The Folio Society’s two-year sponsorship of the Folio Prize comes to an end – new sponsor sought

As its two year partnership with the award comes to a close, the Folio Society has today announced it will not renew its title sponsorship of The Folio Prize.

Established in 2013, the Literature Prize took the name of The Folio Prize when The Folio Society, publisher of high-quality illustrated books, was named as title sponsor in March 2013. Since then the Prize has grown to become a pillar of the literary award season.

Worth £40,000, the Prize aims to recognise and celebrate the best English-language fiction published in the UK during a given year, regardless of form, genre or an author’s country of origin. It is the first major English-language book prize open to writers from around the world, and the first built around an illustrious academy of writers and critics.

Each year, shortlisted authors are celebrated at the Prize’s fiction festival, held in partnership with the British Library in March, before a winner is announced at a special ceremony.

Akhil Sharma won the 2015 prize for Family Life, published by Faber, with orders for the book trebling following the win. The inaugural prize was awarded last year to the American writer George Saunders for his widely acclaimed Tenth of December.

Andrew Kidd, co-founder of the Prize, said:

Just over two years ago we set out on a journey with the Folio Society to turn a bold idea into a reality. While we are parting ways with deep gratitude for all that they have done, we are also looking with excitement to the future. This is merely the first chapter for the Prize, whose long term ambitions are not only to help bring the most outstanding storytelling into the light, via the unique mechanism of the Prize’s academy, but also to stimulate deeper engagement with and discussion about the role storytelling can play in enriching people’s lives.

Marketing Director of the Folio Society Jean Marc Rathé said:

Following the success of the second annual Folio Prize, The Folio Society has taken the decision not to renew its sponsorship of the Prize. There are many opportunities that we look forward to in the world of fine book publishing, and now that our ambition of ensuring the successful launch and firm establishment of the Prize on the literary scene has been fulfilled, we feel it is time to move towards these new opportunities. We celebrate the Prize and we are certain that it will thrive and grow under new sponsorship in the years to come.

Discussions around new sponsorship arrangements for the Prize are underway, with enquiries welcomed via the Prize’s strategic director Fiona McMorrough at FMcM Associates ([email protected]; 0207 4057422).