2023 Winner and Runner-up

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.

In 2023, our quote for interpretation was;

“Government must depend for its Efficiency either on Force or Opinion.” From ‘The Colonist’s advocate’, VII. (Feb 1, 1770)

We received some excellent entries to our 2023 Prize and we are proud to announce the names of the two young writers that were voted as the winner and runner-up by our team of judges;

Winner – Ciara Griffiths

Ciara is a 21-year-old Philosophy graduate of Royal Holloway University of London. She is currently volunteering for Oxfam and works as a Social Media Ambassador for BucksVision, a local charity supporting visually impaired people living in Buckinghamshire.

Judges comments:

Wendy Moore: “A very stylish piece of fiction with lots of tension and echoes of A Tale of Two Cities.”

Rory Sutherland: “an ingenious link to the French Revolution.”

Runner-up – Angus Brown

Angus is 24 and currently a third year doctoral candidate in History at the University of Cambridge. 

Judges comments:

Lord Guy Black: “A compelling essay, expertly written.”

Huw David: “Well researched, brilliantly structured, and a thought-provoking conclusion.”

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If you would like to read their entries for the 2023 Prize, please click on their names to view their work.

In May 2024, the winner, runner-up and other shortlisted writers were invited to Benjamin Franklin House for a special award ceremony to receive their prizes and meet the judging panel for the 2023 Prize.

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