Margaret Atwood has won the prestigious Freedom to Publish award at the British Book Awards 2025, as announced at a gala last night held in central London. A long-time Index contributor, Atwood is known for her tireless support of freedom of speech. Today – an era marked by the rollback of women’s rights, the global rise of populism, and increasing threats to diversity, freedom of thought and expression, which can and often does manifest in the banning of books – her voice resonates with a clarity and urgency that is both profound and timely.
In a video acceptance speech, Atwood said: “I cannot remember a time during my own life, when words themselves felt under such threat. Political and religious polarisation, which appeared to be on the wane for parts of the 20th century, has increased alarmingly in the past decade. The world feels to me more like the 1930s and 40s at present than it has in the intervening 80 years.
“I have worked as a writer and in my youth in small press publishing for 60 odd years. Those years included the Soviet Union, when Samizdat was a dangerous method of publishing. Hand-produced manuscripts were secretly circulated, and bad luck for you if you were caught. [They now include] the recent spate of censorship and book banning, not only in the oppressive countries around the world, but also in the United States. [They also include] the attempt to expel from universities anyone who disagrees with the dogmas of their would-be controllers.
“This kind of sentiment is not confined to one extremism or the other – the so-called ‘left’ or the so-called ‘right’. All extremisms share the desire to erase their opponents, to stifle any creative expression that is not propaganda for themselves, and to shut down dialogue. They don’t want a dialogue, they want a monologue. They don’t want many voices, they want only one.”
Atwood ended her speech wishing publishers “strength and hope”, adding: “In a free world publishers and booksellers stand for the many. If free governments and the free human intelligence are to survive, the guardians and transmitters of words in all their multiplicity must be brave. I wish you strength and hope, and the courage to withstand the mobs on one hand and the whims of vengeful potentates on the other.”
Channel 4 News’s international editor Lindsey Hilsum, who presented the award to Atwood, said: “When I first read The Handmaid’s Tale I thought it was a dystopian fantasy. Then I learnt that every idea was based on evidence of how women have been oppressed – it was fiction, but not really. The book was in itself an act of resistance, just one example of how Margaret Atwood has always stood at the forefront of the literary world as a tireless advocate for reading as a form of rebellion. Using her powerful voice and her fame, she has consistently championed justice, fairness, and freedom of speech – principles that feel more vital today than ever before.”
The British Book Awards has been the leading awards for the UK book trade since they began in 1990. The Freedom to Publish Award, which is presented in partnership with Index, has been running for four years. It pays tribute to the remarkable efforts of the individual in defending free expression and the freedom to read, write and publish, while also shining a spotlight on the growing and concerning trend of censorship within the global literary community. Previous recipients include Georgian-Russian author Boris Akunin, who is the most banned writer in Russia since Soviet times and Booker Prize-winning novelist Salman Rushdie, while in 2022 the award recognised the fortitude and bravery of HarperCollins and its editor Arabella Pike when facing legal threats (SLAPPs). Atwood is a long-time supporter of Index, a patron of the organisation and a contributor to the magazine. In the USA, her book The Handmaid’s Tale frequently appears in the top 10 most banned books from school libraries.
Jemimah Steinfeld, CEO at Index, said of choosing Atwood: “Censorship is on the rise around the world and where do censors so often begin? With culture. Yet there are voices that have consistently stood firm in defence of free expression. One of the most powerful of them is Margaret Atwood. Atwood has long used her extraordinary talent and global platform to champion this fundamental right. Whether through her writing, her public advocacy or acts of bold creativity – like the unburnable edition of The Handmaid’s Tale – she confronts repression not with fear but with wit and clarity. I can think of no more deserving a recipient of the Freedom to Publish award this year than her. Atwood has shown, time and again, that imagination remains one of our most potent tools against small-mindedness.”
Philip Jones, editor of The Bookseller and chair of judges at The British Book Awards, added: “Books are the visible representation of the values we hold dear – freedom of thought, freedom of expression, and freedom from authoritarianism. From east to west, our writers are now challenged, coerced and threatened in ways we thought were being consigned to history. Margaret Atwood and her books stand against that, and we are delighted she has accepted this award at a ceremony that has felt steeped in the politics of the times.”
Many books recognised at the British Book Awards 2025 reflected the urgency of political challenges faced today in the minds of both writers and readers. US novelist and recent Pulitzer Prize winner Percival Everett won the Fiction Book of the Year and Author of the Year for James, Everett’s bold reimagining of Huckleberry Finn. Meanwhile Patriot by the late Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny was chosen by judges as Overall Book of the Year and was accepted by Navalny’s widow Julia Navalnya. She said:
“This book was never meant to be published after Alexei’s death, Alexei wrote it with all the strength, wit and honesty that defined him. He wrote in secret from a prison cell under the most brutal conditions with no access to books, to the internet, to anything but his own memory and will. And yet he created a manuscript that speaks with clarity and conviction not only about Russia, but about freedom, justice and what it means to remain human. After he was killed, publishing this book became more than a responsibility – it became a mission. I worked closely with his editors and friends to preserve every word, every sentence, just as he intended.
“I’m profoundly grateful for the compassion and solidarity with which readers around the world have embraced it. Receiving this award from across the book community is a powerful recognition of the strength of Alexei’s voice. It tells us that truth still matters, that integrity matters, that words can break through even the hardest walls and reach hearts everywhere.”
Navalnya added that “Patriot is not just the story of one man’s life. It’s a book about love, truth, and the unshakable belief that Russia can be free.”
