James Tait Black Memorial Prize

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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. Based at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, part of the 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 Ltd.

The winners are chosen by the Professor of English Literature at the University, who is assisted by PhD students in the shortlisting phase. 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 [1]. This increase made the two annual prizes, one for fiction and the other for biography, the largest literary prizes on offer in Scotland[2]. The University is advised in relation to the development and administration of the Prize by a small committee. Current members featured elsewhere in Wikipedia include Ian Rankin, Alexander McCall Smith and James Naughtie.

Contents

[edit] 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.

[edit] List of Winners

[edit] Fiction Awards

[edit] Biography Awards

[edit] External links

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ "University boosts James Tait Black Prizes", University of Edinburgh, November 28, 2005.
  2. ^ "Ali Smith hits the shortlists again", The Guardian, May 2, 2006.
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