The ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award is financed by a bequest made by Miss Nellie Tom-Gallon in memory of her brother and generously supported by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS).
2021 winner & runner-up

Winner: DM O’Connor for I Told You Not to Fly So High
Runner-up: Sean Lusk for The Hopelessness of Hope.
2021 shortlist
- Maeve O’Lynn for Eventually Meeting the Sky Somewhere
- Anne Aylor for The House of Wild Beats
- Alison Littlewood for Swanskin
- Dafydd Mills Daniel for What the Deal is
Entry to the 2022 award is now closed.
- Deadline for entries: 31 October 2021
- Applicants must be ordinarily resident in the United Kingdom, Commonwealth, or the Republic of Ireland
- Applicants must have had at least one short story accepted for publication
- Submissions must be in English and must not be a translation
- Submissions may be published or unpublished
- Submissions must not have been previously submitted for the ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award
- Submissions must be a maximum of 5,000 words
For any queries relating to the prize please contact prizes@societyofauthors.org
2021
- Winner: DM O’Connor for I Told You not to Fly so High
- Runner-up: Sean Lusk for The Hopelessness of Hope
- Shortlist
- Maeve O’Lynn for Eventually Meeeting the Sky Somewhere
- Anne Aylor for The House of Wild Beasts
- Alison Littlewood for Swanskin
- Dafydd Mills Daniel for What the Deal is
2020
- Winner: Wendy Riley for Eva at the End of the World
- Runner-up: Diana Powell for Whale Watching
- Shortlist
- Ani Kayode Somotchukwu for The Bird that Fluttered Free
- Lynda Clark for Ghillie’s Mum
- Carol Farrelly for High Water
- Catriona Ward for The Pier at Ardentinny
2019
- Winner: Dima Alzayat for Once We Were Syrians
- Runner-up: Bunmi Ogunsiji for Blessing
- Shortlist
- Niall Bourke for Gerardo Dreams of Chillies
- Claire Fuller for Tiny and Pointed
- Bruce Meyer for The Kids
2018
- Winner: Chris Connolly for The Speed of Light and How It Cannot Help Us
- Runner-up: Benjamin Myers for A Thousand Acres of English Soil
- Shortlist
- Kirsty Logan for My Body Cannot Forget Your Body
- Valerie O’Riordan for Livestock
- Gabi Reigh for It Was a Very Good Year
- Jacky Taylor for A Brief Period of Rejoicing.
2017
- Winner: Frances Thimann for Shells
- Runner-up: Becky Tipper for The Rabbit
2016
- Winner: Claire Harman for Otherwise Engaged
- Runner-up: Jessie Greengrass for Dolphin
2015
- Winner: Maria C. McCarthy for More Katharine Than Audrey
- Runner-up: Caroline Price for Vin Rouge
2014
- Winner: Benjamin Myers for The Folk Song Singer
- Runner-up: Claire Harman for Poor Magigie Kirkpatrick
2013
- Winner: Samuel Wright for Best Friend
- Runner-up: Lucy Wood for Wisht
2011
- Winner: Emma Timpany for The Pledge
- Runner-up: Miriam Burke for A Splash of Words
2010
- Winner: Carys Davies for The Quiet
- Joint runners-up: Susannah Rickards for The Paperback Macbeth and Simon van Booy for Little Birds
2009
- Winner: Rosemary Mairs for My Father’s Hands
- Specially commended: Huw Lawrencefor Keeping On
2008
- Winner: Alison MacLeod for Dirty Weekend
2007
- Winner: Claire Keegan for The Parting Gift
2006
- Winner: Bethan Roberts for An Elephant in the Thames
2005
- Winner: Colette Paul for O Tell me the Truth About Love
2004
- Winner: Claire Keegan for Men and Women
2003
- Winner: Judith Ravenscroft for As She Waited for Spring
2001
- Winner: Paul Blaney for Apple Tennis
1999
- Winner: Grace Ingoldby for The Notion of Deuce
1996
- Winner: Leo Madigan for Packing for Wednesday
1994
- Winner: Janice Fox for A Good Place to Die
1992
- Winner: David Callard for Reading the Signals
1990
- Winner: Richard Austin for Sister Monica’s Last Journey
1988
- Winner: Alan Beard for Taking Doreen Out of the Sky
1986
- Winner: Lawrence Scott for The House of Funerals
1984
- Winner: Janni Howker for The Egg Man
1982
- Winner: Dermot Healy for The Tenant
1980
- Winner: Alan McConnell for The Comrades Marathon
1978
- Winner: Michael Morrissey for An Evening With Ionesco
1976
- Winner: Jackson Webb for Vassili
1974
- Winner: Neilson Graham for Anscombe
1972
- Winner: Kathleen Julian for Catch Two
1970
- Winners: A. Craig Bell for The Nest and Aileen Pennington for The Princess and the Pussy-cat
1966
- Winner: Gillian Edwards for An Evening in September
1964
- Winners: Peter Greave for The Wonderful Day and Jean Stubbs for A Child’s Four Seasons
1959
- Winner: Harold Elvin for God’s Right Hand Upon My Shoulder
1957
- Winner: E.W. Hildick for A Casual Visit
1955
- Winner: Robert Roberts for Conducted Tour
1953
- Winner: Maurice Cranston for A Visit to the Author
1951
- Winner: Fred Urquhart for The Ploughing Match
1949
- Winner: Olivia Manning for The Children
1947
- Winner: Dorothy K. Haynes for The Head
1945
- Winner: Jack Aistrop for Death In the Midst of What
1943
- Winner: Elizabeth Myers for A Well Full of Leaves
Generously supported by the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS).

Charity number 212405