UK
Costa Book Award – First Novel
The Costa Book Awards is one of the UK’s most prestigious and popular literary prizes launched in 1971 and recognises some of the most enjoyable books of the year, written by authors based in the UK and Ireland. Apart from First Novel, the prize has four more categories: Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book – with one of the five winning books selected as the overall Costa Book of the Year.
The Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award
This prize was inaugurated in 1954. The prize is administrated by the club, and members form an important part of the judging process right up to the shortlist, assisted by a formal panel also composed of club members. Recent adjudicators have included Joanne Harris, Amanda Craig, Philip Hensher and DJ Taylor.
The Guardian First Book Award
First awarded in 1999, it is unique amongst book prizes for rewarding new writing across fiction and non-fiction. It is in association with the booksellers, Waterstone’s. The award is open to all first-time authors writing in English, or translated into English, across all genres. The Guardian First Book Award aims to recognise and reward the finest new writing talent. The prize is judged by a celebrity panel and readers from selected book groups. The winner of The Guardian First Book Award receives £10,000 plus an advertising package in The Guardian and The Observer.
The McKitterick Prize
Tom McKitterick, the former editor of Political Quarterly and author of an unpublished novel, endowed the McKitterick Prize which was first awarded in 1990. It is given annually to an author over the age of 40 for a first novel, published or unpublished.
Terry Pratchett First Novel Award
This is a biennial award for the best unpublished science fiction novel in the Commonwealth of Nations. It is named after British author Terry Pratchett. The book is chosen by a panel of judges including Pratchett. The competition is open to anyone who is a resident of the Britain, the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland, who has not previously had a novel published with a valid ISBN number and the prize is a £20,000 publishing contract with Pratchett’s publishers, Transworld.
The Desmond Elliott Prize for New Fiction
The prize is an annual award for the best debut novel written in English and published in the UK. The winning novel can be from any genre of fiction and must exhibit depth and breadth with a compelling narrative. The winner receives £10,000. The prize is named in honour of the “distinguished“ late publisher and literary agent, Desmond Elliott.
RSL Jerwood Award for Non fiction
The Royal Society of Literature and the Jerwood Charitable Foundation offer three annual awards – one of £10,000 and two of £5000 – to writers undertaking their first major works of non-fiction.
International
The Paris Literary Prize
This prize is a biennial literary prize for unpublished novellas by new authors from anywhere in the world. It was founded in 2010 by the Paris-based Shakespeare and Company bookstore, and sponsored in collaboration with the de Groot Foundation. The €10,000 prize is for authors who have never published a book before, and their submission is a novella, defined as 20,000 to 30,000 words in length. The first winner was announced in 2011.
The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize
The prize is an annual award presented by The Center for Fiction, a non-profit organization in New York City, to the best debut novel. As of 2012, the award is officially called the Flaherty—Dunnan First Novel Prize, named after Center for Fiction board member Nancy Dunnan who now funds the prize. Publishers nominate English-language works by first-time United States novelists. The winning novelist receives a cash prize of $10,000; each finalist receives $1,000.
The Dundee International Book Prize
The prize bills itself as the UK’s premier prize for debut novelists. It includes a £10,000 cash award. The annual award is for an unpublished debut novel on any theme and in any genre, written in the English language. The Dundee International Book Prize is a joint venture between Dundee – One City, Many Discoveries and the University of Dundee. Entrants are worldwide. The prize was published by Birlinn from 2000 till 2010, with Cargo taking over from 2011 to the present day.
The Betty Trask Prize and Awards
These awards are for first novels written by authors under the age of 35, who reside in a current or former Commonwealth nation. Each year the awards total £20,000, with one author receiving a larger prize amount, called the “Prize”, and the remainder given to one or more other writers, called the “Awards”. The award was established in 1984 by the Society of Authors, at the bequest of the late Betty Trask, a reclusive author of over thirty romance novels. The awards are given to traditional or romantic novels, rather than those of an experimental style, and can be for published or unpublished works.
The European Union Literary Award
This is a South African Literary Award first given in 2004. It is supported by the various European Union embassies and commissions operating in South Africa. This award is open to South African writers resident in South Africa who have never been published before. Books must be a first, unpublished work of fiction in English, or translations of other South African languages into English providing the work has not been published in other languages. Winners receive a R25,000 cash prize and publication by Jacana Media.
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