The 2026 Essay Prize has been awarded to Mari Seaword

Mari is a PhD student in English Literature at the University of Edinburgh, researching how George Eliot's original concept of meliorism is woven into the narratives of her works, such as Adam Bede, The Mill on the Floss and Middlemarch, with particular attention to her translation of Spinoza’s Ethics.

She completed her BA and MA in English Literature at Soka University in Japan, where her love for George Eliot first developed, as she was drawn to her vivid portrayal of the inner transformation of her characters. She later earned a second MA in Translation from Newcastle University in 2005 and, since then, has been working in the UK as a Japanese translator and interpreter.

She also volunteers with a UN‑affiliated non-governmental organisation that promotes peace, culture and education based on the humanistic principles of Buddhism.