The SoA Awards

Lemn Sissay (left) and Joanne Harris (right) with 2022 Betty Trask Prize winner Will McPhail at Southwark Cathedral (photograph © Adrian Pope)
Lemn Sissay (left) and Joanne Harris (right) with 2022 Betty Trask Prize winner Will McPhail at Southwark Cathedral (photograph © Adrian Pope)
Over £100,000 awarded annually for poetry, fiction, non-fiction and illustration

The annual Society of Authors’ Awards recognising the best and most promising voices of the year. The Awards events are generously supported by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS).

Our awards for fiction are open to work from writers at all stages of their careers, from short stories to novels, and we accept submissions from both self-published and traditionally-published authors.

We also administer two awards that celebrate the best in non-fiction writing from young authors, alongside prizes for historical biography and illustrated children’s books.

Our poetry awards celebrate excellence in poetry, rewarding poets just starting out as well those established in their careers.

Celebrate the 2020 SoA Award shortlists with our online Blackwell’s shop. Browse this year’s shortlisted books and you’ll be helping to donate to our Contingency Fund to support authors. Browse here