About the Nicola Barry Award

Nicola Barry was one of Scotland’s most successful and best known journalists and authors. She died in January 2017 at the age of 66. In a career spanning over 40 years, Nicola won around 30 UK and Scottish press awards, mainly writing about social issues. She won Columnist of the Year while at the Press & Journal in three consecutive years. Nicola worked for almost all Scotland’s main newspapers, including the Edinburgh Evening News, the Scotsman, the Scottish Sunday Express, the Daily Record and the Press and Journal. She was Editor of The Big Issue. During her career as a newspaper columnist and features writer, Nicola was driven by a passion to help the underdog, to give a voice to those who had none. 

The Nicola Barry Award is open to all women journalists of any age working in print and online media in Scotland deserving of recognition for their work in issue-led reportage or commentary. This reflects the late Nicola Barry's passion for standing up against injustice in the workplace and in the wider world through her writing.

This annual prize was first presented at the Scottish Press Awards in 2018. It goes to the journalist whose submissions most effectively highlight injustices, curbs on freedom or other forms of discrimination. These were topics Nicola regularly confronted in her life as a journalist. The award came about after Nicola’s husband, Alastair Murray, approached Women in Journalism Scotland’s committee asking if it could explore ways of ensuring his late wife’s legacy in journalism would continue while supporting other women in the profession.

It was won in 2018 by Dani Garavelli and in 2019 by Karin Goodwin