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St Hugh’s student wins prestigious journalism award

Congratulations to St Hugh’s undergraduate student, Gavriella Epstein-Lightman (History, 2025), who has received The Clive Taylor Prize for Sports Journalism Award for exceptional sports writing. The prize, worth £2,500,  rewards clear, accurate, and fact-driven reporting combined with flair and insight. Judges look for work that captures the drama and impact of sport on society while maintaining journalistic rigour and balance. Clive Taylor, cricket correspondent of The Sun, was widely regarded as a “master craftsman” and one of the most “rational and constructive critics” of the game.

For her award application, Gavriella was required to submit four articles which she had written for Oxford’s student newspaper Cherwell, including an interview with a former player, Conor Niland, who recently wrote a book about his experiences on the professional tour. She also outlined a travel plan for a journalistic project she would undertake with the prize money, which proposed visiting the Qualifying events of Wimbledon and the US Open to illuminate the stories of lesser ranked players in a qualifying tournament often overshadowed by the build-up to the main event.

Gavriella said, ‘I feel extremely honoured to have been given this award. I’m currently involved in student journalism and aspire to work in journalism after graduation. I write not only about sports but also politics and culture, and I really enjoy interviewing interesting figures. I am very much looking forward to working on the journalist project which has been made possible with the prize money I was awarded.’

Each year, the Philip Geddes Memorial Fund recognises outstanding student journalism at Oxford University through four prestigious awards, each honouring a distinguished journalist. Previous prizewinners have gone on to work at the BBC, ITN, Sky, Reuters, The Guardian, Financial Times, The Times, The Economist, and The Spectator. The judging panel, comprising some of Britain’s leading editors, correspondents, and broadcasters, looks for accuracy, insight, originality and a commitment to journalistic integrity.