The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are

literary prize A literary award or literary prize is an award presented in recognition of a particularly lauded literary piece or body of work. It is normally presented to an author. Organizations Most literary awards come with a corresponding award ceremony. Ma ...

s awarded for literature written in the English language. They, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 1 ...

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, the prizes were founded in 1919 by Janet Coats Black in memory of her late husband, James Tait Black, a partner in the publishing house of

A & C Black A & C Black is a British book publishing company, owned since 2002 by Bloomsbury Publishing. The company is noted for publishing '' Who's Who'' since 1849. It also published popular travel guides and novels. History The firm was founded in 18 ...

Ltd. Prizes are awarded in three categories: Fiction, Biography and Drama (since 2013).

History

From its inception, the James Tait Black prize was organised without overt publicity. There was a lack of press and publisher attention, initially at least, because Edinburgh was distant from the literary centres of the country. The decision about the award was made by the Regius Chair of Rhetoric and Belles Lettres at the University of Edinburgh. Four winners of the

Nobel Prize in Literature ) , image = Nobel Prize.png , caption = , awarded_for = Outstanding contributions in literature , presenter = Swedish Academy , holder = Annie Ernaux (2022) , location = Stockholm, Sweden , year = 1901 , ...

received the James Tait Black earlier in their careers:

William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding (19 September 1911 – 19 June 1993) was a British novelist, playwright, and poet. Best known for his debut novel '' Lord of the Flies'' (1954), he published another twelve volumes of fiction in his lifetime. In 198 ...

Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer (20 November 192313 July 2014) was a South African writer and political activist. She received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1991, recognized as a writer "who through her magnificent epic writing has ... been of very great b ...

and J. M. Coetzee each collected the James Tait Black for fiction, whilst

Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing (; 22 October 1919 – 17 November 2013) was a British-Zimbabwean novelist. She was born to British parents in Iran, where she lived until 1925. Her family then moved to Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), where she remain ...

took the prize for biography. In addition to these literary Nobels,

Sir Ronald Ross Sir Ronald Ross (13 May 1857 – 16 September 1932) was a British medical doctor who received the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine in 1902 for his work on the transmission of malaria, becoming the first British Nobel laureate, and the f ...

, whose 1923 autobiography ''Memoirs, Etc.'' received the biography prize, was already a Nobel Laureate, having been awarded the 1902

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded yearly by the Nobel Assembly at the Karolinska Institute for outstanding discoveries in physiology or medicine. The Nobel Prize is not a single prize, but five separate prizes that, accordi ...

for his work on malaria. In 2012, a third prize category was announced for Drama, with the first winner of this award announced in August 2013.

Selection process and prize administration

The winners are chosen by the Professor of English Literature at the University, who is assisted by postgraduate students in the shortlisting phase, a structure which is seen to lend the prizes a considerable gravitas. At the award of the 2006 prizes, at which

Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy (born Charles Joseph McCarthy Jr., July 20, 1933) is an American writer who has written twelve novels, two plays, five screenplays and three short stories, spanning the Western and post-apocalyptic genres. He is known for his g ...

was a winner, McCarthy's publisher commented positively on the selection process noting that, in the absence of a sponsor and literary or media figures amongst the judging panel, the decision is made by "students and professors, whose only real agenda can be great books and great writing". The original endowment is now supplemented by the University and, as a consequence, the total prize fund rose from 2005 awards. Each of the three annual prizes—one for fiction, one for biography, and one for drama—is worth £10,000. The University is advised in relation to the development and administration of the Prize by a small committee which includes

Ian Rankin Sir Ian James Rankin (born 28 April 1960) is a Scottish crime writer, best known for his Inspector Rebus novels. Early life Rankin was born in Cardenden, Fife. His father, James, owned a grocery shop, and his mother, Isobel, worked in a sch ...

Alexander McCall Smith Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, CBE, FRSE (born 24 August 1948), is a British writer. He was raised in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and formerly Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh. He became an expert on medical law an ...

and

James Naughtie Alexander James Naughtie FRSE (surname pronounced ; born 9 August 1951) is a British radio and news presenter for the BBC. Between 1994 and 2015, he was one of the main presenters of Radio 4's the '' Today programme''. In his 21-plus years ...

amongst its members. In August 2007 the prize ceremony was held at the

Edinburgh International Book Festival The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square in the centre of Scotland’s capital city, Edinburgh. Billed as ''The largest festival of its k ...

for the first time.

Eligibility

For the book prizes works of fiction and biographies must be written in English. The nationality of the author does not matter, but submissions must be first published (or co-published) in Britain during the calendar year of the award. Any given author can only win each prize once. However, he or she can win both prizes at the same time. For the drama category, the work must be originally written in either English, Gaelic or Welsh, be produced first during the previous calendar year, have a playing time over one hour, and have been performed no fewer than seven times by a professional theatre company.

List of recipients

Source.

Best of the James Tait Black (2012)

In 2012, a special prize was given called the 'Best of the James Tait Black' (in addition to the normal prize for that year). The award celebrated the fiction winners over the past 93 years, as part of the 250th anniversary of the study of English Literature at the University. A shortlist of six previous winners competed for the title of Best. A judging panel of celebrity alumni and writers decided on the winner announced on 6 December 2012 as

Angela Carter Angela Olive Pearce (formerly Carter, Stalker; 7 May 1940 – 16 February 1992), who published under the name Angela Carter, was an English novelist, short story writer, poet, and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism, and picar ...

's ''

Nights at the Circus ''Nights at the Circus'' is a novel by British writer Angela Carter, first published in 1984 and the winner of the 1984 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction. The novel focuses on the life and exploits of Sophie Fevvers, a woman who is ...

''. ;Shortlist *

, ''

'' (1984) *

Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene (2 October 1904 – 3 April 1991) was an English writer and journalist regarded by many as one of the leading English novelists of the 20th century. Combining literary acclaim with widespread popularity, Greene acquir ...

, ''

The Heart of the Matter ''The Heart of the Matter'' (1948) is a novel by English author Graham Greene. The book details a life-changing moral crisis for Henry Scobie. Greene, a former British intelligence officer in Freetown, British Sierra Leone, drew on his exper ...

'' (1948) *

James Kelman James Kelman (born 9 June 1946) is a Scottish novelist, short story writer, playwright and essayist. His novel '' A Disaffection'' was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989. Kelman won ...

, '' A Disaffection'' (1989) *

, ''

The Road ''The Road'' is a 2006 post-apocalyptic novel by American writer Cormac McCarthy. The book details the grueling journey of a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted by an unspecified cataclysm that ha ...

'' (2006) *

Caryl Phillips Caryl Phillips (born 13 March 1958) is a Kittitian-British novelist, playwright and essayist. Best known for his novels (for which he has won multiple awards), Phillips is often described as a Black Atlantic writer, since much of his fictional ...

, ''

Crossing the River ''Crossing the River'' is a historical novel by British author Caryl Phillips, published in 1993. The ''Village Voice'' calls it "a fearless reimagining of the geography and meaning of the African diaspora." The ''Boston Globe'' said, "''Cros ...

'' (1993) *

Muriel Spark Dame Muriel Sarah Spark (née Camberg; 1 February 1918 – 13 April 2006). was a Scottish novelist, short story writer, poet and essayist. Life Muriel Camberg was born in the Bruntsfield area of Edinburgh, the daughter of Bernard Camberg, an ...

, '' The Mandelbaum Gate'' (1965)

References

{{Reflist, 25em

External links

James Tait Black Prizes homepage, University of Edinburgh

James Tait Black Memorial Prize winners
at

Faded Page Distributed Proofreaders Canada (DP Canada) is a volunteer organization that converts books into digital format and releases them as public domain books in formats readable by electronic devices. It was launched in December 2007 and has published ...

Windows Media Video report of the 2007 James Tait Black Prize ceremony

New Statesman article on the James Tait Black and Booker prizes

James Tait Black feature on the BBC Radio 4's 'Open Book' (includes audio link)
English-language literary awards Biography awards British fiction awards Scottish literary awards Awards established in 1919 1919 establishments in Scotland History of the University of Edinburgh