Goldsmiths Prize

The Goldsmiths Prize is a British literary award, founded in 2013 by Goldsmiths, University of London, in association with the New Statesman.^[1] It is awarded annually to a British or Irish piece of fiction that "breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form."^[2][3] It is limited to citizens and residents of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and to novels published by presses based in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland. The winner receives £10,000.^[4]

Awarded forInnovative or experimental novels

LocationUnited Kingdom and Ireland

Presented byGoldsmiths, University of London The New Statesman

Reward£10,000

Quick facts The Goldsmiths Prize, Awarded for ...

The Goldsmiths Prize
Awarded for	Innovative or experimental novels
Location	United Kingdom and Ireland
Presented by	Goldsmiths, University of London The New Statesman
Reward	£10,000
First award	13 November 2013
Website	https://www.gold.ac.uk/goldsmiths-prize/

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Tim Parnell of the Goldsmiths English department conceived and runs the prize, inspired by his research into Laurence Sterne and other eighteenth-century writers, like Denis Diderot, who experimented with the novel form.^[5][2] The prize "casts its net wider than most other prizes" and intends to celebrate "creative daring," but resists the phrase "experimental fiction," because it implies "an eccentric deviation from the novel’s natural concerns, structures and idioms."^[2][5]

To date, Rachel Cusk is the author best represented on the prize's shortlists, having been shortlisted four times for Outline (2014), Transit (2016), Kudos (2018), and Parade (2024). Nine authors have been shortlisted twice: Amy Arnold, Sara Baume, Will Eaves, Deborah Levy, Eimear McBride, Anakana Schofield, Ali Smith, Adam Thirwell, and Isabel Waidner.