The RSL Christopher Bland Prize was inaugurated by the Royal Society of Literature to encourage the work of older writers. It is awarded annually to an author of a fiction or non-fiction book who was first published when aged 50 or over. The prize is valued at ã10,000 and was launched in September 2018. It is named in recognition of Sir Christopher Bland, who was 76 when his first novel was published.
The initial panel of judges was chaired by Gillian Slovo, and comprised Sanjeev Bhaskar, Archie Bland (son of Sir Christopher) and Anne Chisholm. The 2020 prize was judged by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown (Chair), Sara Collins and Andrew Lycett. The 2021 judges were Mary Beard (Chair), Monica Ali, Georgia Byng and Ben Hunte. The judging panel for the 2022 prize was David Baddiel (Chair), Naga Munchetty and Caroline Criado Perez. In 2023, the judges were Lemn Sissay (Chair), Simon Savidge and Meena Kandasamy. Judges for the 2024 prize were Shaparak Khorsandi (chair), Josh Cohen and Niall Griffiths. The judges for the prize in 2025 were Jacqueline Wilson (chair), Richard Coles and Margaret Busby.
In 2019, Raynor Winn was awarded the ã10,000 Christopher Bland Prize for debut novelists after deceptively representing The Salt Path as her first book, despite it being her second.