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
The ADCI Literary Prize
Encouraging greater positive representation of disability in literature
ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award
For a short story of up to 5,000 words
Betty Trask Prize
For first novels by authors under 35
Cholmondeley Awards
Recognising the achievement and distinction of individual poets
Eric Gregory Awards
For a collection by poets under the age of 30
McKitterick Prize
For a first novel by an author over 40
Paul Torday Memorial Prize
For a first novel by an author over 60
The Queen’s Knickers Award
For an outstanding children’s illustrated book
Somerset Maugham Awards
Enabling young writers to enrich their work through experience of foreign countries
Travelling Scholarships
Enabling writers to keep in touch with their colleagues abroad
The Gordon Bowker Volcano Prize
For a novel focusing on the experience of travel away from home
Frequently asked questions
Answers to some of the most common questions about the SoA Awards