16 August 2019
The Society of Authors' Awards 2020 are now open for entries – with 7 awards spanning fiction, poetry, non-fiction and, for the first time, illustrated children's books.
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The SoA Awards are run for authors and judged by authors, annually recognising the best and most promising voices of the year. Next year’s ceremony is generously supported by the Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS).
The 2019 SoA Awards celebrated both debut names and established award-winning writers of fiction, non-fiction and poetry, each sharing a prize fund of £100,000. Read more here.
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, and our poetry awards celebrate excellence in poetry from those just starting out as well those established in their careers.
The awards now open for entries include:
The ALCS Tom-Gallon Trust Award
An annual award of £1,000 for a short story, financed by a bequest made by Miss Nellie Tom-Gallon in memory of her brother and generously supported by ALCS. Find out more here
The deadline for entries is 31 October 2019.
The Betty Trask Prize and Awards
Betty Trask left a bequest to the Society of Authors in 1983 to fund prizes for first novels written by authors under the age of 35 in a traditional or romantic, but not experimental, style. Find out more here
The deadline for entries is 30 November 2019.
The Eric Gregory Awards
The Eric Gregory Awards, for a collection by poets under the age of 30, were founded in 1960 by the late Dr Eric Gregory for the encouragement of young poets. Find out more here
The deadline for entries is 31 October 2019.
The McKitterick Prize
The McKitterick Prize is given annually to an author over the age of 40 for a first novel, published or unpublished, and endowed by Tom McKitterick – the former editor of Political Quarterly and author of an unpublished novel. Find out more here
The deadline for entries is 31 October 2019.
The Paul Torday Memorial Prize
The Paul Torday Memorial Prize celebrates a debut novel by authors aged 60 or over, set up in honour of Paul Torday by his family. Submissions must be made by the print publisher. Find out more here
The deadline for entries is 30 November 2019.
The Somerset Maugham Awards
W. Somerset Maugham set up a fund in 1947 to enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience of foreign countries. The awards are given for a published work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Find out more here
The deadline for entries is 30 November 2019.
The Queen’s Knickers Award
We are also accepting entries to the inaugural round of a new award – The Queen's Knickers Award – celebrating the writers and illustrators of ‘quirky’ illustrated books for children ages 0-7 and generously funded by Nicholas Allan, author of The Queen’s Knickers. Submissions must be made by the print publisher. Find out more here
The deadline for entries is 15 November 2019.
Header Photo © Adrian Pope / Host Jackie Kay at the 2019 SoA Awards
The Authors' Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) is a not-for-profit membership organisation started by writers for the benefit of writers, working to ensure that writers are fairly compensated for their works that are copied, broadcast or recorded. Find out more