Literary prizes

Africa

• Egypt

  • Sawiris Cultural Award

    جائزة ساويرس الثقافية Awarded each January in Cairo by the Sawiris Foundation for Social Development to Egyptian writers; this site follows its best novel award for established writers, usually given to one book or shared between two, with a public shortlist only in 2020. 3 of 26 winners in English

• Nigeria

  • Nigeria Prize for Literature

    Awarded each October by Nigeria LNG to a book by a Nigerian author, in a genre that rotates each year between prose fiction, poetry, drama and children's literature. This site lists only the prose fiction years. 5 of 5 winners in English

• South Africa

  • UJ-prys vir Afrikaans

    Awarded each year by the University of Johannesburg (until 2005 Rand Afrikaans University, as the RAU-prys) to the best creative book of any genre written in Afrikaans and published the year before; a separate debut prize is not listed here. Shortlists are known from 2011 on. 15 of 26 winners in English

• Tunisia

  • Comar d'Or

    Prix littéraires Comar d'Or Awarded each spring in Tunis by the insurer Comar to the best Tunisian novel of the year, with separate prizes for novels in Arabic and in French. This site lists the winners of the main prize, the Comar d'Or, in both languages. 3 of 58 winners in English

Asia

• China

  • Mao Dun Literature Prize

    茅盾文学奖 Awarded every four years by the China Writers Association to several novels of at least 130,000 characters by Chinese writers, published in mainland China in the period under review. The year is the year an edition was announced. The nominees are the final-round list: about 25 books in 2005 and 2008, ten from 2011; the 2000 edition published winners only. 16 of 33 winners in English · 1 coming soon

• India

  • Sahitya Akademi Award

    साहित्य अकादेमी पुरस्कार Awarded each December by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, to one book in each of the 24 languages it recognizes, English included, in any genre. This site lists the winners that are novels or short stories. 57 of 185 winners in English

• Indonesia

  • Kusala Sastra Khatulistiwa

    Awarded in Jakarta to the best Indonesian-language books of the past year. Listed here: the prose award (novels and story collections) to 2021, the prose books that won the single award of 2002 and 2003, the fiction award of 2004, and the novel and short story collection awards since 2025. The shortlist is the final five. 3 of 25 winners in English

• Israel

  • Sapir Prize for Literature

    פרס ספיר Awarded since 2000 by Mifal HaPais, Israel's national lottery, to a work of Hebrew prose fiction published in Israel the year before; a jury chooses a shortlist of five and then the winner. Years follow the prize's own naming (the Sapir Prize for 2003), not the date of the ceremony, which in later years moved to the start of the following year. 12 of 25 winners in English

• Japan

  • Akutagawa Prize

    芥川龍之介賞 Awarded twice a year by the Society for the Promotion of Japanese Literature to a story or novella in Japanese by a new or emerging writer, usually first published in a literary magazine during that half-year. Sessions are named after the half-year they cover: the prize for the second half of 2016 was announced in January 2017. 22 of 65 winners in English

• South Korea

  • Daesan Literary Award

    대산문학상 Awarded each November by the Daesan Foundation, set up by the insurer Kyobo Life, in poetry, fiction, drama, criticism and translation. This site lists the winners of the fiction category: the best book of Korean fiction from roughly the previous year, limited to novels since 2008. 7 of 26 winners in English

  • Yi Sang Literary Award

    이상문학상 Awarded once a year by the publisher Munhak Sasang to the best short story or novella in Korean published the year before. The jury's other picks (excellence prizes, called recommended works in the early 2000s) appear with the winner in an annual anthology and are listed here as the shortlist. There was no award in 2020, after writers refused it in protest, and the 2026 prize covered stories published up to September 2025. 2 of 26 winners in English

• Türkiye

  • Orhan Kemal Novel Prize

    Orhan Kemal Roman Armağanı Awarded each May in Istanbul by the family of the writer Orhan Kemal to the best Turkish novel first published in the previous year. Only the winner is announced. 2 of 25 winners in English

• United Arab Emirates

  • International Prize for Arabic Fiction

    الجائزة العالمية للرواية العربية Awarded each spring in Abu Dhabi to a novel written in Arabic, open to authors from any country; publishers submit the books, and a jury picks a longlist, a shortlist and the winner. 14 of 20 winners in English · 1 coming soon

Europe

• Austria

  • Österreichischer Buchpreis

    Awarded each November by Austria's culture ministry and the Austrian booksellers' association to the best German-language book of the year (fiction, essays, poetry or drama) by an Austrian author. 1 of 10 winners in English · 1 coming soon

• Bulgaria

  • Helikon Award for New Bulgarian Prose

    Награда „Хеликон“ за нова българска художествена проза Awarded each December by the Helikon bookshop chain in Sofia to a new book of Bulgarian fiction published that year: a novel, a collection of stories or memoir prose. A jury of five nominates twelve books over the year and names the winner from them. 2 of 23 winners in English

• Croatia

  • tportal Literary Award

    Književna nagrada tportala Awarded each year in Zagreb by the news portal tportal.hr to the best novel of the previous year whose first edition was published in Croatian by a publisher registered in Croatia. A jury picks eleven semifinalists and then five finalists before naming the winner. 6 of 19 winners in English · 1 coming soon

• Czechia

  • Magnesia Litera

    The Czech book awards' prose category (Litera za prózu), for original Czech prose of the previous year. The jury names a shortlist of nominees (three until 2009, six from 2010 to 2022, three since 2023), and the prize is named for its spring ceremony year (Magnesia Litera 2010 went to a book published in 2009). 6 of 25 winners in English

• Finland

  • Finlandia Prize for Fiction

    Kaunokirjallisuuden Finlandia-palkinto Awarded each autumn by the Finnish Book Foundation (Suomen Kirjasäätiö) to a Finnish novel of the year, written in Finnish or Swedish; a board nominates three to six books and a single selector picks the winner. 9 of 26 winners in English · 1 coming soon

• France

  • Prix Goncourt

    Awarded each autumn in Paris by the ten members of the Académie Goncourt to a work of imaginative prose written in French, by an author of any nationality. 22 of 26 winners in English

• Germany

  • Deutscher Buchpreis

    Awarded each October by the foundation of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association to the novel of the year written in German, open to authors from any country. 13 of 21 winners in English

• Greece

  • Greek State Literary Prize for the Novel

    Κρατικό Βραβείο Μυθιστορήματος Awarded by the Greek Ministry of Culture to a novel written in Greek and published in the previous calendar year; each prize carries the year it is given for, one year after the books it judges (the 2010 prize went to a novel of 2009). A shortlist was published in some years only, and announcements often came late. 4 of 29 winners in English

• Hungary

  • Aegon Art Award

    Aegon Művészeti Díj Awarded each spring from 2006 to 2020 by the insurer Aegon Hungary to a living Hungarian writer for an outstanding literary book of any genre first published the year before. A jury chose a shortlist of about ten books, five in 2020. 3 of 15 winners in English

  • Libri Literary Prize

    Libri irodalmi díj Awarded each May from 2016 to 2022 by the Libri bookshop chain to a book by a Hungarian author, first published in Hungarian the year before: fiction, poetry, essays, memoirs or other nonfiction. A jury of five chose the winner from a shortlist of ten. 3 of 7 winners in English

• Iceland

  • Icelandic Literary Prize

    Íslensku bókmenntaverðlaunin Awarded by the Icelandic Publishers Association (Félag íslenskra bókaútgefenda) to original books in Icelandic; this is its fiction and poetry category (fagurbókmenntir, now skáldverk), for novels, story collections and poetry for adults. The prize year is the year the books were published: five are nominated around 1 December and the winner is announced early the following year. 9 of 26 winners in English

• Italy

  • Premio Strega

    Awarded each July in Rome by the Fondazione Maria e Goffredo Bellonci to a work of fiction in Italian, voted on by the jury of the Amici della domenica. 18 of 27 winners in English · 1 coming soon

• Netherlands

  • Libris Literatuur Prijs

    Awarded each May by the Stichting Literatuur Prijs, named after its sponsor, the Libris bookshops, to the best Dutch-language literary fiction book of the previous year, by writers from the Netherlands and Flanders alike. A jury picks six books for the shortlist; until 2010 story collections and a graphic novel were eligible too, since 2011 only novels. 9 of 27 winners in English · 3 coming soon

• Norway

  • Brage Prize

    Brageprisen Awarded each autumn by the foundation Den norske Bokprisen (Stiftelsen Brageprisen) to new Norwegian books; this is its fiction category for adult readers, open to novels, story collections and poetry in Bokmål or Nynorsk. A jury nominates three or four books (four since 2007) and picks the winner. 13 of 26 winners in English

• Poland

  • Nagroda Literacka Nike

    Awarded each October in Warsaw by a jury founded by Gazeta Wyborcza and the Agora Foundation to the best book of the previous year by a living Polish author, chosen from seven finalists. It is open to every genre: novels, poetry, drama, essays, reportage, biography and memoir. 12 of 27 winners in English

• Portugal

  • Grande Prémio de Romance e Novela APE/DGLAB

    Awarded each year since 1982 by the Portuguese Writers' Association (APE) to a novel or novella in Portuguese by a Portuguese author, first published the year before; the APE names each prize after that year of publication. From 2012 to 2022 the jury also announced a shortlist of five finalists. 3 of 27 winners in English

• Romania

  • Premiul Observator cultural pentru proză

    Awarded each spring in Bucharest by the literary weekly Observator cultural to the best book of prose in Romanian of the previous year (in 2007 and 2008 the category also covered memoirs), chosen by a jury of critics from a shortlist voted by its reviewers. 5 of 29 winners in English · 1 coming soon

• Serbia

  • NIN Prize

    NIN-ova nagrada Awarded each January by a jury of critics of the Belgrade weekly NIN to the best novel of the previous year; the prize is named for that year (the NIN Prize for 2010 went to a novel published in 2010). Open to novels written in Serbian. The jury publishes a shortlist of finalists before choosing the winner. 9 of 26 winners in English

• Slovakia

  • Anasoft litera

    Awarded each year by the association ars_litera to the best book of original Slovak prose of any form (novels, story collections and other prose), including prose by Slovak citizens written in another language and published in Slovak translation, from the previous calendar year; the prize is named for the year it is given (Anasoft litera 2010 went to a book published in 2009). The jury named ten finalists until 2017; since 2018 it names a top ten and then a final five, which is the shortlist here. 4 of 20 winners in English

• Slovenia

  • Kresnik Award

    nagrada kresnik Awarded each June by the Ljubljana daily Delo to the best novel in Slovene published in the previous year; the prize is named for the year it is given (the Kresnik 2009 went to a novel published in 2008). The jury names five finalists before choosing the winner. 5 of 27 winners in English

• Spain

  • Premio Nadal

    Awarded each 6 January in Barcelona by Ediciones Destino to an unpublished novel in Spanish, which Destino then publishes. Until 2009 the jury also named a finalist, the runner-up. 3 of 27 winners in English

• Sweden

  • August Prize

    Augustpriset Awarded each November by the Swedish Publishers' Association (Svenska Förläggareföreningen); this is its fiction category, Årets svenska skönlitterära bok, open to fiction of any form (novels, stories, poetry) first published in Swedish during the year. 18 of 26 winners in English · 2 coming soon

• Switzerland

  • Schweizer Buchpreis

    Awarded each November in Basel by LiteraturBasel and the Swiss booksellers' and publishers' association to a German-language work of fiction or essays by an author who is Swiss or has lived in Switzerland for at least two years. 8 of 18 winners in English

• Ukraine

  • BBC Ukrainian Book of the Year

    Книга року BBC Awarded by BBC News Ukrainian to the best book of prose fiction in Ukrainian; this is the main prose category, not the children's or essay awards. The prize year names the December ceremony and covers books published in roughly the preceding twelve months. 6 of 21 winners in English · 2 coming soon

North America

• Canada

  • Governor General's Literary Award for French-language fiction

    Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général : romans et nouvelles Awarded each November by the Canada Council for the Arts to a book of fiction in French, a novel or a collection of short stories; the year is that of the award, for books published in roughly the preceding twelve months. 14 of 26 winners in English

• Mexico

  • Premio Xavier Villaurrutia

    Premio Xavier Villaurrutia de Escritores para Escritores Mexico's prize "from writers to writers", given each year by a jury of past winners, with the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature, to a book of any genre published in Mexico: novels, stories, poetry and essays. It names one winner, sometimes two, and no shortlist. 7 of 27 winners in English

South America

• Argentina

  • Premio Clarín de Novela

    Awarded each October or November in Buenos Aires by the newspaper Clarín to an unpublished novel in Spanish, submitted under a pseudonym by writers from any country, which Clarín and Alfaguara then publish. 2 of 26 winners in English

• Brazil

  • Prêmio Jabuti – Romance Literário

    Brazil's oldest book prize, awarded each year in São Paulo by the Câmara Brasileira do Livro; its novel category (Romance Literário since 2020) honours a novel in Portuguese published in Brazil the year before. Until 2017 the jury ranked three books and only the first is listed as winner here, except 2000–2003, when the archive ranks none and all three are winners. 13 of 34 winners in English

For translations

These prizes award an English translation and its translator, not the original book.

• International Booker Prize

  Awarded each year by the Booker Prize Foundation in London to a single novel or short-story collection translated into English and published in the UK or Ireland; the prize money is split equally between author and translator. 11 of 11 winners in English

• National Book Award for Translated Literature

  Awarded each November by the National Book Foundation in New York to a work of fiction or nonfiction translated into English from any language and published in the United States; author and translator must be living. 8 of 8 winners in English

• Warwick Prize for Women in Translation

  Awarded each year by the University of Warwick to the best book by a woman writer translated into English from any language and published in the UK or Ireland, in any genre: fiction, poetry, literary nonfiction, children's books, graphic novels and plays. 10 of 10 winners in English