SASHA DUGDALE WINS 2025 RUNCIMAN AWARD FOR THE STRONGBOX

SASHA DUGDALE WINS

THE ANGLO-HELLENIC LEAGUE RUNCIMAN AWARD 2025

FOR

THE STRONGBOX

We are delighted to announce that the winner of the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award 2025 is Sasha Dugdale for The Strongbox (Carcanet 2024).

Announcing the result of this year’s competition on Friday 13 June at a ceremony in the Great Hall of King’s College London, in the presence of a large audience in the hall and online, Sofka Zinovieff, the chair of judges, said:

I am delighted that The Strongbox has won the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award for 2025. We had a remarkable shortlist this year, which made the judges' decision particularly difficult, but Sasha Dugdale is an outstanding winner.  The Strongbox is an extraordinary collection of poetry. It shows how the rich inheritance of ancient Greek myth and literature continues to inspire the creation of outstanding works of art in the 21st century. 

The winner of the Award, Sasha Dugdale, said:

I’m deeply honoured to be awarded the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award and very grateful to the judges for their appreciation of The Strongbox. My work is a poetic response to the wars and political tensions of the last years and it was shaped by my own experience of translating testimony relating to war and repression. 

In The Strongbox I considered how Greek mythologies are dynamic and still shape our perception of civilisation and culture, of war and difference. I used those mythologies to explore the effects and implications of the very modern tragedies we were witnessing. 

This recognition by the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award is incredibly gratifying.

The Chair of the Council of the League, Kevin Featherstone, said:

Sasha Dugdale's The Strongbox is an extraordinary work and worthy member of the distinguished roster of Runciman Award winners. The Council of the Anglo-Hellenic League would like to extend its warmest congratulations to Sasha and to thank our generous sponsors: the A.G. Leventis Foundation and the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation.

The announcement of the winner of the Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award 2025 was made on Friday 13 June, 7pm at King’s College London, at a ceremony co-hosted by the Centre for Hellenic Studies and the Anglo-Hellenic League. Prof. Elias Papaioannou (London Business School) gave the keynote address on ‘Uprootedness, Human Capital, and Anatolia Imprints’. Sofka Zinovieff reviewed the shortlisted books on behalf of the panel of judges and announced the winner. The winner gave an acceptance speech and introduced his winning book to the audience. Short addresses were also given by Prof. Stuart Dunn (KCL), Professor Kevin Featherstone and Dr Jonathan Williams (the League) and Prof. Gonda Van Steen (KCL).

The Anglo-Hellenic League Runciman Award is sponsored by the Athanasios C. Laskaridis Charitable Foundation and the A.G. Leventis Foundation.