Political Scientist Matthew Longo wins Orwell Prize for his book
The latest book by political scientist Matthew Longo came out this spring: 'The Picnic: A Dream of Freedom and the Collapse of the Iron Curtain'. In addition to its many favourable reviews, the book received the prestigious Orwell Prize this summer, which highlights exceptional books on politics.
About the book
On the website of the Orwell Prize, they describe ‘The Picnic’ as ‘A gripping reconstruction of the daring escape to freedom of hundreds of East Germans in the summer of 1989 and how it led to the fall of the Berlin Wall.’
Christina Lamb, one of the judges for the Orwell Prize, writes: “In the summer of 1989, a group of Hungarian activists did something unthinkable: they entered the forbidden militarised zone of the Iron Curtain – and held a picnic. They were joined by East German holidaymakers in Ladas rolling up for goulash, beer and brass-bands. I did not know this story and I loved the way it surprised me and captured the time, the idealism, and the role of ordinary citizens in the unravelling of the Iron curtain – as well as its echoes for today. Wonderfully told through extensive interviews with everyone from the human rights activist who came up with the madcap idea, the stubborn young woman who made it happen, to Stasi agents and border guards."
The Orwell Foundation wasn’t the only one to pay attention to the book. ‘The Picnic’ also received positive reviews from The New York Times and The Guardian.
About the Prize
The Orwell Prize is a British prize that has been awarded since 1993. A few years ago more prizes for different categories were added as well. For example, they currently do not only award non-fiction books on politics, but also fictional political works, and political journalism. According to the website of the Orwell Prize, they ‘award prizes for the work which comes closest to George Orwell’s ambition ‘to make political writing into an art’. They should be of equal excellence in style and content – the writing must be both political and artful.’
About Matthew Longo
Matthew Longo works as an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Political Science of Leiden University. His research sits on the intersection of political theory and international relations, and focuses on several critical issues in global politics—borders, sovereignty, and security—or how states react to the challenges posed by terrorism and immigration.
In an interview with Mare, the weekly magazine of Leiden University, Longo calls himself a ‘border-nerd’. He explains that ‘at a congress in Budapest, I spoke about my previous book, about the border between Mexico and the US. There, Hungarian László Nagy gave a lecture on the 1989 Pan European Picnic on the border between Hungary and Austria that he had co-organised. I did not know about that event, and as a border expert that is of course unacceptable.' That’s where the idea for writing the book started. You can read the full interview with Longo in Mare here.