AA Gill Award: £5,000 prize for the next emerging food critic.

In memory of the late journalist AA Gill, The Sunday Times and his daughter Flora Gill have announced a £5000 prize for the next emerging food critic.

AA Gill was heavily dyslexic, so much so that his writing was illegible to anyone but himself. In fact, all his articles had to be transcribed over the phone before being printed. AA Gill’s remarkable writing was unaffected by his dyslexia, and in line with this, judges will not take spelling or grammar into account, acknowledging that the placement of a comma has little to do with the quality of a piece.

To be in with a chance of winning, entrants must write an original piece of criticism (either positive or negative) on a food related topic - this could be a review of a restaurant, a television programme, a book, or even a trend. In celebration of the verve he brought to the art of reviewing, judges expect entries to be bold, insightful and witty – and more than just a critique of food on a plate. AA Gill became a writer after an early career as an artist, so the prize is open to people of all ages over 21.

Entries must be between 1,000 and 1,200 words, the length of Gill’s restaurant reviews. As well as the cash prize of £5,000, the winning review will be published in The Dish, the food section of The Sunday Times Magazine. Two runners-up will receive a prize of £500 and £250 respectively and will be invited to the awards ceremony in London in June.

Please submit your work to aagill.award@sunday-times.co.uk and include your name, date of birth and postal address as well as contact telephone and email address. Entries close on April 17.

Full T&Cs can be found here.