A Bournemouth University student has won a national journalism award for her music writing.
Katie O’Donnell received the Orwell Society and National Union of Journalists Young Journalist’s Award 2026 in the Reviews category for her review of the album Preacher’s Daughter by Ethel Cain.
The annual award is open to students and early career journalists aged between 18 and 25 across the UK. Entries were judged anonymously by a panel including journalist Gary Younge, Byline Times editor Hardeep Matharu, author Dorian Lynskey and writer Tam Hussein.
Katie, who studies BA Communication and Media at Bournemouth University, is the first BU student to receive an Orwell Award.
She said winning the award was “a dream come true” and described it as confirmation that pursuing music and culture journalism after university was “the right one”.
Katie also spoke about moving back to Bournemouth after leaving her previous university, saying the experience had made her feel she had “taken a huge step back”.
She added that winning the award and meeting new friends at Bournemouth University proved “coming home was the best thing I could’ve done”.
Dr Jaron Murphy, Principal Academic in Communication, Journalism and Literature at Bournemouth University, said he was “absolutely delighted” for Katie and praised her achievement.
The prizegiving took place in London on Saturday 9 May, where Katie met George Orwell’s son Richard Blair and received signed copies of Orwell’s books.
The winners each received £750 along with free membership of the National Union of Journalists and the Orwell Society.
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