The Most Prestigious Literary Awards In The World

Thousands of literary awards are held each year across the world where millions of literary hopefuls submit their entries. The awards are either national of global and they award various categories including children's literature, poetry, fiction, non-fiction, science fiction, and fantasy.

Nobel Prize For Literature

The Nobel awards are named in remembrance of Alfred Nobel, who in the 1800s significantly contributed to the fields of chemistry, literature, engineering, and entrepreneurship. Even more impressive is that he was fluent in five languages at the age of 17. He stipulated the founding of the prize in his will and allocated funds for it as well. All Nobel awards are overseen by various institutions, and the Swedish Academy has the mandate to oversee the literature prize. The winning individual gets a medal along with money which varies from year to year. The Academy spells out the individuals and institutions that can nominate a writer which include literature and linguistics professors in universities as well as university colleges, previous winners of the literature prize, and participants of the Swedish Academy. The Nobel Committee for Literature is charged with reviewing the nominees and forwarding the reviews to the Swedish Academy. The award has been given since 1901 to writers from different countries.

Man Booker Prize

This prize was initially known as the Booker Prize from 1969 to 2001. The Man Group invested in the prize from 2005 to 2015 renaming it the Man Booker Prize and awarding it every two years. Previously, the Man Booker Prize accepted work from the Commonwealth, Zimbabwe, and Ireland, but from 2014 the international Prize was widened to accept any writing in English language. An author could only win one time, and the award was valued at 60,000 British Pounds. The international award had a separate prize for translation. Since 2016, the international prize has been focusing on fiction for translation with the winning author and translator getting 50,000 British Pounds.

The Pulitzer Prize

The man credited with the establishment of the Pulitzer Prizes was Joseph Pulitzer. He was a respected journalist in the 1800s, and he was from a wealthy family. The prize recognizes works in online, newspaper, and magazine journalism, musical composition, and literature, and it is overseen by the Columbia University. The prize has 21 categories, and the winners in 20 of them get a certificate together with 15,000 US Dollars. A gold medal is bequeathed to the winner of the public service division of the journalism competition. The Pulitzer award for fiction was unveiled in 1918, and it was handed to Ernest Poole in recognition for the book titled "This Family."

Neustadt International Prize For Literature

This prize is another of the world's coveted literary awards. The award originated in the US when Ivar Ivask founded it in 1969 in the name of Books Abroad International Prize for Literature. Ivar Ivask was then the editor for Books Abroad. The prize was given its current name in 1976. The prize's endowment is from Walter and Doris Neustadt of the city of Ardmore in Oklahoma. It is further sponsored by the University of Oklahoma, and the winner gets a certificate, a silver eagle feather, and $50,000. The award recognizes exemplary work in drama, poetry, and fiction.

Costa Book Awards

The Costa Book awards were unveiled in 1971 as the Whitbread Book Awards. In 2006, Costa Coffee assumed sponsorship of the award and thereby renaming it. Submitting authors should be based in Britain or Ireland and the work should be in the English language. The award recognizes not only brilliant work but also enjoyable books with an objective to popularize reading as an enjoyable activity. The categories include biography, novel, children's book, first novel, and poetry. Category winners get 5,000 British Pounds

America Award

The America Award was inaugurated in 1994, and it recognizes a lifetime contribution to the realm of international writing. Part of its mission is to offer an alternative to the famous Nobel Prize in Literature. It enjoys the sponsorship of the Contemporary Arts Educational Project, Inc., and the award is given in memory of Anna Fahrni. Every year, a jury of six to eight American literary critics, playwrights, poets, and prose writers congregate to decide on the winner, who does not receive any award money.

The Women’s Prize for Fiction

This prize is among the United Kingdom's most coveted literary awards. It was previously called the Orange Prize for Fiction. It is given every year to a female author regardless of nationality for an outstanding full-length novel published in the territory of the UK in the preceding year in English. The 1991 Booker Prize set the stage for the establishment of the Women's Prize for Fiction since it did not include a female in its six shortlisted books. A team of men and women engaged in the literary industries met and pondered on the issue. The winning writer gets 30,000 British Pounds and a bronze sculpture.

Hugo Award

The Hugo Award is named in honor of Hugo Gernsback, the man behind the science fiction magazine known as Amazing Stories. The award seeks to recognize the top science fiction or fantasy works as well as achievements of the preceding year. The management of the Hugo Award rests with the World Science Fiction Society who award it at the yearly World Science Fiction Convention. The awards were unveiled in 1953 and categories include Best Novelette, Best Graphic Story, Best Fanzine, Best Professional Artist, Best Fancast, Best Dramatic Presentation, and Best Related Work.

Warwick Prize for Writing

This prize was unveiled in July 2008 by the University of Warwick. It is a cross-disciplinary writing competition, the only one of its kind in the world. Students, alumni, and staff of the University can nominate pieces of literary work and the publishing industry as well. A new theme is unveiled with every award and work should be in English.

Struga Poetry Evenings

The town of Struga in Macedonia holds a global poetry festival every year. The Festival hands its coveted Golden Wreath to some of the most brilliant international poets. The festival commenced in 1961 when it featured Macedonian poets. Subsequent developments made it an international cultural festival by 1966. The Golden Wreath International Award was inaugurated in the same year, and its initial winner was Robert Rozhdestvensky. The award has recognized such famed literary figures as Seamus Heaney, Joseph Brodsky, and Pablo Neruda.