American author Ben Lerner has insisted that his book Transcription does not make a “political statement” after it won the Orwell Prize for Political Fiction.

Published in April, Transcription was announced the winner of the 2026 award on Thursday (25 June).

The Orwell awards aim to highlight books that meet George Orwell’s own goal “to make political writing into art”, and comes with a cash prize of £5,000.

An exploration of technology and storytelling, Transcription begins with an emotional interview between a man and his old mentor, which runs into problems when the man drops his phone – also his recording device – into the sink.

“A forensic study of our insatiable appetite for new technology, [Transcription] explores the unreliable stories we tell ourselves about hunger, love and connection,” said judging chair Fiammetta Rocco. “It is about dying with dignity and growing up in a new world. It’s funny, brainy and timely. Lerner deserves to be a household name.”

In an interview with The Telegraph, Lerner, 47, reflected on winning the prestigious prize for political fiction with a book that he does not see as straightforwardly political.

“It’s definitely not an essayistic novel,” Lerner said of Transcription. “Or one that makes a kind of political statement. And it’s important not to confuse the reading or writing of a novel with forms of direct political action. But the question of how certain forms of media flatten or monetise our attention – I do think that’s political territory.”

On the politics of his country, the Kansas-born writer spoke of “the bankruptcy of political language”, citing the phrase “flood the zone”, which was used at the start of Donald Trump’s second administration.

“Their point was, there would be so many things happening at once… that we get to the point where we’re stupefied by information that has no form,” Lerner said, noting that it is a “problem across the political class”.

“I’m not saying Trump isn’t singular, but I am one of many Americans marked by the Trump-Biden debate [in June 2024] in which there was this insane display of senility versus Trumpian psychosis,” he said.

“There’s the toxic 24-hour news cycle now. There’s the corporate-cliché word-salad among a lot of the Democratic leadership – and I say that as someone who voted for Kamala Harris. The thing that literature needs to make a difference from is not just Trump, it’s the whole debate language of the political class.”

Transcription is Lerner’s fourth novel, following on from Leaving the Atocha Station (2011), 10.04 (2014) and The Topeka School (2019).

The 2026 Orwell Prize also went to Karen Bartlett, who took home the award for non-fiction with The Escape from Kabul, about Afghan women lawyers and their families who faced mortal danger after the fall of Kabul in 2021.

Shortlisted alongside Transcription for this year’s fiction prize were Flashlight by Susan Choi, John of John by Douglas Stuart, A Private Man by Stephanie Sy-Quia, Every One Still Here by Liadan Ní Chuinn, The Comfort of Distant Stars by IO Echeruo, This Is Where the Serpent Lives by Daniyal Mueenuddin, and Uprising by Tahmima Anam.

Bartlett’s book, meanwhile, was shortlisted alongside non-fiction titles: Shattered Lands by Sam Dalrymple, Stalin’s Apostles by Antonia Senior, The Elements of Power by Nicolas Niarchos, For the Sun After Long Nights by Fatemeh Jamalpour and Nilo Tabrizy, Israel: What Went Wrong? by Omer Bartov, The Wall Dancers by Yi-Ling Liu, and Three Years On Fire by Andrey Kurkov.