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Booktrust

Prizes and awards

The prizes and awards Booktrust run cover a wide range of genres and themes for both children and adults ranging from a single short story to a whole lifetime's achievement in literature. They are there to promote books to a wide audience, bringing new books to attention and providing access points for readers to engage with different types of books. Our prizes support writers and illustrators, rewarding them for their endeavours, and celebrate books and writers as an integral part of the UK's arts and culture landscape.

BBC (Inter)national Short Story Award

Celebrating the power of the short story

Now in its seventh year, the BBC National Short Story Award has expanded its remit to become the BBC International Short Story Award 2012. The Award continues to serve as a reminder of the power of the short story and to celebrate a literary form that is proving ever more versatile in the 21st century. It can now be enjoyed not just on the page, on air and increasingly on every sort of screen as well as in flash fiction events, short story festivals and slams.

The ambition of both the Award and Booktrust's short story content is to expand opportunities for British writers, readers and publishers of the short story. BBC Radio 4 is the world's biggest single commissioner of short stories. Short stories are broadcast every week attracting more than a million listeners. The BBC National Short Story Award will return in 2013.

Best New Illustrators Award

Awards emerging talent in the field of children’s illustration

The Booktrust Best New Illustrators Award celebrates the best rising talent in the field of children’s illustration today. First awarded in 2008, the prize is given to ten emerging illustrators whose work demonstrates remarkable creative flair, artistic skill and boundless imagination.

The Award was established to raise the profile of emerging picture book illustration, as part of the wider Big Picture Campaign. Since the 2008 Awards the sales of picture books have demonstrated healthy growth, despite a challenging period for bookselling.

The 2011 winners were announced at an Award Ceremony at the Illustration Cupboard on Tuesday 22 March 2011. An exhibition of work by the ten winning illustrators was displayed at the Illustration Cupboard, The Gallery at Foyles' flagship Charing Cross Road store and Free Word Centre.

Blue Peter Book Award

Recognising the best authors and illustrators since 2000

The enormously popular and influential Blue Peter Book Awards have been recognising and celebrating the best authors, the most creative illustrators and the greatest reads for children since 2000.

The shortlist consists of two fiction and two non-fiction titles chosen by a panel of experts; then the final books in contention are judged by a selection of young Blue Peter viewers. The winning author and illustrator receive a special Blue Peter Book Award trophy, presented on screen.

The David Cohen Prize for Literature

Celebrating a lifetime’s achievement in literature

Established in 1993, the David Cohen Prize for Literature is one of the UK’s most distinguished literary prizes. It recognises writers who use the English language and are citizens of the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland, encompassing dramatists, as well as novelists, poets and essayists. Former winners include V S Naipaul, Harold Pinter, William Trevor, Doris Lessing, Seamus Heaney and, most recently in 2011, Julian Barnes.

The prize, of £40,000, is for a lifetime’s achievement and is donated by the John S Cohen Foundation. Established in 1965 by David Cohen and his family, the trust supports education, the arts, conservation and the environment. Arts Council England provides a further £12,500 (The Clarissa Luard Award) to enable the winner to encourage new work, with the dual aim of promoting young writers and readers.

Independent Foreign Fiction Prize

Promoting international fiction

The Prize honours the best work of fiction by a living author, which has been translated into English from any other language and published in the United Kingdom. Uniquely, the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize gives the winning author and translator equal status: each receives £5,000.

First awarded in 1990 to Orhan Pamuk and translator Victoria Holbrook for The White Castle, the Prize ran until 1995 and was then revived in 2000 with the support of Arts Council England, who continue to fund the award.

Kim Scott Walwyn Prize

Recognising the achievements of women in publishing

The Kim Scott Walwyn Prize, which honours the life and career of Kim Scott Walwyn and recognises the achievements of women in publishing, was founded in 2003 and has been awarded seven times to outstanding women publishers.

In 2011, to reflect developments in the publishing world, the prize committee teamed up with the Society of Young Publishers in order to recognise not only achievement but also promise amongst women in the industry. Because of this, the £1,000 prize is now open to any woman who has worked in publishing in the UK for up to seven years. The winner of the 2011 Prize was Kay Peddle, Assistant Editor at The Bodley Head, Random House.

Women's Prize for Fiction

The UK’s most prestigious annual book award for fiction by female writers

Now in its 18th year, the Women's Prize for Fiction was set up to celebrate excellence, originality and accessibility in writing by women throughout the world. Known from 1996 to 2012 as the Orange Prize for Fiction, it is the UK's most prestigious annual book award for fiction written by a woman and also provides a range of educational, literacy or research initiatives to support reading and writing.

For 2013, the Prize will be privately funded while headline sponsorship negotiations for 2014 and beyond are concluded. Funding has been provided in the form of gifts from companies and individual donors. Supporters include: Bilbary, Bob & Co, Richard & Elena Bridges, Cherie Blair, Christopher Foyle, Jill Green, Martha Lane Fox, Lansons Communications, Joanna Trollope, Sue Woodford-Hollick and others who wish to remain anonymous.

The winner receives a cheque for £30,000 and a limited edition bronze figurine known as the ‘Bessie’, created and donated by the artist Grizel Niven.

The Roald Dahl Funny Prize

Promoting books that make us laugh

Now in its fourth year, the Roald Dahl Funny Prize promotes laughter and humour as a feel-good factor when reading, by encouraging families to read together and discover the pleasure in funny books. It also rewards and encourages authors and illustrators who write and illustrate books using humour in their stories, poetry and fiction. Entries are accepted in two categories: Funniest Book for Children Aged Six and Under and Funniest Book for Children Aged Seven to Fourteen with the winner of each category receiving £2,500. The Prize is supported by libraries, teachers and parents through a range of activities and promotes a vibrant area of publishing often overlooked by other awards.

The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Award

The world’s richest prize for a single short story

The Sunday Times EFG Private Bank Award honours the finest writers of short stories in the UK and Ireland. Worth £30,000 to the winning author, it is open to anyone with a previous record of publication in creative writing. The inaugural Award was won in 2010 by New Zealand author C K Stead for his story ‘Last Season’s Man’. The winner is announced at the Sunday Times Oxford Literary Festival each spring.

The prize follows the success in The Sunday Times Magazine of a regular story slot which has attracted some of the most talented names in short-story writing.

Awards on hold

As you will be aware, the last few months have been particularly challenging for Booktrust. Our new funding settlement with the Department for Education has allowed us to protect the universal offer of the national bookgifting programmes, but it has nonetheless forced us to undertake a thorough review of all of the prizes and projects in the Booktrust portfolio.

Booktrust Early Years Awards

Rewarding excellent books for babies, toddlers and pre-school children

The Booktrust Early Years Awards celebrate, publicise and reward the exciting range of books being published today for babies, toddlers and pre-school children.

As you will be aware, the last few months have been particularly challenging for Booktrust. Our new funding settlement with the Department for Education has allowed us to protect the universal offer of the national bookgifting programmes, but it has nonetheless forced us to undertake a thorough review of all of the prizes and projects in the Booktrust portfolio.

As a result of this review, we have taken the difficult decision not to run the Booktrust Early Years Awards in Autumn 2011. This Prize is incredibly important, highlighting and celebrating the best books for babies and toddlers, as well as being very dear to Booktrust. We have not taken this decision lightly and we strongly intend to bring back the Prize with a bang in the very near future.

Do contact Claire Shanahan, the Prizes and Awards Manager, if you have any questions.

Booktrust Teenage Prize

Promoting the best in contemporary writing for teenagers

Established in 2003, the Booktrust Teenage Prize is a national book prize that recognises and celebrates the best in contemporary writing for teenagers.

As you will be aware, the last few months have been particularly challenging for Booktrust. Our new funding settlement with the Department for Education has allowed us to protect the universal offer of the national bookgifting programmes, but it has nonetheless forced us to undertake a thorough review of all of the prizes and projects in the Booktrust portfolio.

As a result of this review, we have taken the difficult decision not to run the Booktrust Teenage Prize in Autumn 2011. This Prize is incredibly important, highlighting and celebrating the best books for teens, as well as being very dear to Booktrust. We have not taken this decision lightly and we strongly intend to bring back the Prize with a bang in the very near future

Do contact Claire Shanahan, the Prizes and Awards Manager, if you have any questions.

The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize

A Prize unequalled in its reputation for singling out fine young writers

The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize is one of Britain's oldest and most prestigious literary awards, and is unequalled in its reputation for singling out fine young writers - from biographers, novelists and historians to travel writers, dramatists and poets - early on in their careers. Past winners include William Boyd in 1982, Jeanette Winterson in 1987, Jonathan Coe in 1994, Nicola Barker in 1996 and Charlotte Mendelson in 2003. Last year's winner was Amy Sackville for her chilling debut novel The Still Point.

As you will be aware, the last few months have been particularly challenging for Booktrust. Our new funding settlement with the Department for Education has allowed us to protect the universal offer of the national bookgifting programmes, but it has nonetheless forced us to undertake a thorough review of all of the prizes and projects in the Booktrust portfolio.

As a result of this review, we have taken the difficult decision not to run the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize in autumn 2011. This Prize is incredibly important, highlighting and celebrating the best new books by writers under 35, as well as being very dear to Booktrust. The Prize was initiated in 1946 and Booktrust has funded it since 2002, so we have not taken this decision lightly.

Do contact Claire Shanahan, the Prizes and Awards Manager, if you have any questions.

YoungMinds Book Award

Raising awareness of mental health needs of children and young people

Established in 2003, the annual book award seeks to raise awareness and create understanding of mental health needs of children and young people. As well as raising the profile of YoungMinds, its work contributes to our policy and campaigning objectives.

Fiction can often be an easier way to explore mental health problems, providing detailed information in an accessible and engaging format for both teenagers and adults. Books such as those submitted for the £2,000 award, sponsored by Booktrust, can help break the isolation experienced by young people and demonstrate that their feelings and problems are not unique.

The Book Award runs alongside the annual lecture and has become Young Minds main public relations event. A ceremony and reception are held in central London in November/December for YoungMinds’ stakeholders, including key figures from the children and young people’s mental health sector, allied charities, politicians and policy makers as well as the publishing industry.

Nestle Children's Book Prize

After 23 years, the Nestlé Children’s Book Prize, which celebrated the very best in children’s fiction and poetry, has now ended.

New Writing Ventures

The awards were launched by the New Writing Partnership, a unique enterprise that aims to highlight, develop and support creative writing.

Orange Award for New Writers

Launched in 2005 in partnership with Arts Council England, the Orange Award for New Writers celebrated emerging female literary talent. All first works of fiction, including novels, short story collections and novellas, written by women of any age or nationality and published as a book in the UK were eligible.

Read about Orange Award for New Writers

Power of Reading Award

The Adult Learners' Week Awards, organised by NIACE, recognise extraordinary learners with inspirational learning journeys that have helped them transform not only their own lives, but the lives of the people around them too.

Read about The Power of Reading Award