25th Anniversary
Vintage Bollinger Prize
In the year that marks its Silver Jubilee, the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction has announced a VIP line-up of judges for its special Vintage Bollinger Prize. Five well-known personalities from the worlds of comedy, entertainment and literature will be given the devilishly difficult task of picking a ‘winner of winners’ from the twenty-five previous recipients of this prestigious award.
The judges are as follows: stand-up comedian known for her witty take on French and British cultural differences and social media sensation Tatty Macleod; judge on the hit BBC series The Great British Sewing Bee, clothing designer and author Patrick Grant; television presenter, radio personality, journalist, co-host of Strictly Come Dancing and BAFTA award-winning presenter of The Traitors Claudia Winkleman; critically acclaimed and award-winning comedian, writer, actor and recent host of BBC 2’s Live At The Apollo Sindhu Vee; and Director of The Conversation at St Martin-in-the-Fields and Chair of the Judges Peter Florence.
Each year, the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction celebrates the funniest novels that have genuinely made people laugh over the past 12 months. This year, to celebrate its 25th anniversary and in addition to the regular 2025 prize, the book that is deemed to have made the judges chuckle just a little bit louder than all the others will be crowned the winner of the Vintage Bollinger Prize. The winners of both prizes were announced at a glittering ceremony in London on Monday 1st December.
Our Vintage Bollinger Prize Winner
Marina Lewycka is awarded the Vintage Bollinger Prize – the ‘Winner of Winners’ from the twenty-five previous recipients of the award – for A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian (published by Fig Tree, Penguin Random House in 2005). Marina Lewycka’s family – partner Professor Donald Sassoon and daughter Sonia Lewycka – accepted the award on behalf of the author who sadly died after a long illnessthe day after the judges reached their decision. Judge Claudia Winkleman said: “I thought Marina’s book was laugh out loud funny, utterly original and also deeply moving. I’m delighted it’s won the Vintage Bollinger Prize.”
Peter Florence, Chair of the Judges, commented: “2025 gifted us several fabulous contenders for this year’s prize, that ran a full spectrum of comic styles and just seemed endlessly entertaining. It was the closest multi-way call we’ve ever had, and we’re delighted by our winner, and by the whole shortlist. Judging the Vintage Bollinger Prize was always going to be a locked-in hoot as we revisited so many fabulously funny winners. It seemed a daunting idea to garland one book among so many as the funniest book of the last 25 years, but actually we came to a book that some people were discovering for the first time and were laughing aloud at and loving. She has us at the title, and she rocks us on every page. And it’s a book that is reshaped by the 20 years since it was first published, by both the history of Ukraine and the story of refugee experience in the UK. The comedy is somehow both darker and more vivid. Marina died on the day after the jury met to decide the prize winner. I am so glad to know that she knew she had won.”
Meet the Vintage Bollinger Prize Judges:
Patrick Grant has a lot to say about clothes; how many we buy, how we value them, what they’re made from, and importantly who made them and where. His campaigning clothes brand Community Clothing supports local clothing and textile manufacturers across the UK. He is a regular on TV and radio, as a commentator and a documentary maker, but he is best known for his role on the hit BBC series The Great British Sewing Bee, which was nominated for a BAFTA in 2022. Patrick won Celebrity Mastermind and The Weakest Link, but didn’t do as well in Masterchef. He has written three books, Original Man (2014), and Less and The Savile Row Suit (2024).
Photo credit: Chris Athanasiou
Tatty Macleod is a comedian, writer and actor known for her witty take on French and British cultural differences. A graduate of the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama, she worked in theatre before focusing on comedy. With over 700,000 followers on Instagram and TikTok, her videos average 1.3 million views. She creates character-driven skits, cultural reflections, and topical commentary. This year, she completed her UK & European tour with her sellout show FUGUE, which debuted at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe. Her Substack “Tatty en Terrasse” has over 10k subscribers and she was recently commissioned to write her first non-fiction book.
Photo credit: Community Clothing
Television presenter, radio personality and journalist Claudia Winkleman is one of the best-known broadcasters in the UK. Known for her signature fringe and engaging on-screen presence, Claudia has hosted some of the biggest shows on television. She has been the co-host of the iconic Strictly Come Dancing since 2012 and has presented celebrated shows such as One Question and The Piano on Channel 4 and BAFTA-award winning The Traitors for the BBC. In 2023, Claudia won her first ever BAFTA, taking home the ‘Entertainment Performance’ award for her work hosting The Traitors. In 2022, Claudia’s debut book Quite was published to critical acclaim, and in 2025 she was awarded an MBE for significant contributions to broadcasting.
Sindhu Vee is an award-winning comedian, writer, and actor. As a critically acclaimed stand-up comedian, Sindhu has appeared twice on BBC 2’s Live At The Apollo, most recently as the host. She has also been a guest on top British panel shows, including Mock the Week (BBC 2), QI (BBC 2), Have I Got News For You (BBC 1), and Would I Lie to You? (BBC 1). Sindhu's debut hour, Sandhog, saw two sold-out runs at the Soho Theatre, as well as a 92-date UK tour. In 2023, she sold out Sindhu Vee Live, her 22-show, 18-city tour of North America. In March 2025, her hotly anticipated comedy special, Alphabet, was released. Her other credits include Richard Curtis’ Christmas feature film That Christmas (Netflix) and Prathana Mohan’s Picture This, as well as roles in the series The Pardeeps of Pittsburgh (Amazon Prime), Starstruck (BBC/HBO Max), Sex Education (Netflix), and Feel Good (Channel 4/Netflix).
Photo credit: Matt Crockett
Peter Florence is a festival director, tree planter and rugby writer. He is Director of The Conversation at St Martin-in-the-Fields and Executive Chair of The European Festivals Forest. He has chaired The Dylan Thomas Prize and The Booker Prize. He is a Trustee of The Baillie Gifford Prize and sits on the European Festivals Association jury. He is also the Chair of the Judges for both the 2025 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction and the Vintage Bollinger Prize.