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Hawthornden Prize

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The Hawthornden Prize is a British literary award. It was established in 1919 by Alice Warrender, a contemporary patron of the letters, and named after William Drummond of Hawthornden. Along with the James Tait Black Award, which was established the same year, the Hawthornden is one of the UK's oldest literary prizes. It has been given annually since 1919, with a few gaps.

There is no set category of literature: the specification is for the "best work of imaginative literature"; but there is no implied restriction to fiction and poetry. Those, with drama, but also biography, travel writing and other types of non-fiction, have been recognised over the years. The current value of the prize is £10,000; young writers are especially encouraged.

The awards made in the early 1920s were criticised in some quarters as being motivated by coterie literary politics around J. C. Squire. After the 1925 award to Sean O'Casey, there was a gradual shift in emphasis. The list of past winners has little in the way of evident common factors, other than a preference in general for the middle of the road.

List of Winners

See also

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