Jenni Fagan’s powerful memoir Ootlin, which chronicles her harrowing experiences growing up in the UK care system, has been awarded the prestigious Gordon Burn Prize, per theguardian.com. The £10,000 award, announced at a ceremony in Newcastle on Thursday, celebrates Fagan’s unflinching exploration of a childhood marked by instability and neglect.
By the age of seven, Fagan had lived in 14 different homes and had her name changed multiple times. Her memoir, described as “visceral” and “haunting,” delves into the emotional and systemic failures that left her and countless other children vulnerable.
“There are a lot of kids out there being told they are less than everyone else. They are made unsafe by that story alone,” Fagan writes in Ootlin, which was recently longlisted for the Women’s Prize for Nonfiction.
Fagan hopes the publicity surrounding her win will spark urgent reforms in the UK care system.
“It is my greatest hope that Ootlin is used to help stop other children in the care system falling through all safety nets as I did repeatedly,” she said. “We must see all children in the UK offered so much more. Safety, warmth, care, a home, food, an education, and people who believe in them should be the very least of it.”
Claire Malcolm, CEO of New Writing North and co-founder of the prize, praised Ootlin as both a work of art and a vital contribution to the debate about the care system.
“It has haunted me since I read it,” she said.
The Gordon Burn Prize, established in 2012, honours writing with unconventional perspectives and styles. Fagan’s win places her alongside past recipients such as Hanif Abdurraqib and Preti Taneja.
•Featured image: Jenni Fagan/Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
