Debut author Harry Shukman has been awarded the prestigious Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year Award for his compelling account of infiltrating British far-right groups.
Shukman’s acclaimed book, Year Of The Rat, was lauded by judging chairwoman Johanna Thomas-Corr as “investigative journalism with the nerve of a thriller and the wit of a great piece of reportage”.
A former news reporter, Shukman now serves as a researcher for the anti-racism charity Hope Not Hate.
The book’s creation involved significant personal risk, with Shukman immersing himself in extremist circles.
He spent time canvassing with Britain First and befriended Holocaust deniers, neo-Nazis, and a Silicon Valley-backed race-science organisation.
Year Of The Rat reveals how these groups operate and normalise extreme ideologies.
Thomas-Corr said: “By going undercover among Britain’s far-right networks, Harry Shukman reveals a world that is by turns sinister, absurd and frighteningly close to the mainstream. It’s courageous, sharply observed and very timely — exactly the kind of bold work the prize exists to celebrate.”
Fellow judge Esther Freud added: “Year of the Rat reads like the perfect thriller. Nail-bitingly tense, darkly funny, unexpectedly compassionate and urgently important.”
Recognised as the most influential prize for young writers across the UK and Ireland, the award comes with a £10,000 prize.
Past recipients of The Sunday Times Charlotte Aitken Young Writer of the Year Award include literary figures such as Sally Rooney, Zadie Smith, Max Porter, and Simon Armitage.
Graham Norton, another judge, said: “I thought I knew what this book was going to be but it confounded my expectations. Brave and humane, Harry Shukman delivers a nuanced and insightful portrait of a world many of us would prefer not to see.”
