Exceptionally promising

The coveted awards are given to researchers at an early stage of their career, whose work has had international impact and whose future research career is exceptionally promising.

Professor Taneja and Dr Hone both work in Newcastle University’s School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics. The prizes, awarded by the Leverhulme Trust, will fund their research for the next two to three years.

Preti Taneja is Professor of World Literature and Creative Writing. She recently won the Gordon Burn Prize for her creative non fiction book Aftermath which attempts to make sense of the 2019 London bridge terrorist attack. Her first novel, We That Are Young a translation of King Lear to contemporary India, won the Desmond Elliott Prize for the UK’s best literary debut of the year. Her practice-led research and writing sits at the intersections of ethics, politics and aesthetics, in forms that celebrate linguistic and thematic hybridity. It explores how literature can be a call for social and racial justice and equality in political life and in world literary culture.

She said: “Winning this Prize, which recognises the impact of work done within a decade of being awarded my PhD, is a huge honour. It has given me the greatest gift: time away from other demands to work on my next book projects in fiction and creative non-fiction. I couldn’t be more delighted.”

Outstanding researchers

Dr Joseph Hone is an Academic Track Fellow in English Literature. His research covers the fields of literary studies and the history of the book.

He said: “I am thrilled and extremely honoured to have been awarded one of this year’s Philip Leverhulme Prizes. It acknowledges work that I am extremely proud of and which has been made possible by the support of Newcastle University and my colleagues in the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics.

“The Prize will enable me to conduct complex bibliographical work in libraries and archives in Britain and abroad, working towards a new edition of the works of Alexander Pope and a long-form study of the underground book trade in early eighteenth-century Britain.”

Professor Jo Robinson, Head of the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics, said: “The Philip Leverhulme Prizes recognise the work of already outstanding researchers, unlocking support and time for their development of innovative and ground-breaking work.

“As Head of the School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics I am delighted and proud that we are home to two Philip Leverhulme Prize winners this year! Both Preti Taneja and Joseph Hone have truly stellar track records in their respective fields, and their work, often drawing on previously neglected voices, speaks to a wide range of audiences.

“Preti’s most recent work, Aftermath, a stunning meditation on terror, trauma and grief, was awarded the 2022 Gordon Burn Book Prize earlier this month. Joseph’s work of narrative non-fiction The Paper Chase, and the research that underpins it, has had a transformative influence in the field of book history. I am excited to see what the time and support made possible by the Leverhulme Trust will enable next.”