January 22, 2013 |
George Orwell Day

Orwell's estate joined forces with the Orwell Prize and Penguin (the author's publisher) to create and launch the soon-to-be annual "Orwell Day." The holiday is intended to "celebrate [Orwell's] writing in all its forms and explore the profound influence he has had on the media and discourse of the modern world."
In celebration of the holiday, Orwell's famous essay on political language, "Politics and the English Language," is being given away for free on the website of the Orwell Prize.
Penguin also launched new editions of four Orwell classics: Animal Farm, 1984, Down and Out in Paris and London, and Homage to Catalonia. The cover of 1984 is particularly notable for any Penguin classics collectors, as the title has been purposefully blacked-out:

Any of our UK readers can also tune-in to BBC Radio 4's series of radio adaptations of Orwell works, which begin on January 26. The BBC will produce adaptations of the four classics mentioned above in addition to readings of Orwell essays and factual programming on Orwell's life and times.
