John Llewellyn Rhys Prize
The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize was a literary prize awarded annually for the best work of literature by an author from the Commonwealth aged 35 or under, written in English and published in the United Kingdom. Established in 1942, it is one of the oldest literary awards in the UK.
Since 2011 the award has been suspended due to funding problems. The last award was in 2010.
History
The prize was initiated in 1942 by Jane Oliver in memory of her husband John Llewellyn Rhys, a young author who was killed on 5 August 1940 while serving as a bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force.From 1987 to 2003, the prize was funded by the Mail on Sunday. The newspaper withdrew in 2003, after the 2002 prize was awarded to Mary Laven. Subsequently, the prize was sponsored by Booktrust, an independent educational charity, but in June 2011 the award was suspended due to funding problems. Booktrust said that it "strongly" intended to bring the award "back with a bang as soon as possible" as it looked for outside funding sources.
In 2010, the winner received £5,000, while the runners-up each received £500.
Winners (1942–1999)
Source: 1942–2003| Year | Author | Title | ISBN |
| 1942 | Michael Richey | Sunk by a Mine | |
| 1943 | Morwenna Donnelly | Beauty for Ashes | |
| 1944 | Alun Lewis | The Last Inspection | |
| 1945 | James Aldridge | The Sea Eagle | |
| 1946 | Oriel Malet | My Bird Sings | |
| 1947 | Anne-Marie Walters | Moondrop to Gascony | |
| 1948 | Richard Mason | The Wind Cannot Read | |
| 1949 | Emma Smith | Maidens' Trip | |
| 1950 | Kenneth Allsop | Adventure Lit Their Star | |
| 1951 | Elizabeth Jane Howard | The Beautiful Visit | |
| 1952 | No award | ||
| 1953 | Rachel Trickett | The Return Home | |
| 1954 | Tom Stacey | The Hostile Sun | |
| 1955 | John Wiles | The Moon to Play With | |
| 1956 | John Hearne | Voices Under the Window | |
| 1957 | Ruskin Bond | The Room on the Roof | |
| 1958 | V. S. Naipaul | The Mystic Masseur | |
| 1959 | Dan Jacobson | A Long Way from London | |
| 1960 | David Caute | At Fever Pitch | |
| 1961 | David Storey | Flight into Camden | |
| 1962 | Robert Rhodes James Edward Lucie-Smith | An Introduction to the House of Commons A Tropical Childhood and Other Poems | / |
| 1963 | Peter Marshall | Two Lives | |
| 1964 | Nell Dunn | Up the Junction | |
| 1965 | Julian Mitchell | The White Father | |
| 1966 | Margaret Drabble | The Millstone | |
| 1967 | Anthony Masters | The Seahorse | |
| 1968 | Angela Carter | The Magic Toyshop | |
| 1969 | Melvyn Bragg | Without a City Wall | |
| 1970 | Angus Calder | The People's War | |
| 1971 | Shiva Naipaul | Fireflies | |
| 1972 | Susan Hill | The Albatross | |
| 1973 | Peter Smalley | A Warm Gun | |
| 1974 | Hugh Fleetwood | The Girl Who Passed for Normal | |
| 1975 | David Hare Tim Jeal | Knuckle Cushing's Crusade | / |
| 1976 | no award | ||
| 1977 | Richard Cork | Vorticism & Abstract Art in the First Machine Age | |
| 1978 | A. N. Wilson | The Sweets of Pimlico | |
| 1979 | Peter Boardman | The Shining Mountain | |
| 1980 | Desmond Hogan | The Diamonds at the Bottom of the Sea | |
| 1981 | A. N. Wilson | The Laird of Abbotsford | |
| 1982 | William Boyd | An Ice-Cream War | |
| 1983 | Lisa St Aubin de Terán | The Slow Train to Milan | |
| 1984 | Andrew Motion | Dangerous Play | |
| 1985 | John Milne | Out of the Blue | |
| 1986 | Tim Parks | Loving Roger | |
| 1987 | Jeanette Winterson | The Passion | |
| 1988 | Matthew Yorke | The March Fence | |
| 1989 | Claire Harman | Sylvia Townsend Warner | |
| 1990 | Ray Monk | ' | |
| 1991 | A. L. Kennedy | Night Geometry and the Garscadden Trains | |
| 1992 | Matthew Kneale | Sweet Thames | |
| 1993 | Jason Goodwin | ' | |
| 1994 | Jonathan Coe | What a Carve Up! | |
| 1995 | Melanie McGrath | Motel Nirvana | |
| 1996 | Nicola Barker | Heading Inland | |
| 1997 | Phil Whitaker | Eclipse of the Sun | |
| 1998 | Peter Ho Davies | The Ugliest House in the World | |
| 1999 | David Mitchell | Ghostwritten |
Winners and short lists (since 2000)
Source: 2007–2010| Year | Author | Title | ISBN) | Short list |
| 2000 | Edward Platt | Leadville | Julia Leigh, The Hunter Roddy Lumsden, The Book of Love Ben Rice, Pobby and Dingan Zadie Smith, White Teeth Cole Moreton, Hungry for Home Leaving the Blaskets: A Journey from the Edge of Ireland | |
| 2001 | Susanna Jones | The Earthquake Bird | Esther Morgan, Beyond Calling Distance | |
| 2002 | Mary Laven* | Virgins of Venice* | Sonya Hartnett, Thursday's Child Chloe Hooper, A Child's Book of True Crime Mary Laven, Virgins of Venice Kamila Shamsie, Kartography | |
| 2003 | Charlotte Mendelson | Daughters of Jerusalem | ||
| 2004 | Jonathan Trigell | Boy A | Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Purple Hibiscus Rory Stewart, The Places in Between Neil Bennun, ' Colin McAdam, Some Great Thing Anthony Cartwright, The Afterglow | |
| 2005 | Uzodinma Iweala | Beasts of No Nation | Rana Dasgupta, Tokyo Cancelled Peter Hobbs, The Short Day Dying Sinéad Morrissey, The State of the Prisons Rebecca Ray, Newfoundland Rachel Zadok, Gem Squash Tokoloshe | |
| 2006/7 | Sarah Hall | The Carhullan Army | Ceridwen Dovey, Blood Kin Joanna Kavenna, Inglorious Robert Macfarlane, The Wild Places Gwendoline Riley, Joshua Spassky Rory Stewart, Occupational Hazards | |
| 2008 | Henry Hitchings | The Secret Life of Words | Aravind Adiga, The White Tiger Adam Foulds, The Broken Word James Palmer, The Bloody White Baron Ross Raisin, God's Own Country Brian Schofield, Selling Your Father's Bones | |
| 2009 | Evie Wyld | After the Fire, A Still Small Voice | Aravind Adiga, Between the Assassinations Emma Jones, The Striped World James Maskalyk, Six Months in Sudan Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, The Thing Around Your Neck Tristram Stuart, ' | |
| 2010 | Amy Sackville | The Still Point | Kei Miller, A Light Song of Light Nadifa Mohamed, Black Mamba Boy Daniel Swift, Bomber County Susan Fletcher, Corrag Cordelia Fine, Delusions of Gender |
- Note: The 2002 prize was initially awarded to Hari Kunzru for his book The Impressionist on 20 November 2003, but the author decided to decline the award due to its sponsorship by The Mail on Sunday.