, The Burlington Magazine has always 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 the Magazine’s commitment to the study of contemporary art by encouraging aspiring young writers to critically engage with its forms and ideas. The Prize also promotes clear, concise and well-structured writing that is able to navigate complicated territory without recourse to over-complex language. 

The winner of the prize will be announced in May 2016. Every applicant will be offered an online subscription to the Magazine at a specially reduced price.

The deadline for submissions is Monday 29th February 2016.

Submission Requirements

• Contenders must be no older than 30 years of age and have published no more than six exhibition reviews
• Contenders should submit one unpublished review of a contemporary art exhibition. ‘Contemporary’ is defined as art produced since 2000.
• The review should be no more than 1000 words in length and may include up to three low-resolution images.
• The submitted review must be written in English (although the art considered may be international).
• Submissions should be emailed as a Word document (.doc), clearly stating the name, age, country of residence and occupation of the writer to editorial@burlington.org.uk

If you have any questions regarding submissions, please address them to Martha Barratt at editorial@burlington.org.uk

Judges Biographies

Alex Farquharson is the Director of Tate Britain, London. Before taking up this position in November 2015, Farquharson was the founding Director of Nottingham Contemporary (2007–15). He has been a visiting tutor and Research Fellow at the Royal College of Art, London, and he sits on the Arts Council’s acquisition committee. He has been a strong supporter of contemporary art and artists in Britain and in 2009 was on the selection committee that chose Steve McQueen to represent the UK at the Venice Biennale. He recently co-curated the exhibition Glenn Ligon: Encounters and Collisions, which was on view at Tate Liverpool and Nottingham Contemporary in 2015.

Lynne Cooke is a renowned scholar of modern and contemporary art, and Curator of Special Projects in Modern Art at the National Gallery of Art, Washington DC. Prior to this she was the Deputy Director and chief curator at the Museo centro de arte de Reina Sofia, Madrid (2008 to 2012), curator at the Dia Art Foundation (1991 to 2008), and a co-curator of the Venice Biennale in 1986. Cooke has lectured at universities including University College London, Columbia University and Yale University. She has curated many exhibitions at institutions including the Whitechapel Gallery and Hayward Gallery, London; the Arnolfini Gallery, Bristol; the Third Eye Centre, Glasgow; and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston.