An educational nonprofit will award a prize in the name of Christopher Hitchens, a journalist known for his argumentative acumen and unflinching perspectives on topics such as religion and war.
The award, which includes a prize of $50,000, will be awarded to “an author or journalist whose work reflects a commitment to free expression and inquiry, a range and depth of intellect, and a willingness to pursue the truth without regard to personal or professional consequence,” Marley Brown writes for Vanity Fair. Applications for the prize, which will be awarded by the Dennis and Victoria Ross Foundation, will be accepted until April 13.
In a description of the prize the foundation’s website, the organizers make clear that applicants for the prize don’t have to be in step with Hitchens’ personal beliefs:
The Prize, in any event, is not intended, if it were even possible, to identify writers who align closely with Christopher Hitchens, nor to celebrate his views in every particular. Rather, the Prize seeks to advance what he was dedicated to throughout his life: vigorous, honest, and open public debate and discussion, with no tolerance of orthodoxy, no reverence for authority, and a belief in reasoned dialogue as the best path to the truth.
The prize will be administered “at a public ceremony in New York City, at a date to be determined,” according to the foundation’s website.
