The Saga Prize was a literary award for new Black British novelists, which ran from 1995 to 1998.

History

The actress and writer Marsha Hunt established the Saga Prize in 1995 to recognise the literature emerging from indigenous black Britons' experiences. The prize – of £3,000 and a book contract – was for unpublished first novels. To be eligible, entrants needed a black African ancestor and to have been born in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

. The prize was sponsored by the travel firm

Saga plc Saga is a British company focused on serving the needs of those aged 50 and over. It has 2.7 million customers. The company operates sites on the Kent and Sussex coast: Enbrook Park and Priory Square. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange. ...

. Judges included

Andrea Levy Andrea Levy (7 March 1956 – 14 February 2019) was an English author best known for the novels '' Small Island'' (2004) and ''The Long Song'' (2010). She was born in London to Jamaican parents, and her work explores topics related to British ...

and Margaret Busby. The " afrocentric" nature of the Saga Prize and its restrictive definition of blackness caused controversy. The

Commission for Racial Equality The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom which aimed to address racial discrimination and promote racial equality. The commission was established in 1976, and disbanded in 2007 when its ...

objected to its creation, and the

Society of Authors The Society of Authors (SoA) is a United Kingdom trade union for professional writers, illustrators and literary translators, founded in 1884 to protect the rights and further the interests of authors. , it represents over 12,000 members and ass ...

refused to support it. The prize was successful, nevertheless, and ran for four years until 1998, winners including Diran Adebayo and Joanna Traynor.

Winners

* 1995: Diran Adebayo, ''Some Kind of Black'' * 1996: Joanna Traynor, ''Sister Josephine'' * 1997: Judith Bryan, ''Bernard and the Cloth Monkey'' * 1998: Ike Eze-Anyika, ''Canteen Culture''

References

{{Reflist, 30em British fiction awards Literary awards honoring minority groups 20th-century literary awards 1995 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards established in 1995 Awards disestablished in 1998 1998 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Black British literature