James Tait Black Memorial Prize

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James Tait Black Memorial Prize

Founded in 1919, the James Tait Black Memorial Prizes are among the oldest and most prestigious book prizes awarded for literature written in the English language and are Britain's oldest literary awards. Based at the University of Edinburgh

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh founded in 1582, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom....
in Scotland

Scotland

conventional_long_name = ScotlandAlba|common_name= Scotland|image_flag = Flag of Scotland.svg|flag_width = 130px...
, United Kingdom, the prizes were founded by Mrs Janet Coutts Black in memory of her late husband, James Tait Black, a partner in the publishing house of A & C Black

A & C Black

A & C Black is a British book publishing company.The firm was founded in 1807 by Adam Black and Charles Black in Edinburgh, and moved to the Soho district of London in 1889....
Ltd.

Nobel winners have been recognised by the James Tait Black earlier in their careers.

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Encyclopedia

University of Edinburgh

The University of Edinburgh founded in 1582, is an internationally renowned centre for teaching and research in Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom....
in Scotland

Scotland

A & C Black

A & C Black is a British book publishing company.The firm was founded in 1807 by Adam Black and Charles Black in Edinburgh, and moved to the Soho district of London in 1889....
Ltd.

Notable and recent winners

Four Nobel winners have been recognised by the James Tait Black earlier in their careers. Sir William Golding

William Golding

Sir William Gerald Golding was a United Kingdom novelist, poet and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate best known for his novel Lord of the Flies....
, Nadine Gordimer

Nadine Gordimer

Nadine Gordimer is a South African writer, political activist and Nobel laureate.Her writing has long dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa....
and J. M. Coetzee each collected the fiction award, whilst Doris Lessing

Doris Lessing

Doris May Lessing Order of the Companions of Honour, Order of the British Empire is a Zimbabwe-United Kingdom writer, author of works such as the novels The Grass is Singing and The Golden Notebook....
took the prize for biography prior to receiving the Nobel Prize in Literature

Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced "in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction" ....
. In addition to these literary Nobels, Sir Ronald Ross, whose 1923 autobiography Memoirs, Etc. received the biography prize, was already a Nobel Laureate having been awarded the 1902 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

The Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine is awarded once a year by the Swedish Karolinska Institutet. It is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the will of Alfred Nobel in 1895, awarded for outstanding contributions in Nobel Prize in Physics, Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Peace Prize, and Physiology or Medic...
for his work on malaria. Other major literary figures to receive the award include D. H. Lawrence

D. H. Lawrence

David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an England author, poet, playwright, essayist and literary criticism. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialization....
, Arnold Bennett

Arnold Bennett

Enoch Arnold Bennett was an England novelist....
, John Buchan, Robert Graves

Robert Graves

Robert Ranke Graves was an England poet, translator and novelist. During his long life, he produced more than 140 works. He was the son of the Anglo-Irish writer Alfred Perceval Graves and Amalie von Ranke, a niece of the famous German historian Leopold von Ranke....
, Graham Greene

Graham Greene

Henry Graham Greene Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour was an English writer best known as a novelist, but who also produced short stories, plays, screenplays, travel writing and criticism....
, Evelyn Waugh

Evelyn Waugh

Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was a United Kingdom writer, best known for such darkly humorous and Satire novels as Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies, Scoop , A Handful of Dust, and The Loved One, as well as for serious works, such as Brideshead Revisited and the Sword of Honour trilogy that clearly manifest his Catho...
, Anthony Powell

Anthony Powell

Anthony Dymoke Powell, Companion of Honour, Order of the British Empire was an English novelist best known for his twelve-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time, published between 1951 and 1975....
, Muriel Spark

Muriel Spark

Dame Muriel Spark, Order of the British Empire was an award-winning Scotland novelist....
, J.G. Ballard, Angela Carter

Angela Carter

Angela Carter was an England novelist and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism and science fiction works....
, Margaret Drabble

Margaret Drabble

Dame Margaret Drabble Order of the British Empire, is an England novelist, biographer and critic....
and Salman Rushdie

Salman Rushdie

Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is a British Indian novelist and essayist. He first achieved fame with his second novel, Midnight's Children , which won the Booker Prize in 1981....
.

More recent winners of note include Graham Swift

Graham Swift

Graham Colin Swift is a well-known Great Britain author. He was born in London, England and educated at Dulwich College, London, Queens' College, Cambridge, and later the University of York....
, Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith

Zadie Smith is an England novelist. To date she has written three novels. In 2003, she was included on Granta list of 20 best young authors....
, Martin Amis

Martin Amis

Martin Louis Amis is an England novelist, essayist, professor, and short story writer, and the son of the novelist and poet Kingsley Amis. His works include such novels as Money , London Fields and The Information ....
and Ian McEwan

Ian McEwan

Ian Russell McEwan, CBE, Royal Society of Arts, Royal Society of Literature, is a Booker Prize-winning England novelist and screenwriter....
, each of whom have received either the fiction or biography prize in the course of the last decade. The most recent winners (for books published in 2007) were Rosalind Belben for Our Horses in Egypt and Rosemary Hill for God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain." .

Selection process and prize administration

The winners are chosen by the Professor of English Literature at the University, who is assisted by PhD students in the shortlisting phase, a structure which is seen to lend the prizes a considerable gravitas. At the award of the 2006 prizes Cormac McCarthy's publisher commented positively on the selection process noting that, in the absence of a sponsor and literary or media figures amongst the judging panel, the decision is made by "...students and professors, whose only real agenda can be great books and great writing." The original endowment is now supplemented by the University and, as a consequence, the total prize fund rose from £6,000 to £20,000 for the 2005 awards . This increase made the two annual prizes, one for fiction

Fiction

Fiction is an imaginative form of narrative, one of the four basic rhetorical modes. Although the word fiction is derived from the Latin fingo, fingere, finxi, fictum, "to form, create", works of fiction need not be entirely imaginary and may include real people, places, and events....
and the other for biography

Biography

A biography is a description of someone's life, usually published in the form of a book or essay, or in some other form, such as a film. An autobiography is a biography by the same person it is about....
, the largest literary prizes on offer in Scotland. The University is advised in relation to the development and administration of the Prize by a small committee which includes Ian Rankin

Ian Rankin

Ian Rankin Order of the British Empire, Deputy Lieutenant, is a Scotland crime writer. His best known books are the Inspector Rebus novels....
, Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander McCall Smith

Alexander "Sandy" McCall Smith, Order of the British Empire, Royal Society of Edinburgh, is a Zimbabwean-born Scottish people writer and Emeritus Professor of Medical Law at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland....
and James Naughtie

James Naughtie

James Naughtie is a Scotland journalism and radio news presenter for the BBC. Since 1994 he has been one of the main presenters of BBC Radio 4's Today programme....
amongst its members. In August 2007 the prize ceremony was held at the Edinburgh International Book Festival

Edinburgh International Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival, is a book festival that takes place in the last three weeks of August every year in Charlotte Square, in the centre of Edinburgh, Scotland?s capital....
for the first time.

Eligibility

Only those works of fiction and biographies written in English and first published in Britain in the 12 month period prior to the submission date are eligible for the award. Both prizes may go to the same author, but neither prize can be awarded to the same author on more than one occasion.

Complete list of Winners

Year	Fiction Award	Year	Biography Award
1919	Hugh Walpole Hugh Walpole Sir Hugh Seymour Walpole was an English novelist. A prolific writer, he published thirty-six novels, five volumes of short stories, two plays and three volumes of memoirs.... , The Secret City	1919	Henry Festing Jones Henry Festing Jones Henry Festing Jones was the friend and posthumous biographer of Samuel Butler . His biography of Butler, entitled Samuel Butler, Author of Erewhon - A Memoir, won the inaugural James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography in 1919.... , Samuel Butler, Author of Erewhon (1835-1902) - A Memoir
1920	D. H. Lawrence D. H. Lawrence David Herbert Richards Lawrence was an England author, poet, playwright, essayist and literary criticism. His collected works represent an extended reflection upon the dehumanizing effects of modernity and industrialization.... , The Lost Girl The Lost Girl *The Lost Girl* is a novel by D. H. Lawrence, first published in 1920. It was awarded the 1920 James Tait Black Memorial Prize in the fiction category....	1920	G. M. Trevelyan G. M. Trevelyan George Macaulay Trevelyan, Order of Merit, Order of the British Empire, Royal Society, British Academy , was an England historian. Trevelyan was the third son of Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, and great-nephew of Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay, whose staunch liberal British Whig Party principles he espoused in accessible wo... , Lord Grey Earl Grey Earl Grey is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created in 1806 for the General Charles Grey, 1st Earl Grey. He had already been created Baron Grey, of Howick in the County of Northumberland, in 1801, and was made Viscount Howick, in the County of Northumberland, at the same time as he was given the earldom.... of the Reform Bill
1921	Walter de la Mare Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare , Order of Merit Order of the Companions of Honour was an British poetry, short story writer and British literature, probably best remembered for his works for children and "The Listeners".... , Memoirs of a Midget	1921	Lytton Strachey Lytton Strachey Giles Lytton Strachey was a United Kingdom writer and critic. He is best known for establishing a new form of biography in which psychology insight and sympathy are combined with irreverence and wit.... , Queen Victoria Victoria of the United Kingdom Victoria was from 20 June 1837 the Queen regnant of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and from 1 May 1876 the first Empress of India of the British Raj until her death....
1922	David Garnett David Garnett David Garnett was a United Kingdom writer and publisher. As a child, he had a cloak made of rabbit skin and thus received the nickname "Bunny" by which he was known by friends and intimates all his life.... , Lady into Fox Lady into Fox Lady into Fox was David Garnett's first novel under his own name, published in 1922. This short and enigmatic work won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, and the Hawthornden Prize a year later....	1922	Percy Lubbock Percy Lubbock Percy Lubbock, Order of the British Empire was an English man of letters, known as an essayist, critic and biographer.... , Earlham
1923	Arnold Bennett Arnold Bennett Enoch Arnold Bennett was an England novelist.... , Riceyman Steps Riceyman Steps *Riceyman Steps* is the title of a novel by British novelist Arnold Bennett, first published in 1923 and winner of that year's James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction....	1923	Sir Ronald Ross, Memoirs, Etc.
1924	E. M. Forster E. M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster Order of Merit , Order of the Companions of Honour , was an English novelist, short story writer, essayist, and librettist.... , A Passage to India A Passage to India *A Passage to India* is a novel by E. M. Forster set against the backdrop of the British Raj and the Indian independence movement in the 1920s....	1924	Rev. William Wilson, The House of Airlie
1925	Liam O'Flaherty Liam O'Flaherty Liam O'Flaherty was a significant Ireland novelist and short story writer and a major figure in the Celtic Revival.Liam was born in the remote village of Gort na gCapall, on Inishmore , county Galway.... , The Informer	1925	Geoffrey Scott Geoffrey Scott Geoffrey Scott was an English scholar and poet, known as a historian of architecture. His biography of Isabelle de Charri?re entitled The Portrait of Zelide won the 1925 James Tait Black Memorial Prize.... , The Portrait of Zelide
1926	Radclyffe Hall Radclyffe Hall Radclyffe Hall was an England poet and author, best known for the lesbian classic The Well of Loneliness.... , Adam's Breed	1926	Reverend Dr H. B. Workman, John Wyclif: A Study of the English Medieval Church
1927	Francis Brett Young Francis Brett Young Francis Brett Young was an England Novel, poet, playwright, and composer.... , Portrait of Clare	1927	H. A. L. Fisher, James Bryce James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce James Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce, Order of Merit, Royal Victorian Order, Fellow of the Royal Society, Privy Council of the United Kingdom, British Academy was a British jurist, historian and politician.... , Viscount Bryce of Dechmont, O.M.
1928	Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Sassoon Siegfried Loraine Sassoon, Commander of British Empire Military Cross was an English poetry and author. He became known as a writer of satire anti-war poetry during World War I.... , Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man *Memoirs of a Fox-Hunting Man* is a novel by Siegfried Sassoon, first published in 1928. It won both the Hawthornden Prize and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, being immediately recognised as a classic of English literature....	1928	John Buchan, Montrose
1929	J. B. Priestley J. B. Priestley John Boynton Priestley, Order of Merit was an England novelist and Presenter.... , The Good Companions The Good Companions *The Good Companions* is a novel by the England author J. B. Priestley.Written in 1929, it focuses on the trials and tribulations of a Concert Party in England between World War I and World War II....	1929	Lord David Cecil Lord David Cecil Lord Edward Christian David Gascoyne-Cecil Order of the Companions of Honour , was an English aristocrat, literary scholar, biographer and academic.... , The Stricken Deer: or The Life of Cowper
1930	E. H. Young E. H. Young Emily Hilda Young was an English novelist.... , Miss Mole	1930	Francis Yeats-Brown Francis Yeats-Brown Major Francis Charles Claypon Yeats-Brown, Distinguished Flying Cross was an officer in the British Indian army and the author of the celebrated memoir The Lives of a Bengal Lancer, for which he was awarded the 1930 James Tait Black Memorial Prize.... , Lives of a Bengal Lancer
1931	Kate O'Brien Kate O'Brien Kate O'Brien , was an Irish people novelist and playwright. After the success of her play, Distinguished Villa in 1926, she took to full-time writing and was awarded the 1931 James Tait Black Prize for her novel Without My Cloak.... , Without My Cloak	1931	J. Y. R. Greig, David Hume David Hume David Hume was a Scotland philosopher, economist, historian and a key figure in the history of Western philosophy and the Scottish Enlightenment....
1932	Helen de Guerry Simpson Helen de Guerry Simpson Helen de Guerry Simpson was an Australian novelist.Helen was born in Sydney into a family that had been settled in New South Wales for over a 100 years.... , Boomerang	1932	Stephen Gwynn, The Life of Mary Kingsley Mary Kingsley Mary Henrietta Kingsley was an England writer and exploration who greatly influenced European ideas about Africa and African people.Kingsley was born in Islington....
1933	A. G. Macdonell A. G. Macdonell Archibald Gordon Macdonell was a Scottish people writer, journalist and broadcaster, whose most famous work is the gently satirical novel England, Their England .... , England, Their England England, Their England England, Their England is an affectionately satirical comic novel by the Scotland writer A. G. Macdonell.Like the author, the book's protagonist Donald Cameron is a Scot invalided away from the Western Front ....	1933	Violet Clifton, The Book of Talbot
1934	Robert Graves Robert Graves Robert Ranke Graves was an England poet, translator and novelist. During his long life, he produced more than 140 works. He was the son of the Anglo-Irish writer Alfred Perceval Graves and Amalie von Ranke, a niece of the famous German historian Leopold von Ranke.... , I, Claudius I, Claudius For other uses see I, Claudius .I, Claudius is a novel by England writer Robert Graves, first published in 1934 in literature, that deals sympathetically with the life of the Roman Emperor Claudius and cynically with the history of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and Roman Empire, from Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 BC to Caligula... and Claudius the God	1934	J. E. Neale J. E. Neale Sir John Earnest Neale was a UK historian who specialised in Elizabethan era and Parliament of the United Kingdom#History.... , Queen Elizabeth Elizabeth I of England Elizabeth I was List of English monarchs and Queen of Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the House of Tudor....
1935	L. H. Myers, The Root and the Flower	1935	Raymond Wilson Chambers Raymond Wilson Chambers Raymond Wilson Chambers was a British literary scholar, author, and academic; throughout his career he was associated with University College London .... , Thomas More Thomas More Saint Thomas More was an English lawyer, author, and statesman who in his lifetime gained a reputation as a leading Renaissance humanist scholar, and occupied many public offices, including Lord Chancellor ....
1936	Winifred Holtby Winifred Holtby Winifred Holtby was an England novelist and journalist.Born to a prosperous farming family in the village of Rudston, Yorkshire. Holtby was educated at home by a governess and then at Queen Margaret's School, York in Scarborough, North Yorkshire.... , South Riding South Riding (novel) *South Riding* is a novel by Winifred Holtby, published posthumously in 1936.The book is set in the fictional South Riding of Yorkshire. The leading characters are: Sarah Burton, an idealistic young headmistress; Robert Carne of Maythorpe Hall, tormented by his disastrous marriage; Jo Astell, a socialist fighting poverty; and Mrs Beddows...	1936	Edward Sackville West, A Flame in Sunlight: The Life and Work of Thomas de Quincey Thomas de Quincey Thomas de Quincey was an England author and intellectual, best known for his Confessions of an English Opium-Eater ....
1937	Neil M. Gunn Neil M. Gunn Neil Miller Gunn was a prolific novelist, critic, and dramatist who emerged as one of the leading lights of the Scottish Renaissance of the 1920s and 1930s.... , Highland River	1937	Lord Eustace Percy, John Knox John Knox John Knox was a Scotland clergyman and leader of the Protestant Reformation who is considered the founder of the Presbyterianism denomination....
1938	C. S. Forester C. S. Forester Cecil Scott Forester was the pen name of Cecil Louis Troughton Smith , an England novelist who rose to fame with tales of adventure and military crusades.... , A Ship of the Line A Ship of the Line *A Ship of the Line* is a historical seafaring novel by C. S. Forester. It follows his fictional hero Horatio Hornblower during his tour as captain of a ship of the line.... and Flying Colours Flying Colours Flying Colours is a Horatio Hornblower novel by C.S. Forester, originally published 1938 as the third in the series, but now eighth by internal chronology....	1938	Sir Edmund Chambers, Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge Samuel Taylor Coleridge was an England poet, critic and Philosophy who was, along with his friend William Wordsworth, one of the founders of the Romanticism in England and one of the Lake Poets....
1939	Aldous Huxley Aldous Huxley Aldous Leonard Huxley was an English writer and one of the most prominent members of the famous Huxley family. He spent the later part of his life in the United States, living in Los Angeles from 1937 until his death in 1963.... After Many a Summer Dies the Swan After Many a Summer *After Many a Summer* is a novel by Aldous Huxley which tells the story of a Hollywood millionaire fearing his impending death. The novel was retitled *After Many a Summer Dies the Swan* when published in the USA....	1939	David C. Douglas David C. Douglas David Charles Douglas is a historian of the Normans period at the University of Cambridge and University of Oxford. He joined Oxford University in 1963 as Ford's Lecturer in English History, and was the 1939 winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.... , English Scholars
1940	Charles Morgan Charles Langbridge Morgan Charles Langbridge Morgan , was an English-born playwright and novelist of English and Wales parentage.His maternal grandparents had emigrated to Australia from Pembrokeshire.... , The Voyage	1940	Hilda F. M. Prescott, Spanish Tudor: Mary I of England Mary I of England Mary I , was Queen of England and Monarchy of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived half brother, Edward VI of England, to the English throne....
1941	Joyce Cary Joyce Cary Joyce Arthur Cary was an Ireland novelist and artist.... , A House of Children	1941	John Gore John Gore John Gore may refer to:John Gore , American sailor in the 18th century who accompanied James CookJohn Gore , British naval commander of the 18th and 19th centuries... , King George V George V of the United Kingdom George V was the first British monarch belonging to the House of Windsor, which he created from the British branch of the German House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha....
1942	Arthur Waley Arthur Waley Arthur David Waley Order of the Companions of Honour, Order of the British Empire was a noted English Orientalist and Sinologist.... , Translation of Monkey Monkey (book) *Monkey: A Folk-Tale of China* , usually known as simply *Monkey, is an abridged translation by Arthur Waley of the Four Great Classical Novels Journey to the West* by Wu Cheng'en.... by Wu Cheng'en Wu Cheng'en File:Xyj-sunwukong.jpgWu Cheng'en , courtesy name Ruzhong , pen name "Sheyang Hermit," was a Chinese novelist and poet of the Ming Dynasty, most famous for being the probable author of one of the Four Great Classical Novels, the Chinese classic known as Journey to the West....	1942	Lord Ponsonby of Shulbrede, Henry Ponsonby Henry Ponsonby Sir Henry Frederick Ponsonby Order of the Bath was the son the British Army general, Sir Frederick Cavendish Ponsonby, and Private Secretary to Queen Victoria.... : Queen Victoria's Private Secretary
1943	Mary Lavin Mary Lavin Mary Josephine Lavin was a noted Irish people short story writer and novelist. She is regarded as a pioneering female author in the traditionally male-dominated world of Irish letters.... , Tales from Bective Bridge	1943	G. G. Coulton G. G. Coulton George Gordon Coulton was a British historian, known for numerous works on medieval history. He was known also as a keen controversialist.He was born in King's Lynn.... , Fourscore Years
1944	Forrest Reid Forrest Reid Forrest Reid was a novelist, literary critic, and translator. He was, along with Hugh Walpole and J.M. Barrie, a leading pre-war United Kingdom novelist of boyhood.... , Young Tom	1944	C. V. Wedgwood C. V. Wedgwood Dame Veronica Wedgwood Order of Merit Order of the British Empire was an English historian who generally published under the name C. V. Wedgwood.... , William the Silent William the Silent William I, Prince of Orange , also widely known as William the Silent , or simply William of Orange , was born in the House of Nassau as a count of Nassau ....
1945	L. A. G. Strong, Travellers	1945	D. S. MacColl, Philip Wilson Steer Philip Wilson Steer File:Philip Wilson Steer photo by George Charles Beresford 1922 .jpgPhilip Wilson Steer Order of Merit was an England artist....
1946	Oliver Onions Oliver Onions George Oliver Onions, was a significant England novelist who published over forty novels and story collections. Originally trained as a commercial artist, he worked as a designer of posters and books, and as a magazine illustrator, before starting his career in writing.... , Poor Man's Tapestry	1946	Richard Aldington Richard Aldington Richard Aldington, born Edward Godfree Aldington, was an England writer and poetry.Aldington was best known for his World War I poetry, the 1929 novel Death of a Hero, and the controversy arising from his 1955 Lawrence of Arabia: A Biographical Inquiry.... , A Life of Wellington: The Duke
1947	L. P. Hartley L. P. Hartley Leslie Poles Hartley was a United Kingdom writer, known for novels and short story. His best known work is The Go-Between , which was made into a The Go-Between , directed by Joseph Losey with a star cast, in an adaptation by Harold Pinter.... , Eustace and Hilda	1947	Rev. C. C. E. Raven, English Naturalists from Neckham to Ray
1948	Graham Greene Graham Greene Henry Graham Greene Order of Merit, Order of the Companions of Honour was an English writer best known as a novelist, but who also produced short stories, plays, screenplays, travel writing and criticism.... , The Heart of the Matter The Heart of the Matter *The Heart of the Matter* is a novel by United Kingdom author Graham Greene. It was the winner in 1948 of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction....	1948	Percy A. Scholes, The Great Dr Burney
1949	Emma Smith Emma Smith (author) Emma Smith is an English novelist who briefly rose to literary fame in the 1940s before fading away into obscurity.... , The Far Cry	1949	John Connell, W. E. Henley
1950	Robert Henriques Robert Henriques Robert David Quixano Henriques was a United Kingdom writer, broadcaster and farmer. He gained modest renown for two award-winning novels and two biographies of Jewish business tycoons, published during the middle part of the 20th century.... , Through the Valley	1950	Cecil Woodham-Smith Cecil Woodham-Smith Cecil Blanche Woodham-Smith was a United Kingdom historian and biographer. She wrote four popular history books, each dealing with a different aspect of the Victorian era.... , Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale Florence Nightingale, Order of Merit , Royal Red Cross , who came to be known as "The Lady with the Lamp", was a pioneering nurse, writer and noted statistician....
1951	Chapman Mortimer Chapman Mortimer Chapman Mortimer was the pen name of William Charles Chapman Mortimer, an England novelist. He wrote a number of novels of middling quality during the 1950s that are largely forgotten today.... , Father Goose Father Goose 'Father Goose' may refer to:* ...	1951	Noel Annan Noel Annan Noel Gilroy Annan, Baron Annan, Order of the British Empire was a British military intelligence officer, author, and academic. During his military career, he rose to the rank of Colonel and was appointed Order of the British Empire.... , Leslie Stephen Leslie Stephen Sir Leslie Stephen, Order of the Bath was an England author, critic and mountaineer, and the father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell....
1952	Evelyn Waugh Evelyn Waugh Arthur Evelyn St. John Waugh was a United Kingdom writer, best known for such darkly humorous and Satire novels as Decline and Fall, Vile Bodies, Scoop , A Handful of Dust, and The Loved One, as well as for serious works, such as Brideshead Revisited and the Sword of Honour trilogy that clearly manifest his Catho... , Men at Arms Sword of Honour The Sword of Honour trilogy by Evelyn Waugh is his look at the Second World War. It consists of three novels, Men at Arms , Officers and Gentlemen and Unconditional Surrender , which loosely parallel his war time experiences....	1952	G. M. Young, Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley, Order of the Garter, Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a British Conservative Party politician, statesman, and major figure on the political scene in the interwar years....
1953	Margaret Kennedy Margaret Kennedy Margaret Kennedy was an English novelist and playwright.Born in London, she attended Cheltenham Ladies' College prior to reading History at Somerville College, Oxford.... , Troy Chimneys	1953	Carola Oman, Sir John Moore
1954	C. P. Snow C. P. Snow Charles Percy Snow, Baron Snow Order of the British Empire was an England physicist and novelist, who also served several important positions in the Government of the United Kingdom.... , The New Men and The Masters	1954	Keith Feiling Keith Feiling Sir Keith Grahame Feiling was Chichele Professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford, 1946-1950.... , Warren Hastings Warren Hastings Warren Hastings was the first Governor-General of Bengal, from 1773 to 1785. He was famously accused of corruption in an impeachment in 1787, but acquitted in 1795....
1955	Ivy Compton-Burnett Ivy Compton-Burnett Dame Ivy Compton-Burnett, Order of the British Empire was an Great Britain novelist, published as I. Compton-Burnett. She was awarded the 1955 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for her novel Mother and Son.... , Mother and Son	1955	R. W. Ketton-Cremer, Thomas Gray Thomas Gray Thomas Gray , was an England poet, classical scholar and professor at University of Cambridge....
1956	Rose Macaulay Rose Macaulay Dame Emilie Rose Macaulay, Order of the British Empire , affectionately known as Emilie, was an England novelist. She published thirty-five books, mostly novels but also biographies and travel writing.... , The Towers of Trebizond The Towers of Trebizond *The Towers of Trebizond* is a novel published in 1956 by the England novelist, biographer and traveller Rose Macaulay . The last of her novels, The Towers of Trebizond is also Macaulay's most successful....	1956	St John Greer Ervine, George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw, was an Irish people playwright.Although Shaw's first profitable writing was music and literary criticism, his talent was for drama, and he wrote more than 60 plays....
1957	Anthony Powell Anthony Powell Anthony Dymoke Powell, Companion of Honour, Order of the British Empire was an English novelist best known for his twelve-volume work A Dance to the Music of Time, published between 1951 and 1975.... , At Lady Molly's At Lady Molly's At Lady Molly's is the fourth volume in Anthony Powell's twelve novel sequence, A Dance to the Music of Time. A first person narrative, it is written in precise yet conversational prose....	1957	Maurice Cranston Maurice Cranston Maurice Cranston was a United Kingdom philosopher, professor, and author. He served for many years as a Professor of Political Science at the London School of Economics, and was also known for his popular publications.... , Life of John Locke John Locke John Locke was an English philosopher. Locke is considered the first of the British Empiricism, but is equally important to social contract theory....
1958	Angus Wilson Angus Wilson Sir Angus Frank Johnstone Wilson was an England novelist and short story writer. He was awarded the 1958 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Middle Age of Mrs Eliot and later received a knighthood for his services to literature.... , The Middle Age of Mrs. Eliot	1958	Joyce Hemlow Joyce Hemlow Joyce Hemlow Master of Arts , Ph.D, Royal Society of Canada was a Canadian professor and accomplished writer.She was born to William and Rosalinda Hemlow and was educated at Queen's University, received a B.A in 1941 and her MA in 1942, becoming a travelling fellow of the university until 1943, when she became a fellow of the Canadian Fed... , The History of Fanny Burney Fanny Burney Frances Burney , also known as Fanny Burney and after marriage as Madame d?Arblay, was born in King?s Lynn, England, on 13 June 1752, to musical historian Charles Burney and Mrs....
1959	Morris West Morris West Morris Langlo West was an Australian novelist and playwright, best known for his novels The Devil's Advocate , The Shoes of the Fisherman , and The Clowns of God .... , The Devil's Advocate The Devil's Advocate (novel) *The Devil's Advocate* is a 1959 novel by Australian author Morris West. It forms part of West's "Vatican" sequence of novels, along with The Shoes of the Fisherman , The Clowns of God , and Lazarus ....	1959	Christopher Hassall Christopher Hassall Christopher Vernon Hassall was an English actor, dramatist, librettist, lyricist and poet, who found his greatest fame in a memorable musical partnership with the actor and composer Ivor Novello after working together in the same touring company.... , Edward Marsh Edward Marsh Sir Edward Howard Marsh , born to Professor Howard Marsh of Downing College, Cambridge, was a United Kingdom polymath, translator, arts patron and civil servant....
1960	Rex Warner Rex Warner Rex Warner was an England classics, writer and translation. He is now probably best remembered for The Aerodrome , an allegory novel whose young hero is faced with the disintegration of his certainties about his loved ones and with a choice between the earthy, animalistic life of his home village and the pure, efficient, emotionally det... , Imperial Caesar	1960	Canon Adam Fox Adam Fox Canon Adam Fox was the Dean of Divinity at C.S. Lewis's Magdalen College, Oxford. He was one of the first members of the Inklings literary group headed by Lewis.... , The Life of Dean Inge
1961	Jennifer Dawson Jennifer Dawson Jennifer Dawson, was an English novelist. Her works explored the theme of mental illness and society's attitudes to those suffering from such conditions.... , The Ha-Ha	1961	M. K. Ashby M. K. Ashby MK Ashby was an educationalist, writer and historian born in Tysoe, Warwickshire, England.In 1907 Mabel won a scholarship to Warwick High school, where she became a weekly boarder.... , Joseph Ashby Joseph Ashby Joseph Ashby was an agricultural trade unionist born in Tysoe, Warwickshire, England. ?His life was remarkable, encapsulating in many aspects the ideal of the self-improving working man, and embracing most of the institutions?the nonconformist chapel, trades unionism, and working-class Liberalism?that so clearly represented social and polit... of Tysoe
1962	Ronald Hardy Ronald Hardy Ronald Harold Hardy is an English novelist and screenwriter. His first novel The Place of Jackals was published in 1954 to general acclaim.... , Act of Destruction	1962	Meriol Trevor Meriol Trevor Meriol Trevor was one of the most prolific Roman Catholic women writers of the twentieth century. She worked in Italy after the war as a relief worker.... , Newman: The Pillar and the Cloud and Newman: Light in Winter
1963	Gerda Charles Gerda Charles Gerda Charles was the pseudonym of Edna Lipson , an award-winning Anglo-Jewish novelist and author. She was born in Liverpool and spent her early years there.... , A Slanting Light	1963	Georgina Battiscombe Georgina Battiscombe Georgina Battiscombe was a British biographer, specialising mainly in lives from the Victorian era.She was born Esther Georgina Harwood, the elder daughter of George Harwood, a former clergyman, Liberal Party Member of Parliament for his home town of Bolton, Lancashire, master cotton spinner, and an author and barrister.... , John Keble John Keble John Keble was an England churchman, one of the leaders of the Oxford Movement, and gave his name to Keble College, Oxford.... : A Study in Limitations
1964	Frank Tuohy Frank Tuohy John Francis Tuohy, was an English writer and academic. Born in London, he attended Stowe School and went on to read Moral Sciences and English at King's College, Cambridge.... , The Ice Saints	1964	Elizabeth Longford Elizabeth Longford Elizabeth Pakenham, Countess of Longford, Order of the British Empire, better known as Elizabeth Longford was a United Kingdom author.... , Victoria R.I.
1965	Muriel Spark Muriel Spark Dame Muriel Spark, Order of the British Empire was an award-winning Scotland novelist.... , The Mandelbaum Gate The Mandelbaum Gate *The Mandelbaum Gate* is a novel written by Scottish people author Muriel Spark and published by Macmillan in 1965 and winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize that year....	1965	Mary Moorman Mary Moorman Mary Ann Moorman was a witness to the John F. Kennedy assassination. She is best known for her photograph capturing certain interesting aspects of the area around the crime scene.... , William Wordsworth William Wordsworth William Wordsworth was a major England Romantic poetry poet who, with Samuel Taylor Coleridge, helped to launch the Romanticism in English literature with the 1798 joint publication Lyrical Ballads.... : The Later Years 1803-1850
1966	Christine Brooke-Rose Christine Brooke-Rose Christine Frances Evelyn Brooke-Rose is a British writer and literary critic, known principally for her later, experimental novels.... , Such, and Aidan Higgins Aidan Higgins Aidan Higgins is an Ireland writer.His upbringing in a landed family Catholic family in Celbridge, County Kildare, Ireland, provided material for his first experimental novel, Langrishe, Go Down .... , Langrishe, Go Down	1966	Geoffrey Keynes Geoffrey Keynes Sir Geoffrey Langdon Keynes was an English biographer, Surgery, Internal medicine, Scholarly method and bibliophile. He was the younger brother of the Economics John Maynard Keynes.... , The Life of William Harvey William Harvey William Harvey was an English physician who was the first in the Western world to describe correctly and in exact detail the systemic circulation and properties of blood being pumped around the body by the heart....
1967	Margaret Drabble Margaret Drabble Dame Margaret Drabble Order of the British Empire, is an England novelist, biographer and critic.... , Jerusalem The Golden	1967	Winifred Gérin Winifred Gérin Winifred Eveleen G?rin, Order of the British Empire was an English biographer born in Hamburg. She is best known as a biographer of the Bront? sisters and their brother Branwell Bront?, whose lives she researched extensively.... , Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Brontë Charlotte Bront? was a United Kingdom novelist, the eldest of the three famous Bront? sisters whose novels have become standards of English literature.... : The Evolution of Genius
1968	Maggie Ross, The Gasteropod	1968	Gordon Haight, George Eliot George Eliot Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an England novelist. She was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era....
1969	Elizabeth Bowen Elizabeth Bowen Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen was an Anglo-Irish novelist and short story writer. Bowen was born in Dublin and later brought to Bowen?s Court in County Cork where she spent her summers.... , Eva Trout Eva Trout (novel) *Eva Trout* is Elizabeth Bowen's final novel. First published in 1968 in literature, it is about a young woman—the Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels/List of literary works with eponymous heroines?—who, abandoned by her mother just after her birth, raised by nurses and nannies and educated by governesses all hired by her millionaire...	1969	Antonia Fraser Antonia Fraser Lady Antonia Fraser, Order of British Empire , n?e Pakenham, is an English author of history and novels, best known as Antonia Fraser for writing biography and detective fiction.... , Mary, Queen of Scots Mary I of Scotland Mary I was Queen of Scots from 14 December 1542 to 24 July 1567.She was the only surviving legitimate child of James V of Scotland. She was only six days old when her father died and left her Queen of Scots....
1970	Lily Powell, The Bird of Paradise	1970	Jasper Ridley Jasper Ridley Jasper Godwin Ridley was a British writer, known for historical biographies. He received the 1970 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for his biography "Lord Palmerston".... , Lord Palmerston Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Order of the Garter, Order of the Bath, Privy Council of the United Kingdom was a United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom in the mid-19th century....
1971	Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer Nadine Gordimer is a South African writer, political activist and Nobel laureate.Her writing has long dealt with moral and racial issues, particularly apartheid in South Africa.... , A Guest of Honour	1971	Julia Namier, Lewis Namier
1972	John Berger John Berger John Peter Berger is an English art critic, novelist, Painting and author. His novel G. won the 1972 Booker Prize, and his essay on art criticism Ways of Seeing, written as an accompaniment to a BBC series, is often used as a college text.... , G G. (novel) G. is a 1972 in literature novel by John Berger. The novel's setting is pre-First World War Europe, and its protagonist, named "G.", is a Don Juan or Giacomo Casanova-like lover of women who gradually comes to political consciousness after misadventures across the continent....	1972	Quentin Bell Quentin Bell Quentin Claudian Stephen Bell was an England art historian and author.Bell was the son of Clive Bell and Vanessa Bell n?e Stephen, and the nephew of Virginia Woolf n?e Stephen.... , Virginia Woolf Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf was an England novelist and essayist, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literature literature figures of the twentieth century....
1973	Iris Murdoch Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch Order of the British Empire was an Ireland-born British people author and philosopher, best known for her stories regarding ethical and sexual themes.... , The Black Prince The Black Prince (novel) *The Black Prince* is Iris Murdoch's 15th novel, first published in 1973. The name of the novel alludes mainly to Hamlet.Plot summary...	1973	Robin Lane Fox Robin Lane Fox Robin Lane Fox is an England historian, currently a Fellow of New College, Oxford and University of Oxford Reader in Ancient History.... , Alexander the Great Alexander the Great Alexander the Great , also known as Alexander III of Macedon was an ancient Greeks King of Macedon . He was one of the most successful military commanders of all time and is presumed undefeated in battle....
1974	Lawrence Durrell Lawrence Durrell Lawrence George Durrell was an expatriate British novelist, poet, dramatist, and travel writer, though he resisted affiliation with UK and preferred to be considered World citizen.... , Monsieur: or, The Prince of Darkness Monsieur (novel) *Monsieur, published in 1974, is the first volume in Lawrence Durrell's The Avignon Quintet*. As a group, the five novels narrate the lives of a group of Europeans prior to and after World War II....	1974	John Wain John Wain John Wain was an England poetry, novelist, and critic, associated with the literary group The Movement . For most of his life, Wain worked as a freelance journalism and author, writing and reviewing for newspapers and the radio.... , Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson was an English author. Beginning as a Grub Street journalist, he made lasting contributions to English literature as a poet, essayist, moralist, novelist, literary critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer....
1975	Brian Moore Brian Moore (novelist) Brian Moore was an Irish novelist. He was acclaimed for his descriptions of life in Northern Ireland in the post-war era, in particular his explorations of the intercommunal divisions of The Troubles.... , The Great Victorian Collection	1975	Karl Miller Karl Miller Karl Fergus Connor Miller FRSL is a British literary editor, critic and writer.He was educated at the Royal High School of Edinburgh and Downing College, Cambridge, where he studied English.... , Cockburn's Millennium
1976	John Banville John Banville John Banville is an Ireland novelist and journalist. His novel, The Book of Evidence , was shortlisted for the Booker Prize, and won the Guinness Peat Aviation award.... , Doctor Copernicus	1976	Ronald Hingley, A New Life of Chekhov Chekhov Chekhov may refer to one of the following:...
1977	John le Carré John le Carré John le Carr? is an English author of spy fiction, several of which have been adapted for film and television. He worked for MI5 and MI6 in the 1950s and 1960s, before leaving the secret service to devote himself to writing after the success of The Spy Who Came In from the Cold.... , The Honourable Schoolboy The Honourable Schoolboy *The Honourable Schoolboy* , by John le Carr?, is the second novel of the Karla Trilogy; it won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for literature....	1977	George Painter George Painter George Duncan Painter, Order of the British Empire , known as George D. Painter, was an English author most famous as a biographer of Marcel Proust.... , Chateaubriand: Volume 1 - The Longed-For Tempests
1978	Maurice Gee Maurice Gee Maurice Gee, born 1931 in Whakatane, New Zealand, is one of New Zealand's most distinguished novelists and was awarded the 1978 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Plumb.... , Plumb	1978	Robert Gittings Robert Gittings Robert William Victor Gittings , was an English people writer, biography, BBC Radio producer, playwright and minor poet. In 1978, he was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for The Older Hardy.... , The Older Hardy Hardy Hardy may refer to:...
1979	William Golding William Golding Sir William Gerald Golding was a United Kingdom novelist, poet and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate best known for his novel Lord of the Flies.... , Darkness Visible Darkness Visible (Golding) *Darkness Visible* is a 1979 in literature novel by UK author Sir William Golding. The book won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the author also collected the 1980 Booker Prize and 1983 Nobel Prize for literature....	1979	Brian Finney, Christopher Isherwood Christopher Isherwood Christopher William Bradshaw Isherwood was an Anglo-American novelist.... : A Critical Biography
1980	J. M. Coetzee, Waiting for the Barbarians Waiting for the Barbarians *Waiting for the Barbarians* is a novel by the North African-born author J. M. Coetzee, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2003. The novel was published in 1980 and is regarded as one of Coetzee's finest pieces of writing....	1980	Robert B. Martin, Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson was Poet Laureate of the United Kingdom and remains one of the most popular English poets.Tennyson excelled at penning short lyrics, including "In the valley of Cauteretz", "Break, break, break", "The Charge of the Light Brigade ", "Tears, Idle Tears" and "Crossing the Bar".... : The Unquiet Heart
1981	Salman Rushdie Salman Rushdie Sir Ahmed Salman Rushdie is a British Indian novelist and essayist. He first achieved fame with his second novel, Midnight's Children , which won the Booker Prize in 1981.... , Midnight's Children Midnight's Children *Midnight's Children* is a 1981 novel by Salman Rushdie. It centres on the author's native India and was acclaimed as a major milestone in postcolonial literature.... , and Paul Theroux Paul Theroux Paul Edward Theroux is an United States travel writer and novelist, whose best known work is, perhaps, The Great Railway Bazaar , a travelogue about a trip he made by train from Great Britain through Western and Eastern Europe, the Middle East, through South Asia, then South-East Asia, up through East Asia, as far east as Japan, and then... , The Mosquito Coast The Mosquito Coast *The Mosquito Coast* is a 1982 in literature novel by Paul Theroux and a 1986 in film film based on the book. Harrison Ford, Helen Mirren, and River Phoenix star in the film directed by Peter Weir....	1981	Victoria Glendinning Victoria Glendinning Hon Victoria Glendinning Order of the British Empire is a British biographer, critic, broadcaster and novelist. She is President of English PEN, a winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, was awarded a CBE in 1998 and is Vice-president of the Royal Society of Literature.... , Edith Sitwell Edith Sitwell Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell Order of the British Empire was a United Kingdom poet and critic.... : Unicorn Among Lions
1982	Bruce Chatwin Bruce Chatwin Bruce Charles Chatwin was an England novelist and travel writer.... , On The Black Hill On The Black Hill *On the Black Hill* is a novel by Bruce Chatwin published in 1982 and winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for that year. In 1987 it was On the Black Hill , directed by Andrew Grieve....	1982	Richard Ellmann Richard Ellmann Richard Ellmann was a prominent USA/British people literary critic and biographer of Ireland writers such as James Joyce, Oscar Wilde, and William Butler Yeats.... , James Joyce James Joyce James Augustine Aloysius Joyce was an Ireland expatriate author of the 20th century. He is best known for his landmark novel Ulysses and its controversial successor Finnegans Wake , as well as the short story collection Dubliners and the semi-autobiographical novel A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man ....
1983	Jonathan Keates Jonathan Keates Jonathan Keates, is an English writer, biographer and novelist. Born in Paris, he was schooled at Bryanston and went on to read for his undergraduate degree at Magdalen College, Oxford.... , Allegro Postillions	1983	Alan Walker Alan Walker (writer on music) Alan Walker, Royal Society of Canada is an England-Canada musicologist and university professor best known as a biographer and scholar of composer Franz Liszt.... , Franz Liszt Franz Liszt Franz Liszt was a Kingdom of Hungary composer, virtuoso pianist and teacher.Liszt became renowned throughout Europe for his great skill as a performer during the 19th century.... : The Virtuoso Years
1984	J. G. Ballard J. G. Ballard James Graham Ballard is a United Kingdom novelist and short story writer. He was a prominent member of the New Wave in science fiction. His best known books are the controversial Crash , and the autobiographical novel Empire of the Sun, both of which have been adapted to film.... , Empire of the Sun Empire of the Sun *Empire of the Sun* is a 1984 in literature novel by J. G. Ballard which was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize. Although like Ballard's earlier short story, "The Dead Time," published in the anthology Myths of the Near Future, it is essentially fiction, like the earlier story it draws extensively on Ballard's experiences in Wo... , and Angela Carter Angela Carter Angela Carter was an England novelist and journalist, known for her feminist, magical realism and science fiction works.... , Nights at the Circus Nights at the Circus *Nights at the Circus* is a novel by Angela Carter, first published in 1984 in literature and that year's winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction....	1984	Lyndall Gordon Lyndall Gordon Lyndall Gordon is a South African academic, known for her Biography. She was born in Cape Town and was an undergraduate at the University of Cape Town, then a doctoral student at Columbia University.... , Virginia Woolf Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf was an England novelist and essayist, regarded as one of the foremost modernist literature literature figures of the twentieth century.... : A Writer's Life
1985	Robert Edric Robert Edric Robert Edric is the pseudonym of Gary Edric Armitage, a United Kingdom novelist born in Sheffield.His trilogy of detective novels, Cradle Song, Siren Song, and Swan Song, also know as the "Song Cycle" are set in the city of Hull.... , Winter Garden	1985	David Nokes, Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift was an Anglo-Irish satire, essayist, political pamphleteer , poet and cleric who became Dean of St. Patrick's Cathedral, Dublin, Dublin.... : A Hypocrite Reversed
1986	Jenny Joseph Jenny Joseph Jenny Joseph is an England poet. Her poem Warning was identified as the UK's "most popular post-war poem" in a 1996 poll by the British Broadcasting Corporation.... , Persephone	1986	Dame Felicitas Corrigan Felicitas Corrigan Dame Felicitas Corrigan Order of Saint Benedict was an English Benedictine nun, author and humanitarian.She was born Kathleen Corrigan, into a large Liverpool family, and developed a talent as an organist.... , Helen Waddell Helen Waddell Helen Jane Waddell was an Irish people poet, translator and playwright.She was born in Tokyo, the daughter of Hugh Waddell, a Presbyterian minister and missionary who was lecturing in the Imperial University....
1987	George Mackay Brown George Mackay Brown George Mackay Brown , was a Scotland poet, author and dramatist, whose work has a distinctly Orcadian character. He is considered one of the great Scottish poets of the 20th century.... , The Golden Bird: Two Orkney Stories	1987	Ruth Dudley Edwards, Victor Gollancz Victor Gollancz Sir Victor Gollancz was a United Kingdom publisher, socialism, and humanitarian.... : A Biography
1988	Piers Paul Read Piers Paul Read Piers Paul Read is a British novelist and non-fiction writer and author.... , A Season in the West	1988	Brian McGuinness, Wittgenstein, A Life: Young Ludwig (1889-1921)
1989	James Kelman James Kelman James Kelman is an influential writer of novels, short stories, Play and political essays. His novel A Disaffection was shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Fiction in 1989.... , A Disaffection	1989	Ian Gibson Ian Gibson (author) Ian Gibson is an Irish author known for his biographies on Antonio Machado, Salvador Dal?, Henry Spencer Ashbee, and particularly his work on Federico Garc?a Lorca, for which he won several awards, including the 1989 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for biography.... , Federico García Lorca Federico García Lorca Federico Garc?a Lorca was a Spain poet, dramatist and theatre director. An emblematic member of the Generation of '27, he was abducted and murdered by persons likely affiliated with the Nationalist cause at the beginning of the Spanish Civil War.... : A Life
1990	William Boyd William Boyd (writer) William Boyd, Order of the British Empire is a Scotland novelist and screenwriter.... , Brazzaville Beach Brazzaville Beach *Brazzaville Beach* is a novel by William Boyd , for which he was awarded the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for 1990 in literature, and the McVitie's Prize for Scottish people Writer of the Year....	1990	Claire Tomalin Claire Tomalin Claire Tomalin is an England biographer and journalist. She studied at Newnham College, Cambridge.She was literary editor of the New Statesman and of the The Sunday Times , and has written several noted biographies.... , The Invisible Woman: The Story of Nelly Ternan Ellen Ternan Ellen Lawless Ternan , also known as Nelly Ternan or Nelly Robinson, was an England actor who is mainly known as the woman for whom Charles Dickens left his wife Catherine.... and Charles Dickens Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens, Royal Society of Arts , pen-name "Boz", was the most popular English people novelist of the Victorian era, as well as a vigorous Reform movement....
1991	Iain Sinclair Iain Sinclair Iain Sinclair is a United Kingdom writer and film maker. Much of his work is rooted in London, most recently within the influences of psychogeography.... , Downriver	1991	Adrian Desmond and James Moore James Moore (biographer) James Moore, historian of science at the Open University and the University of Cambridge and visiting scholar at Harvard University, is noted as the author of several biographies of Charles Darwin.... , Darwin Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection....
1992	Rose Tremain Rose Tremain Rose Tremain Order of the British Empire is an England author.... , Sacred Country	1992	Charles Nicholl, The Reckoning: The Murder of Christopher Marlowe Christopher Marlowe Christopher "Kit" Marlowe was an Kingdom of England Playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. The foremost English Renaissance theatre tragedy next to William Shakespeare, he is known for his blank verse, his overreaching protagonists, and his own mysterious and untimely death....
1993	Caryl Phillips Caryl Phillips Caryl Phillips is a British writer with a Caribbean background, best known as a novelist. He is now professor at Yale University and a visiting professor at Barnard College of Columbia University.... , Crossing the River	1993	Richard Holmes Richard Holmes (biographer) Richard Holmes is a British author best-known for his biographical studies of major figures of British and French Romanticism.... , Dr Johnson and Mr Savage
1994	Alan Hollinghurst Alan Hollinghurst Alan Hollinghurst is an England novelist, and winner of the 2004 Booker Prize for The Line of Beauty.... , The Folding Star The Folding Star *The Folding Star* is a 1994 novel by Alan Hollinghurst....	1994	Doris Lessing Doris Lessing Doris May Lessing Order of the Companions of Honour, Order of the British Empire is a Zimbabwe-United Kingdom writer, author of works such as the novels The Grass is Singing and The Golden Notebook.... , Under My Skin
1995	Christopher Priest Christopher Priest (English novelist) Christopher Priest is an English novelist, whose notable works include Fugue for a Darkening Island , Inverted World, The Affirmation, The Glamour , The Prestige and The Separation.... , The Prestige The Prestige *The Prestige* is a 1995 novel by British writer Christopher Priest . The novel is Epistolary novel in structure; that is, it purports to be a collection of real diaries that were kept by the protagonists and later collated....	1995	Gitta Sereny Gitta Sereny Gitta Sereny is an Austria-born British biographer, historian and journalist whose writing focuses mainly on the Holocaust and child abuse. She is a stepdaughter of the economist Ludwig von Mises.... , Albert Speer Albert Speer Albert Speer was a Germany architect who was, for part of World War II, Minister of Armaments and War Production for the Nazi Germany. Speer was Adolf Hitler's chief architect before assuming ministerial office.... : His Battle with the Truth
1996	Graham Swift Graham Swift Graham Colin Swift is a well-known Great Britain author. He was born in London, England and educated at Dulwich College, London, Queens' College, Cambridge, and later the University of York.... , Last Orders Last Orders *Last Orders* is a 1996 in literature Booker Prize-winning novel by British author Graham Swift. In 2001 in film it was adapted for the film Last Orders by Australian writer and director Fred Schepisi.... , and Alice Thompson Alice Thompson Alice Thompson is a Scotland novelist.Thompson read English at Oxford University and wrote her Doctor of Philosophy thesis on Henry James. In the 1980s she was a rock musician with the band The Woodentops.... , Justine	1996	Diarmaid MacCulloch Diarmaid MacCulloch Diarmaid Ninian John MacCulloch is Professor of the History of the Church in the University of Oxford and Fellow of St Cross College, Oxford .... , Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer Thomas Cranmer was a leader of the English Reformation and Archbishop of Canterbury during the reigns of Henry VIII of England and Edward VI of England.... : A Life
1997	Andrew Miller Andrew Miller (novelist) Andrew Miller is an English novelist.Miller studied UEA Creative Writing Course at the University of East Anglia in 1991. In 1995 he wrote a Ph.D.... , Ingenious Pain	1997	R. F. Foster R. F. Foster R. F. Foster may refer to:R. F. Foster , Richard Frederick Foster , disseminator of the rules of many card gamesR. F. Foster , Robert Fitzroy Foster , professor of Irish History... , W. B. Yeats: A Life, Volume 1 - The Apprentice Mage 1965-1914
1998	Beryl Bainbridge Beryl Bainbridge Dame Beryl Margaret Bainbridge, DBE is an English novelist.A five-time nominee for the Booker Prize, Bainbridge has never won. She has nonetheless been described as "a national treasure".... , Master Georgie Master Georgie *Master Georgie* is a 1998 in literature historical novel by England novelist Beryl Bainbridge. It deals with the British experience of the Crimean War through the adventures of the eponymous central character George Hardy, who volunteers to work on the battlefields....	1998	Peter Ackroyd Peter Ackroyd Peter Ackroyd CBE is an England novelist and biographer with a particular interest in the history and culture of London. His works are comparable to Martin Amis, John Banville and Sebastian Barry.... , The Life of Thomas More Thomas More Saint Thomas More was an English lawyer, author, and statesman who in his lifetime gained a reputation as a leading Renaissance humanist scholar, and occupied many public offices, including Lord Chancellor ....
1999	Timothy Mo Timothy Mo Timothy Peter Mo is an English people-China novelist. Born to a Wales-Yorkshire mother and a Hong Kong Chinese father, Mo lived in Hong Kong until the age of 10 before he moved to Britain, studying at St John's College, Oxford.... , Renegade, or Halo2	1999	Kathryn Hughes Kathryn Hughes Kathryn Hughes is a British historian, biographer and journalist. Educated at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University; her Doctorate in Victorian History was developed into her first book, The Victorian Governess.... , George Eliot George Eliot Mary Anne Evans , better known by her pen name George Eliot, was an England novelist. She was one of the leading writers of the Victorian era.... : The Last Victorian
2000	Zadie Smith Zadie Smith Zadie Smith is an England novelist. To date she has written three novels. In 2003, she was included on Granta list of 20 best young authors.... , White Teeth White Teeth *White Teeth* is a 2000 novel by the United Kingdom author Zadie Smith. It focuses on the later lives of two wartime friends - the Bangladeshi Samad Iqbal and the Englishman Archie Jones, and their families in London....	2000	Martin Amis Martin Amis Martin Louis Amis is an England novelist, essayist, professor, and short story writer, and the son of the novelist and poet Kingsley Amis. His works include such novels as Money , London Fields and The Information .... , Experience
2001	Sid Smith Sid Smith (writer) Sid Smith is an award-winning England novelist and journalist.... , Something Like a House	2001	Robert Skidelsky, John Maynard Keynes: Volume 3 - Fighting for Britain 1937-1946
2002	Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Franzen Jonathan Franzen is an award-winning United States novelist and essayist.... , The Corrections The Corrections *The Corrections* is a 2001 in literature novel by United States author Jonathan Franzen. It revolves around the troubles of an elderly Midwestern United States couple and their three adult children, tracing their lives from the mid-twentieth century to "one last Christmas" together near the turn of the millennium....	2002	Jenny Uglow Jenny Uglow Jennifer Sheila Uglow OBE is a British biographer, critic and publisher. The editorial director of Chatto and Windus, she has written critically acclaimed biographies of Elizabeth Gaskell, William Hogarth, Thomas Bewick and the Lunar Society, among others, and has also compiled a dictionary of women's biographies.... , The Lunar Men: The Friends Who Made the Future 1730-1810
2003	Andrew O'Hagan Andrew O'Hagan Andrew O'Hagan is a Scottish people writer and novelist. He was selected by the literary magazine Granta for inclusion in their 2003 list of the top 20 young British novelists.... , Personality	2003	Janet Browne, Charles Darwin Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin Royal Society was an English people natural history who realised and presented compelling evidence that all species of life have evolution over time from common descent, through the process he called natural selection.... : Volume 2 - The Power of Place
2004	David Peace David Peace David Peace is a United Kingdom author. He is well known for his novels GB84 and The Damned Utd. In 2003 David Peace was named as a Best of Young British Novelists by Granta.... , GB84	2004	Jonathan Bate Jonathan Bate Jonathan Bate Order of the British Empire Royal Society of Arts Royal Society of Literature is a British academic, biographer, critic, broadcaster, novelist and scholar of Shakespeare, Romanticism and Ecocriticism.... , John Clare John Clare John Clare was an England poet, in his time commonly known as "the Northamptonshire Peasant Poet", born the son of a farm labourer at Helpston near Peterborough.... : A Biography
2005	Ian McEwan Ian McEwan Ian Russell McEwan, CBE, Royal Society of Arts, Royal Society of Literature, is a Booker Prize-winning England novelist and screenwriter.... , Saturday Saturday (novel) *Saturday* is a novel by the British author Ian McEwan that charts the day of a 48-year-old London neurosurgeon called Henry Perowne. It won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for 2005....	2005	Sue Prideaux Sue Prideaux Sue Prideaux, is an English novelist and biographer. She has strong links to Norway and her godmother was painted by Edvard Munch, whose biography she later wrote under the title Edvard Munch: Behind the Scream.... , Edvard Munch Edvard Munch Edvard Munch was a Norway Symbolism Painting, printmaker, and an important forerunner of Expressionism. His best-known composition, The Scream is one of the pieces in a series titled The Frieze of Life, in which Munch explored the themes of life, love, fear, death, and melancholy.... : Behind the Scream
2006	Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy Cormac McCarthy, born Charles McCarthy , is an United States novelist and playwright. He has written ten novels in the Southern Gothic, Western fiction, and Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction genres, and has also written plays and screenplays.... , The Road	2006	Byron Rogers Byron Rogers (author) 'Byron Rogers' is a Wales journalist, essayist and biographer. In August, 2007 the University of Edinburgh awarded him the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for the best biography published in the previous year, for The Man Who Went Into the West: The Life of R.S.... , The Man Who Went into the West: The life of R.S. Thomas
2007	Rosalind Belben, Our Horses in Egypt	2007	Rosemary Hill, God's Architect: Pugin and the Building of Romantic Britain

James Tait Black Memorial Prize

Notable and recent winners

Selection process and prize administration

Eligibility

Complete list of Winners

External links