The Bracken Prize for Young Authors (formerly the Bracken Bower Prize) champions the next generation of business thinkers, encouraging young writers and researchers to explore the ideas shaping the future of business.

Awarded annually, the prize goes to the most compelling proposal for a business book by an author under 35. The judges look for originality, rigour and flair, favouring proposals that offer fresh insights into critical business challenges or emerging trends. 

Why the Bracken Prize exists

The Bracken Prize for Young Authors was created to fill a gap in business writing. Many of today’s most urgent economic, technological and social questions are being shaped by younger thinkers. Yet opportunities to develop bold, long-form ideas remain limited. 

The prize offers space, recognition and credibility to emerging authors with ambitious proposals that challenge convention, examine power and reframe how we understand business and its role in the world.

What the prize offers

The Bracken Prize supports emerging authors with ambitious, unpublished business book proposals, offering a rare opportunity to develop original ideas at a formative stage in the writing process. 

The prize provides recognition, visibility and expert scrutiny, helping authors refine their thinking and shape rigorous, compelling proposals that engage with contemporary business challenges and debates.

What the judges are looking for

Judges are looking for unpublished proposals that demonstrate originality of thought, intellectual rigour and a distinctive perspective on contemporary business challenges or emerging trends. 

Successful submissions will combine ambition of scope with clarity of argument, alongside the ability to communicate complex ideas in a clear, engaging and accessible way.

If you have any questions, please contact us at BrackenPrize@ft.com 

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