The David Higham Prize for Fiction was inaugurated in 1975 to mark the 80th birthday of David Higham, literary agent, and was awarded annually to a citizen of the Commonwealth, Republic of Ireland, Pakistan, or South Africa for a first novel or book of short stories. It was cancelled in 1999 due to "the lack of publicity its winners received."

Past winners

*1975 -

Jane Gardam Jane Mary Gardam (born 11 July 1928) is an English writer of children's and adult fiction. She also writes reviews for ''The Spectator'' and ''The Telegraph'', and writes for BBC radio. She lives in Kent, Wimbledon, and Yorkshire. She has won nu ...

- ''Black Faces, White Faces'' and Matthew Vaughan - ''Chalky'' *1976 -

Caroline Blackwood Lady Caroline Blackwood (16 July 1931 – 14 February 1996) was an English writer, and the eldest child of the 4th Marquess of Dufferin and Ava and the brewery heiress Maureen Guinness. Active in the literary world through her journalism an ...

- ''The Stepdaughter'' *1977 -

Patricia Finney Patricia Finney (born 1958) is an English author and journalist with Hungarian forebears. She is a graduate of Oxford University ( Wadham, 1977–80) with a degree in History. She has written under the pen names "P. F. Chisholm" and "Grace Caven ...

- ''A Shadow of Gulls'' *1978 -

Leslie Norris George Leslie Norris (21 May 1921 – 6 April 2006), was a prize-winning Welsh poet and short story writer. He taught at academic institutions in Britain and the United States, including Brigham Young University. Norris is considered one of ...

- ''Sliding: Short Stories'' *1979 -

John Harvey John Harvey may refer to: People Academics * John Harvey (astrologer) (1564–1592), English astrologer and physician * John Harvey (architectural historian) (1911–1997), British architectural historian, who wrote on English Gothic architecture ...

- ''The Plate Shop'' *1980 - Ted Harriot - ''Keep On Running'' *1981 - Christopher Hope - ''A Separate Development'' *1982 - Glyn Hughes - ''Where I Used to Play on the Green'' *1983 -

R. M. Lamming R. M. Lamming, also known as Roberta Lamming or Bobbie Lamming (born 1948 or 1949) is a British writer. She has also written science fiction short stories under the pseudonym of Robin Douglas. Life Lamming was born on the Isle of Man, the daughte ...

- '' The Notebook of Gismondo Cavalletti'' *1984 - James Buchan - ''A Parish of Rich Women'' *1985 -

Patricia Ferguson Patricia Josephine Ferguson (born 24 September 1958, Glasgow) is a Scottish Labour Party politician who was the Member of the Scottish Parliament (MSP) for Glasgow Maryhill constituency from 1999 until 2011 and for Glasgow Maryhill and Springbu ...

- ''Family Myths and Legends'' *1986 - Jim Crace - ''

Continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions are commonly regarded as continents. Ordered from largest in area to smallest, these seven ...

'' *1987 - Adam Zameenzad - ''The Thirteenth House'' *1988 -

Carol Birch Carol Birch (born 1951) is an English novelist, lecturer and book critic. She also teaches creative writing. Life Birch was born in Manchester. Her parents had met in a wartime armaments factory. Her father, a metallurgist, also played trombone ...

- ''Life in the Palace'' *1989 - Tim O'Grady - ''Motherland'' *1990 -

Russell Celyn Jones Russell Celyn Jones is a British writer and Emeritus Professor, Birkbeck, University of London. Jones was born in London and brought up in Swansea, Wales. He has written novels, mostly focused on crime and issues of guilt and morality, and also te ...

- ''Soldiers and Innocents'' *1991 - John Loveday - ''Halo'' *1992 -

Elspeth Barker Elspeth Barker (16 November 1940 – 21 April 2022) was a Scottish novelist and journalist. Born as Elspeth Langlands, she was raised in Drumtochty Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, where her parents ran a prep school for boys. From 1958, she ...

- ''O Caledonia'' *1993 -

Nicola Barker Nicola Barker (born 30 March 1966) is an English novelist and short story writer. She was born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England. When she was still young her parents left England and settled in South Africa. Fiction Typically she writes about ...

- ''Love Your Enemies'' *1994 - Fred D'Aguiar - ''

The Longest Memory ''The Longest Memory'' is a 1994 short novel (138 pages long) by British writer Fred D'Aguiar. It was the Guyana-born poet's first novel, The story takes place on a Virginian plantation, in the period before the American Civil War, between 1790 ...

'' *1995 - Vikram Chandra - ''Red Earth and Pouring Rain'' *1996 - Linda Grant - ''The Cast Iron Shore'' *1997 -

Ronald Wright Ronald Wright (born 1948, London, England) is a Canadian author who has written books of travel, history and fiction. His nonfiction includes the bestseller ''Stolen Continents'', winner of the Gordon Montador Award and chosen as a book of th ...

- ''A Scientific Romance'' *1998 - Gavin Kramer - ''

Shopping Shopping is an activity in which a customer browses the available goods or services presented by one or more retailers with the potential intent to purchase a suitable selection of them. A Retail#Shopper profiles, typology of shopper types ha ...

References

*Awards up to 1988: ''Prizewinning Literature: UK Literary Award Winners'' by Anne Strachan, publ. 1989 by Library Association Publishing Ltd {{DEFAULTSORT:David Higham Prize For Fiction First book awards British fiction awards Awards established in 1975 Awards disestablished in 1999 1975 establishments in the United Kingdom 1999 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Commonwealth literary awards Irish literary awards Pakistani literary awards South African fiction awards South African literary events