Bodley Head/FT Essay Prize 2013

Adnan Sarwar
As a British Pakistani boy growing up in Burnley, the author endured racial abuse. In his winning entry, the writer and actor explores what led him to join the British Army

Alexandra Zelman-Doring
The poet, playwright and actor recalls the aftermath of her 26-year-old husband’s cardiac arrest in the 2013 prize’s runner-up entry

Hedley Twidle revisits South Africa’s Highway N2
To launch the 2013 Bodley Head/FT Essay Prize, last year’s winner examines how one South African road reflects the state of the nation

How to enter the 2013 competition

Hedley Twidle
The South African academic’s 2012 winning essay about working in the shadow of JM Coetzee

Simon Schama: Why I write
Dickens’ abundance and Orwell’s asperity are equally inspiring, writes the historian and FT contributing editor

Raghu Karnad
Runner-up for the 2012 prize, the Delhi- and Bangalore-based journalist writes about the forgotten Indian soldiers who served the British during the second world war