World Literary Prizes 2008

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World Literary Prizes 2008

All prizes are annual and were awarded in 2008 unless otherwise stated. Currency equivalents as of July 1, 2008, were as follows: €1 = $$1.578; £1 = $$1.994; Can$1 = $0.989; ¥1 = $0.009; SKr 1 = $0.166; DKr 1 = $0.211; Russian ruble = $0.043.

Nobel Prize for Literature

Awarded since 1901; included in the behest of Alfred Nobel, who specified a prize for those who "shall have produced in the field of literature the most outstanding work in an ideal direction." The prizewinners are selected in October by the Swedish Academy and receive the award on December 10 in Stockholm. Prize: a gold medal and an award that varies from year to year; in 2008 the award was SKr 10 million.

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio (France)

International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

First awarded in 1996; this is the largest international literary prize and is open to books written in any language. The award is a joint initiative of Dublin City Council, the Municipal Government of Dublin City, and the productivity-improvement company IMPAC. It is administered by Dublin City Public Libraries. Prize: €100,000, of which 25% goes to the translator if the book was not written in English, and a Waterford crystal trophy. The awards are given at Dublin Castle in May or June.

De Niro's Game by Rawi Hage (Lebanon and Canada)

Neustadt International Prize for Literature

Established in 1969 and awarded biennially by the University of Oklahoma and World Literature Today. Novelists, poets, and dramatists are equally eligible. Prize: $50,000, a replica of an eagle feather cast in silver, and a certificate.

Patricia Grace (New Zealand)

Man Booker International Prize

This prize is awarded every other year (beginning in 2005) to a living author of fiction of any nationality who writes in English or whose work is widely translated into English for the body of his work. The prize is supported by the Man Group PLC. Winners are announced in midyear. Prize: £60,000.

Chinua Achebe (Nigeria), awarded in 2007

Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature

This award, first bestowed in 2003 by the government of Sweden, is given annually to one or more living authors who, in the words of the organizers, "in their writing have produced literature for children and young people of absolutely the highest artistic quality and in the humanistic spirit associated with Astrid Lindgren." Prize: SKr 5 million.

Sonya Hartnett (Australia)

Commonwealth Writers' Prize

Established in 1987 by the Commonwealth Foundation. In 2008 there was one award of £10,000 for the best book submitted, as well as an award of £5,000 for the best first book. In each of the four regions of the Commonwealth, two prizes of £1,000 are awarded: one for the best book and one for the best first book.

Best Book The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (Canada)

Best First Book A Golden Age by Tahmima Anam (Bangladesh)

Regional winners—Best Book

Africa The Hangman's Game by Karen King-Aribisala (Nigeria)

Caribbean & Canada The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill (Canada)

Europe & South Asia Animal's People by Indra Sinha (India)

Southeast Asia &

    South Pacific The Time We Have Taken by Steven Carroll (Australia)

Man Booker Prize

Established in 1969, sponsored by Booker McConnell Ltd. and, beginning in 2002, the Man Group; administered by the National Book League in the U.K. Awarded to the best full-length novel written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland and published in the U.K. during the 12 months ended September 30. Prize: £50,000.

The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga

Costa Book of the Year

Established in 1971 as the Whitbread Literary Awards (from 1985 Whitbread Book of the Year); Costa Coffee assumed sponsorship in 2006. The winners of the Costa Book Awards for Poetry, Biography, Novel, and First Novel as well as the Costa Children's Book of the Year each receive £5,000, and the winner of the Costa Book of the Year prize receives an additional £25,000. Winners are announced early in the year following the award.

Day by A.L. Kennedy (2007 award)

Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction

Established in 1996. Awarded to a work of published fiction written by a woman in English and published in the U.K. during the 12 months ended March 31. Prize: £30,000 and a bronze figurine called the "Bessie."

The Road Home by Rose Tremain (U.K.)

Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award

The prize was first awarded in 2005 and recognizes a collection of short stories in English by a living author and published in the previous 12 months. The award is organized by the Munster Literature Centre in Ireland and Cork and underwritten by the Cork City Council in association with the Irish Times. Prize: €35,000, shared by the writer and the translators (if any).

Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri (U.S.)

Bollingen Prize in Poetry

Established in 1949 by Paul Mellon. It is awarded to an American poet every two years by the Yale University Library. Prize: $100,000.

Frank Bidart (2007 prize)

PEN/Nabokov Award

With this award, in even-numbered years the PEN American Center recognizes a living author for his or her body of work in a variety of genres written in, or translated into, English. The award, named for Vladimir Nabokov and supported by the Vladimir Nabokov Foundation, was first presented in 2000. Prize: $20,000.

Cynthia Ozick (2008 award)

PEN/Faulkner Award

The PEN/Faulkner Foundation each year recognizes the best published works of fiction by contemporary American writers. The award, named for William Faulkner, was founded by writers in 1980 to honour their peers. Prize: $15,000.

The Great Man by Kate Christensen

Pulitzer Prizes in Letters and Drama

Begun in 1917. Awarded by Columbia University, New York City, on the recommendation of the Pulitzer Prize Board for books published in the previous year. Five categories in Letters are honoured: Fiction, Biography, and General Non-Fiction (authors of works in these categories must be American citizens); History (the subject must be American history); and Poetry (for original verse by an American author). The Drama prize is for "a distinguished play by an American author, preferably original in its source and dealing with American life." Prize: $10,000 for each award.

Fiction The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

Drama August: Osage County by Tracy Letts

History What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848 by Daniel Walker Howe

Poetry Time and Materials by Robert Hass

Failure by Philip Schultz

Biography Eden's Outcasts: The Story of Louisa May Alcott and Her Father

by John Matteson

General Non-Fiction The Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939–1945 by Saul Friedländer

National Book Awards

Awarded since 1950 by the National Book Foundation, a consortium of American publishing groups. Categories have varied, beginning with 3—Fiction, Nonfiction, and Poetry—swelling to 22 awards in 1983, and returning to the following 4 in 2001. Prize: $10,000 and a crystal sculpture in each category.

Fiction Shadow Country by Peter Matthiessen

Nonfiction The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed

Poetry Fire to Fire: New and Collected Poems by Mark Doty

Young People's Literature What I Saw and How I Lied by Judy Blundell

Frost Medal

Awarded annually since 1930 by the Poetry Society of America for distinguished lifetime service to American poetry.

Michael S. Harper

Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) Awards

The ALSC, a branch of the American Library Association (ALA), presents a series of awards each year for excellence in children's literature. The two best-established and best-known are the following:

The Newbery Medal, first bestowed in 1922 (the oldest award in the world for children's literature), honours the author of the most distinguished contribution in English to American literature for children. The award consists of a bronze medal.

Laura Amy Schlitz, for Good Masters! Sweet Ladies! Voices from a Medieval Village

The Caldecott Medal, first bestowed in 1938, is awarded to the artist of the most distinguished picture book for children. The award consists of a bronze medal.

Brian Selznick, for The Invention of Hugo Cabret

Governor General's Literary Awards

Canada's premier literary awards. Prizes are given in 14 categories altogether: Fiction, Poetry, Drama, Translation, Nonfiction, and Children's Literature (Text and Illustration), each in English and French. Established in 1937. Prize: Can$25,000.

Fiction (English) The Origin of Species by Nino Ricci

Fiction (French) Naissance de Rebecca à l'ère des tourments by Marie-Claire Blais

Poetry (English) More to Keep Us Warm by Jacob Scheier

Poetry (French) La Lanteur du monde by Michel Pleau

Griffin Poetry Prize

Established in 2001 and administered by the Griffin Trust for Excellence in Poetry, the award honours first-edition books of poetry published during the preceding year. Prize: Can$50,000 each for the two awards.

Canadian Award The Holy Forest: Collected Poems of Robin Blaser by Robin Blaser

International Award Notes from the Air: Selected Later Poems by John Ashbery (U.S.)

Büchner Prize

Georg-Büchner-Preis. Awarded for a body of literary work in the German language. First awarded in 1923; now administered by the German Academy for Language and Literature. Prize: €40,000.

Josef Winkler (Austria)

Hooft Prize

P.C. Hooftprijs. The Dutch national prize for literature, established in 1947. Prize: €60,000.

Abram de Swaan

Nordic Council Literature Prize

Established in 1961. Selections are made by a 10-member jury from among original works first published in Danish, Norwegian, or Swedish during the past two years or in other Nordic languages (Finnish, Faroese, Sami, etc.) during the past four years. Prize: DKr 350,000.

Bavian by Naja Marie Aidt (Denmark)

Prix Goncourt

Prix de l'Académie Goncourt. First awarded in 1903 from the estate of French literary figure Edmond Huot de Goncourt, to memorialize him and his brother, Jules. Prize: €10.

Syngué Sabour, pierre de patience by Atiq Rahimi

Prix Femina

Established in 1904. The awards for works "of imagination" are announced by an all-women jury in the categories of French fiction, fiction in translation, and nonfiction. Announced in November together with the Prix Médicis. Prize: Not stated.

French Fiction Où on va, papa? by Jean-Louis Fournier

Strega Prize

Premio Strega. Awarded annually since 1947 for the best work of prose (fiction or nonfiction) by an Italian author in the previous year. The prize is supported by the beverage company Liquore Strega and Telecom Italia. Prize: not stated.

La solitudine dei numeri primi by Paolo Giordano

Cervantes Prize for Hispanic Literature

Premio Cervantes. Established in 1976 and awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture for a body of work in the Spanish language. Announced in November or December and awarded the following April. Prize: €125,000.

Juan Marsé (Spain)

Planeta Prize

Premio Planeta de Novela. Established in 1951 by the Planeta Publishing House for the best unpublished original novel in Spanish. Awarded in Barcelona in October. Prize: €601,000 and publication by Planeta.

La hermandad de la buena suerte by Fernando Savater

Camões Prize

Prémio Camões. Established in 1988 by the governments of Portugal and Brazil to honour a "representative" author writing in the Portuguese language. Prize: €100,000.

João Ubaldo Ribeiro (Brazil)

Russian Booker Prize

Awarded since 1992, the Russian Booker Prize has sometimes carried the names of various sponsors-e.g., Smirnoff in 1997–2001. In 2004 it was underwritten by the Open Russia Charitable Organization and called the Booker/Open Russia Literary Prize. Awards: $15,000 for the winner; $1,000 for each finalist.

Bibliotekar by Mikhail Yelizarov

Big Book Prize

Premiya Bolshaya Kniga. First given out in 2006, it is sponsored by the government of Russia and underwritten by a number of prominent businessmen, who also serve on the jury. Awards: 3 million rubles for first prize, 1.5 million for second, and 1 million for third.

Vladimir Makanin for his novel Asan

Naguib Mahfouz Medal for Literature

Established in 1996 and awarded for the best contemporary novel published in Arabic. Prize: $1,000 and a silver medal. The winning work is translated into English and published in Cairo, London, and New York.

Al-Fa'il ("The Labourer") by Hamd b; Ab b; Jal b;l (Egypt)

Caine Prize for African Writing

The Caine Prize for African Writing is awarded annually for a short story written by an African writer and published in English. The prize is named for Sir Michael Caine, longtime chairman of Booker PLC, the publishing company, and chairman of the Booker Prize management committee for 25 years. The Caine Prize was first given out in 2000. Award: £10,000 plus a travel allowance.

Henrietta Rose-Innes (South Africa) for "Poison"

Man Asian Literary Prize

This prize is to be awarded annually, beginning in autumn 2007, for an Asian novel unpublished in English. The prize is underwritten by the Man Group PLC and the Hong Kong International Literary Festival Ltd. Prize: $10,000 for the author and $3,000 for the translator, plus publication and distribution of the work if other arrangements have not been made.

Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco (Philippines)

Jun'ichir d; Tanizaki Prize

Tanizaki Jun'ichir d; Sh d;. Established in 1965 to honour the memory of novelist Jun'ichir d; Tanizaki. Awarded annually to a Japanese author for an exemplary literary work. Prize: ¥1,000,000 and a trophy.

Natsuo Kirino for T d;ky d;-jima ("Tokyo Island")

Ry b;nosuke Akutagawa Prize

Akutagawa Ry b;nosuke Sh d;. Established in 1935 and now sponsored by the Association for the Promotion of Japanese Literature, the prize is awarded in January and June for the best serious work of fiction by a promising new Japanese writer published in a magazine or journal. Prize: ¥1,000,000 and a commemorative gift.

"Chichi to ran" ("Breasts and Egg") by Mieko Kawakami (138th prize, second half of 2007)

"Toki ga nijimu Asa" ("A Morning When Time Blurs") by Yang Yi (139th prize, first half of 2008)

Mao Dun Literary Award

Established in 1981 to honour contemporary Chinese novels and named after novelist Shen Yanbing (1896-1981), whose nom de plume was Mao Dun; awarded every five years. The latest awards were given on Oct. 25, 2008.

Qinqiang ("Qin Opera") by Jia Pingwa

Ergun He you an ("The Right Bank of the Argun River") by Chi Zijian

Hu guang shan se ("The Scenery of Lakes and Mountains") by Zhou Daxin

An suan ("Plotting") by Mai Jia

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