Each year a question or quote exploring Franklin’s relevance in our time is open for interpretation in 1000-1500 words. The competition is exclusively for young writers, aged 18-25, with a first prize of £750, and a second prize of £500.

This year, our quote for interpretation was;

‘The Eyes of other People are the Eyes that ruin us. If all but myself were blind, I should want neither fine Clothes, fine Houses nor Fine Furniture.’ Letter to Benjamin Vaughan, 1784.

We received some excellent entries to our 2022 Prize and today we are proud to announce the names of the five young writers that have made it to our 2022 Shortlist. In alphabetical order, these are;

Daniel Bresland
Diane de la Marck
George White
Lois Bodie
Olivia Todd

If you would like to read any of the shortlisted entries for the 2022 Prize, please click on the writer’s name to view their work.

Winner Announcement and Award Ceremony

To coincide with the 317th birthday of Benjamin Franklin, the winner and runner-up of the 2022 Literary Prize will be announced on the Benjamin Franklin House website on January 17th 2023. These two entries will then be published on the websites for both Benjamin Franklin House and The Telegraph.

In March 2023, the winner, runner-up and other shortlisted writers will be invited to Benjamin Franklin House for a special award ceremony to receive their prizes and meet the judging panel for the 2022 Prize.

The 2022 Literary Prize Judges are;

• Dr. Márcia Balisciano, Director of Benjamin Franklin House
• Lord Guy Black, Executive Director of the Telegraph Media Group
• Wendy Moore, English journalist, author, and historian
• Dr. Huw David, Development Director at Wolfson College, University of Oxford
• Rory Sutherland, Vice Chairman of Ogilvy Group and Board Member of Benjamin Franklin House

We would like to congratulate those on our shortlist as well as everyone who entered this year’s Prize.

If you are interested in participating in our 2023 Literary Prize, please look out for announcements on our website. The quote for next year’s competition will be announced at the 2022 award ceremony and posted shortly after.