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Department of English Literature

THE JAMES TAIT BLACK MEMORIAL PRIZES

FOR BIOGRAPHY AND FICTION

Shortlisted Books in recent years Complete List of Prizewinners since 1919

 

The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are Scotland's most prestigious and the U.K.'s oldest literary awards. The prizes have achieved an international reputation for their recognition of literary excellence in biography and fiction.

Awarded since 1919, previous Fiction prizewinners include D.H. Lawrence, E.M. Forster, Graham Greene, George Mackay Brown, James Kelman and William Boyd. Among past recipients of the Biography prize are Lytton Strachey, John Buchan, Lady Antonia Fraser, and Quentin Bell.

The two prizes, each of £10,000, are awarded annually. Publishers are invited to submit a copy of any work of fiction or biography which they judge may be considered for the award. Books other than those submitted will also be considered, but submission substantially improves the chance of success.

Submissions are currently being accepted for the 2009 awards. (How to submit.)

In accordance with the wishes of the founder, eligible works of fiction and biographies are those written in English, and first published or co-published in the United Kingdom during the calendar year of the award (January 1st to December 31st). The final submission date is now the start of December. Therefore books published during 2009 must be submitted by 1 December 2009. The nationality of the writer is irrelevant. Both prizes may go to the same author, but neither to the same author a second time.

An announcement of the shortlisted books for 2009 will be made at a date to be announced in the first half of 2010. An announcement of the winners of the 2009 awards will be made during August 2010 at the Edinburgh International Book Festival.

Winners of the 2008 awards were announced at a prize ceremony at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Friday 21st August 2009.  A video report is available to view at http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/2.419/tait-black/winners.  Some of the judges' comments on the 2008 winners may be read at http://www.ed.ac.uk/about/2.419/tait-black/winning-books.

Information on the prizes is also available on the University's James Tait Black webpages.

How to submit a book for consideration for the Biography or Fiction Prize

Submissions, stating exact date of publication, should be sent to:

The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes,
Department of English Literature,
The University of Edinburgh,
David Hume Tower,
George Square,
Edinburgh, EH8 9JX

to arrive no later than 1 December 2009

It greatly facilitates the work of the assessors if submissions are sent as soon as possible after publication so that reading can be spread throughout the calendar year.

One copy of each submission is sufficient in the first instance. There is no application form to complete.

 

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Shortlisted Books in recent years Complete List of Prizewinners since 1919

2008 Prizewinners

FICTION

Sebastian Barry, for his novel The Secret Scripture (published by Faber & Faber)

 photo of Sebastian Barry

BIOGRAPHY

Michael Holroyd, for A Strange Eventful History:  The Dramatic Lives of Ellen Terry, Henry Irving and their Remarkable Families (Chatto & Windus)

Photo of Michael Holroyd

 

2007 Prizewinners

Winners of the 2007 awards were announced at a prize ceremony at the Edinburgh International Book Festival on Friday 22nd August 2008.

A report on the 2007 awards and an interview with both of the winners can be viewed at James Tait Black Awards (Windows Media video).

FICTION

Rosalind Belben, for her novel Our Horses in Egypt (Chatto & Windus)

BIOGRAPHY

Rosemary Hill, for God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain (Allen Lane)

 

2006 Prizewinners

Winners of the 2006 awards were announced at the prize ceremony on 25th August 2007. A short film report of the Awards Ceremony is available at

James Tait Black Award Ceremony August 2007 (Windows Media Video)

James Tait Black Award Ceremony August 2007 (Real Media Video)

FICTION

Cormac McCarthy, for his novel The Road (Picador)

BIOGRAPHY

Byron Rogers, for The Man Who Went into the West: The life of R.S. Thomas (Aurum Press)

2005 Prizewinners

FICTION

Ian McEwan, for his novel Saturday (Jonathan Cape)

BIOGRAPHY

Sue Prideaux, for Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream (Yale University Press)

2004 Prizewinners

FICTION

David Peace, for his novel GB84 (Faber)

BIOGRAPHY

Jonathan Bate, for John Clare: A Biography (Picador)

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Back to English Literature Home Page

Biography - Some Previous Prizewinners
(a complete list of all Prizewinners and some Shortlists are also available)

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Fiction - Some Previous Prizewinners
(a complete list of all Prizewinners and some Shortlists are also available)

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Department of English Literature Home Page /   University of Edinburgh Home Page

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Department of English Literature, The University of Edinburgh,
David Hume Tower, George Square, Edinburgh, Scotland EH8 9JX

Tel : (+44) (0) 131 650 3620
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Pages prepared by Department of English Literature.

Last modified by Sheila Strathdee: 2 November 2009