The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by 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 as ...

. Set up by

William Somerset Maugham William Somerset Maugham ( ; 25 January 1874 – 16 December 1965) was an English writer, known for his plays, novels and short stories. Born in Paris, where he spent his first ten years, Maugham was schooled in England and went to a German un ...

in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awards go to writers under the age of 30 with works published in the year before the award; the work can be either non-fiction, fiction or poetry. Since 1964 multiple winners have usually been chosen in the same year. In 1975 and in 2012 the award was not given.

List of winners

2020s

2022 * Stephanie Sy-Quia for ''Amnion'' (Granta, Granta Poetry) * Tice Cin for ''Keeping the House'' (And Other Stories) * Lucia Osborne-Crowley for ''My Body Keeps Your Secrets'' (Indigo Press) *

Caleb Azumah Nelson Caleb Azumah Nelson is a British-Ghanaian writer and photographer. His 2021 debut novel, '' Open Water'', won the Costa Book Award for First Novel. Personal life Azumah Nelson grew up in and currently lives in southeast London ( Bellingham). ...

for ''Open Water'' (Penguin Random House/Viking) *

Maia Elsner Maia (; Ancient Greek: Μαῖα; also spelled Maie, ; la, Maia), in ancient Greek religion and mythology, is one of the Pleiades and the mother of Hermes, one of the major Greek gods, by Zeus, the king of Olympus. Family Maia is the daugh ...

for ''Overrun by Wild Boars'' (Flipped Eye Publishing) 2021 * Lamorna Ash for ''Dark, Salt, Clear'' (Bloomsbury Publishing) * Isabelle Baafi for ''Ripe'' (Ignition Press) * Akeem Balogun for ''The Storm'' (Okapi Books) * Graeme Armstrong for ''The Young Team'' (Pan Macmillan, Picador) * * * * * * * * * 2020 * Alex Allison for ''The Art of the Body'' (Dialogue Books/

Little, Brown Little, Brown and Company is an American publishing company founded in 1837 by Charles Coffin Little and James Brown (publisher), James Brown in Boston. For close to two centuries it has published fiction and nonfiction by American authors. Ear ...

) * Oliver Soden for ''Michael Tippett: The Biography'' (

Weidenfeld & Nicolson Weidenfeld & Nicolson Ltd (established 1949), often shortened to W&N or Weidenfeld, is a British publisher of fiction and reference books. It has been a division of the French-owned Orion Publishing Group since 1991. History George Weidenfeld a ...

/Orion) * Roseanne Watt for ''Moder Dy'' (

Birlinn The birlinn ( gd, bìrlinn) or West Highland galley was a wooden vessel propelled by sail and oar, used extensively in the Hebrides and West Highlands of Scotland from the Middle Ages on. Variants of the name in English and Lowland Scots inclu ...

/Polygon) *

Amrou Al-Kadhi Amrou Al-Kadhi (born 23 June 1990) is a British-Iraqi writer, drag performer, and filmmaker whose work primarily focuses on queer identity, cultural representation and racial politics. Al-Kadhi made a cameo appearance in the 2021 Sony's Spider-Ma ...

for ''Unicorn'' ( 4th Estate)

2010s

2019 *

Raymond Antrobus Raymond Antrobus is a British poet, educator and writer, who has been performing poetry since 2007. In March 2019 he won the Ted Hughes Award for new work in poetry.Damian Le Bas Damian Le Bas (30 January 1963, Sheffield – 9 December 2017, Worthing) was a British artist associated with the Outsider Art (or "Art Brut") label, as well a leading exponent of the "Roma Revolution" in art. Life Le Bas was of Roma heritage. ...

for ''The Stopping Places'' *

Phoebe Power Phoebe Power (1993) is a British poet, whose work, ''Shrines of Upper Austria'', won the Forward Poetry Prize for Best First Collection. Biography Phoebe Power was born in Newcastle-upon-Tyne in 1993. She was named a Foyle Young Poet of the ...

for ''Shrines of Upper Austria'' *

Nell Stevens Nell Stevens (born 1985) is a British writer of memoirs and fiction. She is an assistant professor in the University of Warwick School of Creative Arts, Performance and Visual Cultures, where she teaches on the Warwick Writing Programme and list ...

for ''Mrs Gaskell and Me'' 2018 *

Kayo Chingonyi Kayo Chingonyi FRSL (born 1987) is a Zambian-British poet and editor who is the author of two poetry collections, ''Kumukanda'' and ''A Blood Condition.'' He has also published two pamphlets, ''Some Bright Elegance'' (Salt, 2012) and ''The Colour ...

for ''Kumukanda'' *

Fiona Mozley Fiona Mozley (born 1988)''Vogue'' interview, 16 October 201Retrieved 24 May 2018./ref> is an English novelist and medievalist. Her debut novel, ''Elmet'', was shortlisted for the 2017 Man Booker prize. Life and literature Fiona Mozley was born ...

for ''

Elmet Elmet ( cy, Elfed), sometimes Elmed or Elmete, was an independent Brittonic kingdom between about the 5th century and early 7th century, in what later became the smaller area of the West Riding of Yorkshire then West Yorkshire, South Yorkshir ...

'' *

Miriam Nash Miriam Nash is a Scottish poet, performer and arts facilitator. She has published a pamphlet, ''Small Change'' (2015) and a full-length poetry collection, ''All the Prayers in the House'', (2017). She received an Eric Gregory Award in 2015, was ...

for ''All the Prayers in the House'' 2017 * Edmund Gordon for ''The Invention of Angela Carter'' *

Melissa Lee-Houghton Melissa Lee-Houghton (born in 1982 in Wythenshawe) is an English poet, fiction writer, and essayist. Her 2016 poetry collection, ''Sunshine,'' won the Somerset Maugham Award and was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award and Costa Book Award for P ...

for ''Sunshine'' *

Martin MacInnes Martin may refer to: Places * Martin City (disambiguation) * Martin County (disambiguation) * Martin Township (disambiguation) Antarctica * Martin Peninsula, Marie Byrd Land * Port Martin, Adelie Land * Point Martin, South Orkney Islands Austra ...

for ''Infinite Ground'' 2016 *

Jessie Greengrass Jessie Greengrass (born 1982) is a British author. She won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Edge Hill Short Story Prize for her debut short story collection. Education and career Greengrass studied philosophy in Cambridge and London and now liv ...

for ''An Account Of The Decline Of The Great Auk, According To One Who Saw It'' * Daisy Hay for ''Mr & Mrs Disraeli: A Strange Romance'' * Andrew McMillan for ''Physical'' * Thomas Morris for ''We Don't Know What We're Doing'' *

Jack Underwood John Patrick Underwood (December 8, 1894 – December 31, 1936) was a professional American football player from Hinckley, Minnesota. After attending high school in Duluth, Minnesota, Duluth, Underwood made his professional debut in the Nati ...

for ''Happiness'' 2015 * Jonathan Beckman for ''How to Ruin a Queen: Marie Antoinette, the Stolen Diamonds and the Scandal that Shook the French Throne'' *

Liz Berry Liz Berry (born 1980) is a British poet. She has published two pamphlets and one full-length poetry collection. Her poetry collection, ''Black Country'', was named poetry book of the year by several publications, including ''The Guardian''. E ...

for ''Black Country'' * Ben Brooks for ''Lolito'' *

Zoe Pilger Zoe Pilger (; born 1984) is an English author and art critic. Her first novel, ''Eat My Heart Out'', won a Betty Trask Award and a Somerset Maugham Award. Early life and career The daughter of journalists John Pilger and Yvonne Roberts, Zoe ...

for ''Eat My Heart Out'' 2014 *

Nadifa Mohamed Nadifa Mohamed ( so, Nadiifa Maxamed, ar, نظيفة محمد) (born 1981) is a Somali-British novelist. She featured on ''Granta'' magazine's list "Best of Young British Novelists" in 2013, and in 2014 on the Africa39 list of writers aged u ...

for '' The Orchard of Lost Souls'' * Daisy Hildyard for ''Hunters in the Snow Grass'' *

Amy Sackville Amy Sackville (born 1981) is a British writer whose debut novel '' The Still Point'' was the winner of the 2010 John Llewellyn Rhys Prize. Sackville studied English and theatre studies at Leeds University, followed by an MPhil at Oxford's Exete ...

for ''Orkney'' 2013 *

Ned Beauman Ned Beauman (born 1985) is a British novelist, journalist and screenwriter. The author of five novels, he was selected as one of the Best of Young British Novelists by ''Granta'' magazine in 2013. Biography Born in London, Beauman is the son of ...

for ''The Teleportation Accident'' * Abi Curtis for ''The Glass Delusion'' *

Joe Stretch Joe Stretch (born 7 January 1982) is an English writer and singer. His first novel, ''Friction'', was published by Vintage Books at Random House in 2008. His second novel, ''Wildlife'', was published in 2009. His visceral, savage writing style ha ...

for ''The Adult'' * Lucy Wood for ''Diving Belles'' 2012 * No Award 2011 *

Miriam Gamble Miriam Gamble (born 1980) is a poet who won the Eric Gregory Award in 2007 and the Somerset Maugham Award in 2011. She lives in Scotland and works as a lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. Life and career Miriam Gamble was born in Brussel ...

for ''The Squirrels Are Dead'' * Alexandra Harris for ''Romantic Moderns'' *

Adam O'Riordan Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Book of Genesis, Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a coll ...

for ''In the Flesh'' 2010 *

Jacob Polley Jacob Polley (born 1975) is a British poet and novelist. He has published four collections of poetry. His novel, ''Talk of the Town'', won the Somerset Maugham Award in 2009. His latest poetry collection, ''Jackself'', won the T.S. Eliot Prize ...

for ''Talk of the Town'' *

Helen Oyeyemi Helen Oyeyemi FRSL (born 10 December 1984) is a British novelist and writer of short stories. Life Oyeyemi was born in Nigeria and was raised in Lewisham, South London from when she was four. Oyeyemi wrote her first novel, '' The Icarus Girl ...

for ''White is for Witching'' * Ben Wilson for ''What Price Liberty?''

2000s

2009 *

Adam Foulds Adam Samuel James Foulds FRSL ( ; born 8 October 1974) is a British novelist and poet. Biography Foulds was educated at Bancroft's School, read English at St Catherine's College, Oxford under Craig Raine, and graduated with an MA in creative ...

for ''The Broken Word'' *

Alice Albinia Alice Albinia (born 1976) is an English journalist and author whose first book, '' Empires of the Indus'', won several awards. Albinia was born in London and read English Literature at Cambridge University and South Asian History at SOAS. In b ...

for ''Empires of the Indus'' *

Rodge Glass Rodge Glass (born 17 January 1978 in Cheshire) is a British writer. Biography Glass was born in Cheshire, Cheshire, England. He attended an "an Orthodox Jewish Primary School, an 11+ All Boys Grammar School, a Co-Ed Private School, a Monk-sponsor ...

for ''Alasdair Gray: A Secretary's Biography'' *

Henry Hitchings Henry Hitchings (born 11 December 1974) is an author, reviewer and critic, specializing in narrative non-fiction, with a particular emphasis on language and cultural history. The second of his books, ''The Secret Life of Words: How English Beca ...

for ''The Secret Life of Words'' *

Thomas Leveritt Thomas Leveritt is an Anglo-American artist who works in various media. His roots are in figurative painting, for which he has won the Carroll Medal for Portraiture from the UK's Royal Society of Portrait Painters, and other painting awards from ...

for ''The Exchange-Rate Between Love and Money'' * Helen Walsh for ''Once Upon a Time in England'' 2008 * Steven Hall for ''

The Raw Shark Texts ''The Raw Shark Texts'' is the debut novel by British author Steven Hall, released in 2007. The book was released by Canongate Books in the US and the UK and published by HarperCollins in Canada. The title is a play on " Rorschach Tests", whi ...

'' * Nick Laird for ''On Purpose'' * Gwendoline Riley for ''Joshua Spassky'' *

Adam Thirlwell Adam Thirlwell (born 22 August 1978) is a British novelist. His work has been translated into thirty languages. He has twice been named as one of ''Granta''s Best of Young British Novelists. In 2015 he received the E.M. Forster Award from the Am ...

for ''Miss Herbert'' (US title: ''The Delighted States'') 2007 *

Horatio Clare Horatio Clare (born 1973) is an English author known for travel, memoir, nature and children's books. He worked at the BBC as a producer on '' Front Row'' (BBC Radio 4), ''Night Waves'' and ''The Verb'' (BBC Radio 3). Clare has written memoirs s ...

for ''Running For The Hills'' * James Scudamore for ''The Amnesia Clinic'' 2006 *

Chris Cleave Chris Cleave (born 1973) is a British writer and journalist. Biography Cleave was born in London on May 14, 1973, brought up in Cameroon and Buckinghamshire, and educated at Balliol College, Oxford where he studied psychology. He lives in the ...

for '' Incendiary'' *

Zadie Smith Zadie Smith FRSL (born Sadie; 25 October 1975) is an English novelist, essayist, and short-story writer. Her debut novel, ''White Teeth'' (2000), immediately became a best-seller and won a number of awards. She has been a tenured professor ...

for ''

On Beauty ''On Beauty'' is a 2005 novel by British author Zadie Smith, loosely based on ''Howards End'' by E. M. Forster. The story follows the lives of a mixed-race British/American family living in the United States, addresses ethnic and cultural dif ...

'' *

Owen Sheers Owen Sheers (born 20 September 1974) is a Welsh poet, author, playwright and television presenter. He was the first writer in residence to be appointed by any national rugby union team. Early life Owen Sheers was born in Suva, Fiji in 1974, and b ...

for ''Skirrid Hill'' 2005 * Justin Hill for ''Passing Under Heaven'' *

Maggie O'Farrell Maggie O'Farrell, RSL (born 27 May 1972), is a novelist from Northern Ireland. Her acclaimed first novel, '' After You'd Gone'', won the Betty Trask Award, and a later one, '' The Hand That First Held Mine'', the 2010 Costa Novel Award. She ha ...

for ''The Distance Between Us'' 2004 * Charlotte Mendelson for ''Daughters of Jerusalem'' * Mark Blayney for ''Two Kinds of Silence'' * Robert Macfarlane for '' Mountains of the Mind'' 2003 * William Fiennes for ''The Snow Geese'' *

Hari Kunzru Hari Mohan Nath Kunzru (born 1969) is a British novelist and journalist. He is the author of the novels '' The Impressionist'', '' Transmission'', ''My Revolutions'', ''Gods Without Men'', ''White Tears''David Robinson"Interview: Hari Kunzru, a ...

for ''The Impressionist'' *

Jon McGregor Jon McGregor (born 1976) is a British novelist and short story writer. In 2002, his first novel was longlisted for the Booker Prize, making him then the youngest ever contender. His second and fourth novels were longlisted for the Booker Prize ...

for '' If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things'' 2002 * Charlotte Hobson for ''Black Earth City'' *

Marcel Theroux Marcel Raymond Theroux (born 13 June 1968) is a British-American novelist and broadcaster. He wrote ''A Stranger in The Earth'' and '' The Confessions of Mycroft Holmes: A Paper Chase,'' for which he won the Somerset Maugham Award in 2002. His ...

for '' The Paperchase'' 2001 *

Edward Platt Edward Cuthbert Platt (February 14, 1916 – March 19, 1974) was an American actor best known for his portrayal of the Chief in the 1965–70 NBC/CBS television series: ''Get Smart''. With his deep voice and mature appearance, he played an ...

for ''

Leadville The City of Leadville is a statutory city that is the county seat, the most populous community, and the only incorporated municipality in Lake County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 2,602 at the 2010 census and an estimated ...

'' * Ben Rice for '' Pobby and Dingan'' 2000 *

Bella Bathurst Bella Bathurst (born in 1969 in London) is an English writer, photojournalist, and furniture maker. Her novel ''The Lighthouse Stevensons'' won the 2000 Somerset Maugham Award. Biography Bathurst was born in London and presently lives in Scotla ...

for ''The Lighthouse Stevensons'' *

Sarah Waters Sarah Ann Waters (born 21 July 1966) is a Welsh novelist. She is best known for her novels set in Victorian society and featuring lesbian protagonists, such as '' Tipping the Velvet'' and '' Fingersmith''. Life and education Early life Sa ...

for ''

Affinity Affinity may refer to: Commerce, finance and law * Affinity (law), kinship by marriage * Affinity analysis, a market research and business management technique * Affinity Credit Union, a Saskatchewan-based credit union * Affinity Equity Par ...

1990s

1999 * Andrea Ashworth for ''Once in a House on Fire'' *

Paul Farley Paul Farley, FRSL (born 1965) is a British poet, writer and broadcaster. Life and work Farley was born in Liverpool. He studied painting at the Chelsea School of Art, and has lived in London, Brighton and Cumbria. His first collection of poe ...

for ''The Boy from the Chemist is Here to See You'' *

Giles Foden Giles Foden (born 11 January 1967)George Stade and Karen Karbiener (eds), ''Encyclopaedia of British Writers, 1800 to the Present'', 2nd edn, Infobase Publishing, 2010, p. 176. is an English author, best known for his novel ''The Last King of S ...

for ''

The Last King of Scotland ''The Last King of Scotland'' is a novel by journalist Giles Foden, published by Faber and Faber in 1998. Focusing on the rise of Ugandan President Idi Amin and his reign as dictator from 1971 to 1979, the novel, which interweaves fiction an ...

'' *

Jonathan Freedland Jonathan Saul Freedland (born 25 February 1967) is a British journalist who writes a weekly column for ''The Guardian''. He presents BBC Radio 4's contemporary history series ''The Long View''. Freedland also writes thrillers, mainly under the ...

for ''

Bring Home the Revolution ''Bring Home the Revolution: The Case For a British Republic'' is a non-fiction book written by Jonathan Freedland and originally published in 1998 by Fourth Estate. Part travel book, part political and sociological examination of American societ ...

'' 1998 *

Rachel Cusk Rachel Cusk (born 8 February 1967) is a British novelist and writer. Childhood and education Cusk was born in Saskatoon to British parents in 1967, the second of four children with an older sister and two younger brothers, and spent much of h ...

for '' The Country Life'' * Jonathan Rendall for ''This Bloody Mary Is the Last Thing I Own'' *

Kate Summerscale Kate Summerscale (born 1965) is an English writer and journalist. Biography Summerscale was brought up in Japan, England and Chile. After attending Bedales School (1978–1983), she took a double-first at Oxford University and an MA in jour ...

for ''The Queen of Whale Cay'' *

Robert Twigger Robert Twigger (born 30 October 1962) is a British artist and writer. He travels widely but divides his time mostly between the UK and Egypt. Life Twigger was educated at Balliol College, Oxford University. He initially studied engineering, but ...

for ''

Angry White Pyjamas ''Angry White Pyjamas'' is a book written by Robert Twigger about his time in a one-year intensive program of studying Yoshinkan aikido. Summary The book is set in Tokyo in the mid-1990s. Twigger is living with two friends in a tiny apartmen ...

'' 1997 *

Rhidian Brook Rhidian Brook (born 1964) is a Welsh novelist, screenwriter and broadcaster. Biography Brook was born in Tenby in 1964. He attended Churcher's College in Hampshire, leaving in 1982. His first novel, ''The Testimony Of Taliesin Jones'' (HarperCol ...

for ''The Testimony of Taliesin Jones'' *

Kate Clanchy Kate Clanchy MBE (born 1965 in Glasgow, Scotland) is a British poet, freelance writer and teacher. Early life She was born in 1965 in Glasgow to medieval historian Michael Clanchy and teacher Joan Clanchy (née Milne). She was educated at Ge ...

for ''Slattern'' *

Philip Hensher Philip Michael Hensher FRSL (born 20 February 1965) is an English novelist, critic and journalist. Biography Son of Raymond J. and Miriam Hensher, his father a bank manager and composer and his mother a university librarian, Hensher was born in ...

for ''Kitchen Venom'' *

Francis Spufford Francis Spufford FRSL (born 1964) is an English author and teacher of writing whose career has seen him shift gradually from non-fiction to fiction. His first novel ''Golden Hill'' received critical acclaim and numerous prizes including the Costa ...

for ''I May Be Some Time'' 1996 *

Katherine Pierpoint Katherine Pierpoint (born 1961) is an English poet. She is best known for her book ''Truffle Beds'' which won a Somerset Maugham Award and was shortlisted for the T. S. Eliot Prize. Life and career Pierpoint was born in Northampton in 1961. ...

for ''Truffle Beds'' *

Alan Warner Alan Warner (born 1964) is a Scottish novelist who grew up in Connel, near Oban. His notable novels include '' Morvern Callar'' and ''The Sopranos'' – the latter being the inspiration for the play '' Our Ladies of Perpetual Succour'' and its ...

for '' Morvern Callar'' 1995 * Patrick French for ''Younghusband'' *

Simon Garfield Simon Frank Garfield (born 19 March 1960) is a British journalist and non-fiction author. Biography Garfield was born in London in 1960.Kathleen Jamie Kathleen Jamie FRSL (born 13 May 1962) is a Scottish poet and essayist. In 2021 she became Scotland's fourth Makar. Life and work Kathleen Jamie is a poet and essayist. Raised in Currie, near Edinburgh, she studied philosophy at the University ...

for ''The Queen of Sheba'' * Laura Thompson for ''The Dogs'' 1994 * Jackie Kay for ''Other Lovers'' * A. L. Kennedy for ''Looking For the Possible Dance'' *

Philip Marsden Philip Marsden, also known as Philip Marsden-Smedley (born 11 May 1961), is an English travel writer and novelist. Born in Bristol, England, Marsden has a degree in anthropology and worked for some years for ''The Spectator'' magazine. He became a ...

for ''Crossing Place'' 1993 *

Dea Birkett Dea Birkett (born 1958) is a British writer, journalist, broadcaster and a former circus performer. Personal life Birkett was brought up in the suburbs of Surrey, England. As a child she watched the circus parade through her town, which made he ...

for ''Jella'' * Duncan McLean for '' Bucket of Tongues'' *

Glyn Maxwell Glyn Maxwell (born 1962) is a British poet, playwright, novelist, librettist, and lecturer. Early life Of primarily Welsh heritage — his mother Buddug-Mair Powell (b. 1928) acted in the original stage show of Dylan Thomas's ''Under Milk Wood'' ...

for ''Out of the Rain'' 1992 *

Geoff Dyer Geoff Dyer (born 5 June 1958) is an English author. He has written a number of novels and non-fiction books, some of which have won literary awards. Personal background Dyer was born and raised in Cheltenham, England, as the only child of a ...

for '' But Beautiful'' *

Lawrence Norfolk Lawrence Norfolk (born 1963) is a British novelist known for historical works with complex plots and intricate detail. Biography Though born in London, Norfolk lived in Iraq until 1967 and then in the West Country of England. He read English a ...

for ''Lemprière's Dictionary'' *

Gerard Woodward Gerard Woodward (born 1961) is a British novelist, poet and short story writer, best known for his trilogy of novels concerning the troubled Jones family, the second of which, '' I'll Go to Bed at Noon'', was shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker ...

for ''Householder'' 1991 * Peter Benson for ''The Other Occupant'' *

Lesley Glaister Lesley Glaister (born 4 October 1956,) is a British novelist, poet and playwright. She has written 15 novels, ''Blasted Things'' (2020) being the most recent, one play and numerous short stories and radio plays. She is a lecturer in creative writ ...

for ''Honour Thy Father'' * Helen Simpson for ''Four Bare Legs in a Bed'' 1990 * Mark Hudson for ''Our Grandmothers' Drums'' * Sam North for ''The Automatic Man'' *

Nicholas Shakespeare Nicholas William Richmond Shakespeare FRSL (born 3 March 1957) is a British novelist and biographer, described by the ''Wall Street Journal'' as "one of the best English novelists of our time". Biography Born in Worcester, England to diplomat ...

for ''The Vision of Elena Silves''

1980s

1989 *

Rupert Christiansen Rupert Christiansen (born 1954) is an English writer, journalist and critic. Life and career Born in London, Christiansen is the grandson of Arthur Christiansen (former editor of the '' Daily Express'') and son of Kay and Michael Christiansen (for ...

for ''Romantic Affinities'' *

Alan Hollinghurst Alan James Hollinghurst (born 26 May 1954) is an English novelist, poet, short story writer and translator. He won the 1989 Somerset Maugham Award, the 1994 James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the 2004 Booker Prize. Early life and education H ...

for ''

The Swimming Pool Library ''The Swimming-Pool Library'' is a 1988 novel by Alan Hollinghurst. Plot introduction In 1983 London, Will, a privileged, gay, sexually irresistible 25-year-old, saves the life of an elderly aristocrat who has a heart-attack in a public lavato ...

'' *

Deirdre Madden Deirdre Madden (born 20 August 1960) is a novelist from Northern Ireland. Career Madden was born in Toomebridge, County Antrim and was educated at St Mary's Grammar School, Magherafelt. She proceeded to Trinity College, Dublin (BA) and then to ...

for ''The Birds of the Innocent Wood'' 1988 *

Jimmy Burns Jimmy Burns (born February 27, 1943) is an American soul blues and electric blues guitarist, singing, singer and songwriter. Although he was born in the Mississippi Delta, Burns has spent nearly all his life in Chicago. His elder brother, Eddie ...

for ''The Land That Lost Its Heroes'' *

Carol Ann Duffy Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, resigning in 2019. She was the first ...

for ''Selling Manhattan'' *

Matthew Kneale Matthew Kneale (born 24 November 1960) is a British writer. He is best known for his 2000 novel '' English Passengers''. Life Kneale was born on 24 November 1960 in London, the son of screenwriter Nigel Kneale, and the children's writer Judith ...

for ''Whore Banquets'' 1987 * Stephen Gregory for ''The Cormorant'' *

Janni Howker Janni Howker is a British writer of adult and children's fiction who has adapted her own books for the screen. She has worked across the UK running creative writing workshops for adults and children, and is involved in several arts development p ...

for ''Isaac Campion'' * Andrew Motion for ''The Lamberts'' 1986 *

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 Spring ...

for ''Family Myths and Legends'' *

Adam Nicolson Adam Nicolson, (born 12 September 1957) is an English author who has written about history, landscape, great literature and the sea. He is also the 5th Baron Carnock, but does not use the title. He is noted for his books ''Sea Room'' (about t ...

for ''Frontiers'' *

Tim Parks Timothy Harold Parks (born 19 December 1954) is a British novelist, translator, author and professor of literature. Career He is the author of eighteen novels (notably ''Europa'', which was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1997). His first ...

for ''Tongues of Flame'' 1985 * Blake Morrison for ''Dark Glasses'' *

Jeremy Reed Jeremy Thomas Reed (born June 15, 1981) is an American former professional baseball outfielder in Major League Baseball (MLB). Early life Reed graduated from Bonita High School in La Verne, California in 1999, and went on to play college basebal ...

for ''By the Fisheries'' * Jane Rogers for ''Her Living Image'' 1984 *

Peter Ackroyd Peter Ackroyd (born 5 October 1949) is an English biographer, novelist and critic with a specialist interest in the history and culture of London. For his novels about English history and culture and his biographies of, among others, William ...

for '' The Last Testament of Oscar Wilde'' *

Timothy Garton Ash Timothy Garton Ash CMG FRSA (born 12 July 1955) is a British historian, author and commentator. He is Professor of European Studies at Oxford University. Most of his work has been concerned with the contemporary history of Europe, with a spe ...

for ''The Polish Revolution: Solidarity'' * Sean O'Brien for ''The Indoor Park'' 1983 *

Lisa St Aubin de Teran Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa Lisa (born 1967), American actress and lead singer of the Cult Jam * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA", Japanese singer and producer * Lisa Komine (born 1978), J ...

for '' Keepers of the House'' 1982 * William Boyd for ''

A Good Man in Africa ''A Good Man in Africa'' is a 1994 comedy-drama film, based on William Boyd's 1981 novel ''A Good Man in Africa'' and directed by Bruce Beresford. The film starred Colin Friels, Sean Connery, John Lithgow, Joanne Whalley, Diana Rigg and Louis Gos ...

'' * Adam Mars-Jones for ''Lantern Lecture'' 1981 *

Julian Barnes Julian Patrick Barnes (born 19 January 1946) is an English writer. He won the Man Booker Prize in 2011 with '' The Sense of an Ending'', having been shortlisted three times previously with '' Flaubert's Parrot'', ''England, England'', and '' A ...

for '' Metroland'' * Clive Sinclair for ''Hearts of Gold'' * A. N. Wilson for ''The Healing Art'' 1980 *

Max Hastings Sir Max Hugh Macdonald Hastings (; born 28 December 1945) is a British journalist and military historian, who has worked as a foreign correspondent for the BBC, editor-in-chief of ''The Daily Telegraph'', and editor of the ''Evening Standard' ...

for ''Bomber Command'' * Christopher Reid for ''Arcadia'' *

Humphrey Carpenter Humphrey William Bouverie Carpenter (29 April 1946 – 4 January 2005) was an English biographer, writer, and radio broadcaster. He is known especially for his biographies of J. R. R. Tolkien and other members of the literary society the Inkli ...

for ''The Inklings''

1970s

1979 *

Helen Hodgman Helen Hodgman (27 April 1945 – 6 June 2022)"Vale Helen Hodgman"
by David Winter,

for ''Jack & Jill'' *

Sara Maitland Sara Maitland (born 27 February 1950) is a British writer of religious fantasy. A novelist, she is also known for her short stories. Her work has a magic realist tendency. Life and career Sarah (later "Sara") Louise Maitland was born in London ...

for ''Daughter of Jerusalem'' 1978 *

Tom Paulin Thomas Neilson Paulin (born 25 January 1949 in Leeds, England) is a Northern Irish poet and critic of film, music and literature. He lives in England, where he was the G. M. Young Lecturer in English Literature at Hertford College, Oxford. Earl ...

for ''A State of Justice'' * Nigel Williams for ''My Life Closed Twice'' 1977 * Richard Holmes for ''Shelley: The Pursuit'' 1976 *

Dominic Cooper Dominic Edward Cooper (born 2 June 1978) is an English actor known for his portrayal of comic book characters Jesse Custer on the AMC show ''Preacher'' (2016–2019) and young Howard Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with appearances ...

for ''The Dead of Winter'' *

Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, (born 21 June 1948) is an English novelist and screenwriter. In 2008, ''The Times'' featured him on its list of "The 50 greatest British writers since 1945" and ''The Daily Telegraph'' ranked him number 19 in its list of th ...

for ''

First Love, Last Rites ''First Love, Last Rites'' is a collection of short stories by Ian McEwan. It was first published in 1975 by Jonathan Cape, with cover designed by Bill Botten, and re-issued in 1997 by Vintage. Context The collection is McEwan's first pu ...

'' 1975 * No Award 1974 * Martin Amis for ''

The Rachel Papers ''The Rachel Papers'' is a 1989 British film written and directed by Damian Harris, and based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Martin Amis. It stars Dexter Fletcher and Ione Skye with Jonathan Pryce, James Spader, Bill Paterson, Jared ...

'' 1973 * Peter Prince for ''Play Things'' *

Paul Strathern Paul Strathern (born 1940) is a Scots-Irish writer and academic. He was born in London, and studied at Trinity College, Dublin, after which he served in the Merchant Navy over a period of two years. He then lived on a Greek island. In 1966 he tr ...

for ''A Season in Abyssinia'' *

Jonathan Street Jonathan Street (9 February 1943 – 1 November 2012) was a British novelist. He won the Somerset Maugham Award for his novel ''Prudence Dictates'' (1972). Among his other books are ''Yours'' (1970) and ''Rebarbative!'' (1969). Street was also a ...

for ''Prudence Dictates'' 1972 *

Douglas Dunn Douglas Eaglesham Dunn, OBE (born 23 October 1942) is a Scottish poet, academic, and critic. He is Professor of English and Director of St Andrew's Scottish Studies Institute at St Andrew's University. Background Dunn was born in Inchinnan, Re ...

for ''Terry Street'' * Gillian Tindall for ''Fly Away Home'' 1971 *

Susan Hill Dame Susan Hill, Lady Wells, (born 5 February 1942) is an English author of fiction and non-fiction works. Her novels include ''The Woman in Black'', '' The Mist in the Mirror'', and ''I'm the King of the Castle'', for which she received th ...

for ''

I'm the King of the Castle ''I’m the King of the Castle'' is a 1970 novel by English writer Susan Hill. The 1989 French film '' Je suis le seigneur du château'' directed by Régis Wargnier Régis Wargnier (; born 18 April 1948) is a French film director, film produc ...

'' *

Richard Barber Richard William Barber FRSL FSA FRHistS (born 30 October 1941) is a British historian who has published several books about medieval history and literature. His book ''The Knight and Chivalry'', about the interplay between history and literat ...

for ''The Knight and Chivalry'' * Michael Hastings for ''Tussy Is Me'' 1970 *

Jane Gaskell Jane Gaskell (born July 7, 1941 in Lancaster, EnglandSharon Yntema, ''More Than 100: Women Science Fiction Writers''. Crossing Press, 1988. (pp. 51-52).) is a British fantasy writer. She wrote her first novel, ''Strange Evil'', at age 14. It wa ...

for ''A Sweet Sweet Summer'' *

Piers Paul Read Piers Paul Read FRSL (born 7 March 1941) is a British novelist, historian and biographer. He was first noted in 1974 for a book of reportage, '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', later adapted as a feature film and a documentary. Read ...

for ''

Monk Dawson ''Monk Dawson'' is a film that was released in 1998, directed and produced by Tom Waller and starring John Michie, Benedict Taylor, Martin Kemp, Rhona Mitra, and Paula Hamilton. It was based on the 1969 novel of the same name written by Piers ...

1960s

1969 *

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 ...

for '' Several Perceptions'' 1968 * Paul Bailey for ''At The Jerusalem'' *

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

for ''

Death of a Naturalist ''Death of a Naturalist'' (1966) is a collection of poems written by Seamus Heaney, who received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature. The collection was Heaney's first major published volume, and includes ideas that he had presented at meetings o ...

'' 1967 *

B. S. Johnson Bryan Stanley William Johnson (5 February 1933 – 13 November 1973) was an English experimental novelist, poet and literary critic. He also produced television programmes and made films. Early life Johnson was born into a working-class family, ...

for ''Trawl'' *

Andrew Sinclair Andrew Annandale Sinclair FRSL FRSA (21 January 1935 – 30 May 2019) was a British novelist, historian, biographer, critic, filmmaker, and a publisher of classic and modern film scripts. He has been described as a "writer of extraordinary flu ...

for ''The Better Half'' 1966 *

Michael Frayn Michael Frayn, FRSL (; born 8 September 1933) is an English playwright and novelist. He is best known as the author of the farce ''Noises Off'' and the dramas ''Copenhagen'' and ''Democracy''. His novels, such as '' Towards the End of the Mo ...

for '' The Tin Men'' *

Julian Mitchell Charles Julian Humphrey Mitchell, FRSL (born 1 May 1935) is an English playwright, screenwriter and occasional novelist. He is best known as the writer of the play and film '' Another Country'', and as a screenwriter for TV, producing many orig ...

for ''The White Father'' 1965 *

Peter Everett Peter Everett is an Australian television host. He is probably best known for hosting the Australian adaptation of cook show ''Ready Steady Cook'', which aired on Network Ten. He is known for appearing on '' Changing Rooms'' which aired on t ...

for ''Negatives'' 1964 *

Dan Jacobson Dan Jacobson (7 March 1929 – 12 June 2014) was a South African novelist, short story writer, critic and essayist of Lithuanian Jewish descent. Early life and career Dan Jacobson was born 7 March 1929, in Johannesburg, South Africa, where his p ...

for ''Time of Arrival'' *

John le Carré David John Moore Cornwell (19 October 193112 December 2020), better known by his pen name John le Carré ( ), was a British and Irish author, best known for his espionage novels, many of which were successfully adapted for film or television. ...

for '' The Spy Who Came In From the Cold'' 1963 *

David Storey David Malcolm Storey (13 July 1933 – 27 March 2017) was an English playwright, screenwriter, award-winning novelist and a professional rugby league player. He won the Booker Prize in 1976 for his novel ''Saville''. He also won the MacMillan ...

for ''Flight Into Camden'' 1962 * Hugh Thomas for ''The Spanish Civil War'' 1961 *

V. S. Naipaul Sir Vidiadhar Surajprasad Naipaul (; 17 August 1932 – 11 August 2018) was a Trinidadian-born British writer of works of fiction and nonfiction in English. He is known for his comic early novels set in Trinidad, his bleaker novels of alienati ...

for ''

Miguel Street ''Miguel Street'' is a collection of linked short stories by V. S. Naipaul set in wartime Trinidad and Tobago. The stories draw on the author's childhood memories of Port of Spain. The author lived with his family in the Woodbrook district of ...

'' 1960 *

Ted Hughes Edward James "Ted" Hughes (17 August 1930 – 28 October 1998) was an English poet, translator, and children's writer. Critics frequently rank him as one of the best poets of his generation and one of the twentieth century's greatest wri ...

for ''The Hawk in the Rain''

1950s

1959 *

Thom Gunn Thomson William "Thom" Gunn (29 August 1929 – 25 April 2004) was an English poet who was praised for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement, and his later poetry in America, even after moving towards a looser, ...

for ''A Sense Of Movement'' 1958 *

John Wain John Barrington Wain CBE (14 March 1925 – 24 May 1994) was an English poet, novelist, and critic, associated with the literary group known as " The Movement". He worked for most of his life as a freelance journalist and author, writing and re ...

for ''Preliminary Essays'' 1957 *

George Lamming George William Lamming OCC (8 June 19274 June 2022) was a Barbadian novelist, essayist, and poet. He first won critical acclaim for ''In the Castle of My Skin'', his 1953 debut novel. He also held academic posts, including as a distinguished v ...

for '' In the Castle of My Skin'' 1956 * Elizabeth Jennings for ''A Way of Looking'' 1955 *

Kingsley Amis Sir Kingsley William Amis (16 April 1922 – 22 October 1995) was an English novelist, poet, critic, and teacher. He wrote more than 20 novels, six volumes of poetry, a memoir, short stories, radio and television scripts, and works of social an ...

for ''

Lucky Jim ''Lucky Jim'' is a novel by Kingsley Amis, first published in 1954 by Victor Gollancz. It was Amis's first novel and won the 1955 Somerset Maugham Award for fiction. The novel follows the exploits of the eponymous James (Jim) Dixon, a reluctant ...

'' 1954 *

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 ...

for ''Five Short Novels'' 1953 *

Emyr Humphreys Emyr Humphreys (; 15 April 191930 September 2020) was a Welsh novelist, poet, and author. His career spanned from the 1940s until his retirement in 2009. He published in both English and Welsh. Early life and career Humphreys was born on 15 ...

for ''Hear and Forgive'' 1952 *

Francis King Francis Henry King (4 March 19233 July 2011) Ion Trewin and Jonathan Fryer"Obituary: Francis King" ''The Guardian'', 3 July 2011. was a British novelist and short story writer. He worked for the British Council for 15 years, with positions i ...

for ''The Dividing Stream'' 1951 *

Roland Camberton Roland Camberton (1921–1965) was a British writer whose real name was Henry Cohen. He won the 1951 Somerset Maugham Award, given to authors under the age of 35, for his novel ''Scamp''. The book had earlier received a merciless review in the ''T ...

for ''Scamp'' 1950 *

Nigel Kneale Thomas Nigel Kneale (28 April 1922 – 29 October 2006) was a Manx screenwriter who wrote professionally for more than 50 years, was a winner of the Somerset Maugham Award, and was twice nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British S ...

for ''Tomato Cain & Other Stories''

1940s

1949 *

Hamish Henderson Hamish Scott Henderson (11 November 1919 – 9 March 2002) was a Scottish poet, songwriter, communist, intellectual and soldier. He was a catalyst for the folk revival in Scotland. He was also an accomplished folk song collector and dis ...

for ''Elegies for the Dead in Cyrenaica'' 1948 * P. H. Newby for ''Journey to the Interior'' 1947 * A. L. Barker for ''Innocents''

References

{{Reflist 1947 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards established in 1947 Literary awards honouring young writers Society of Authors awards