When the Koestler Awards started in 1962 there were just two Awards artforms: Writing and Fine Art. Now we have over 50 categories across six artforms.
Artforms in the Koestler Awards have evolved with the times, and in response to feedback from our entrants and from teaching staff in secure settings. More established categories include Painting, Poetry, Life Story and Portrait.
Newer categories include Computer Generated Music, Song Writing, Digital Art, Spoken Word, and Mosaic.
We invite experts in each field to judge the Awards, individually or as part of panels.
Click on the categories below to see examples of the original and unique artworks entered in the Koestler Awards each year.
Patrons Catalogues
The Koestler Patrons are a community of supporters who directly enable our work towards encouraging creativity for people in the criminal justice system via regular donations.
In return for their support, our Patrons are invited to choose the title of an Award in their preferred category and write feedback to the award-winner, a special opportunity to encourage someone in custody to keep creating.
For the second year running, we have been able to put together the digital Patrons Catalogue to thank them for their support; this year’s features 108 pieces portraying the variety of artforms entered into this year’s competition. You can have a look at the catalogues below.
2025 Patrons Catalogue
2024 Patrons Catalogue
Koestler Exhibitions
Take a closer look at more work created by our participants in our exhibition archive.
