The James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are awards given to books written in the English language. These prizes, along with the Hawthornden Prize, are the oldest literary awards in Britain. Located at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, United Kingdom, the prizes were started in 1919 by Janet Coats Black to honor her late husband, James Tait Black, who was a partner at the publishing company A & C Black Ltd.
The Rubery International Book Award was created in 2010 and is operated independently. It is the biggest cash prize given to books published by independent publishers and self-published authors in Great Britain. The London Review of Books called it “independent publishing’s response to the Booktrust and the Orange Prize.” The Alliance of Independent Authors stated that “those who hold the respected Rubery Award […] should be considered to have a quality endorsement.” In 2012, the award received submissions from five continents.
The International Booker Prize, formerly called the Man Booker International Prize, is a literary award held in the United Kingdom. In June 2004, the International Prize was introduced to go along with the Man Booker Prize, which was its original name. From 2005 to 2015, the award was given every two years to a living author of any nationality.
The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award given each year to a British, Irish, or British-based author for a work of “imaginative literature,” such as poetry, novels, history, biography, or creative non-fiction, published in the previous year. The prize is for books written in English, not for translated works. Authors who have previously won the prize cannot be considered for the shortlist.
The Forward Prizes for Poetry are important awards in the UK that honor poetry. They are given every year at a public event in London. These awards were started in 1992 by William Sieghart to celebrate great poetry and help more people enjoy it.
The Pol Roger Duff Cooper Prize is a literary award given each year for the best book written in history, biography, political science, or sometimes poetry, in English or French. The prize was created to honor Duff Cooper, a British diplomat, government official, and writer. It was first given in 1956 to Alan Moorehead for his book Gallipoli.
The Dundee International Book Prize was given from 2000 to 2016. It called itself the UK’s top prize for first-time novel writers. The prize included a cash award of £5,000.
The Chancellor’s Gold Medal is an annual award for poetry given to undergraduate students at the University of Cambridge. It is similar to Oxford University’s Newdigate Prize. The medal was first given by Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, during his time as Chancellor of the University of Cambridge.
The British Book Awards, also known as the Nibbies, are awards given to the best writers and their books from the United Kingdom. These awards are managed by The Bookseller. Since they began in 1990, the awards have changed names, owners, and sponsors over time.
The Betty Trask Prize and Awards are given to first novels written by authors who are under 35 years old and live in a current or former Commonwealth country. Each year, the awards total at least £20,000. Usually, one author receives a larger amount (such as £10,000 in recent years), called the “Prize,” while the remaining money is shared among other nominees, called the “Awards.” These awards were created in 1984 by the Society of Authors through the gift of Betty Trask, a private author who wrote more than thirty romance novels.