List of richest literary awards
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Many literary awards give significant remunerations. This is a list of active literary awards from around the world with a prize of at least US$100,000 or equivalent. Although global in scope and comprising over 35 awards, most of the prizes are in only four currencies: United Arab Emirates dirham, Swedish krona, Euro, and United States dollar.
Inclusion criteria
- The award is active and is primarily focused on writing (novels, poetry, non-fiction etc..)
- The remuneration is equal to or greater than US$100,000 or equivalent. Because fluctuating exchange rates move non-US dollar denominated awards in and out of the list over time, awards near this amount are also included.
- The award is for any genre of writing (fiction, journalism, etc.) or award type (book or author).
- The listed remuneration is for a single winner or co-winners. The list does not aggregate the total value of runners-up and other prizes within the same award. For example, the Prime Minister's Literary Awards is listed as A$100,000 even though it is composed of four prizes totalling A$400,000.
Awards
| Approximate
Equivalent in US$ |
Amount | Name | Type | Host country | Primary language | Notes | Ref(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1,361,000 | DH 5,000,000 | Million's Poet | N/a | UAE | Arabic | Award for a single poem. Total prizes for 2nd to 5th positions are approximately $2,723,000. Sister prize of Prince of Poets | [1] |
| 1,170,000 | €1,000,000 | Premio Planeta de Novela (winner) | Book | Spain | Spanish | See also runner-up of same prize. | [2] |
| 1,102,000 | kr 11,000,000 | Nobel Prize in Literature | Author | Sweden | Any | There are six Nobel Prizes of 11 million kronor each. | [3] |
| 466,500 | kr 5,000,000 | Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award | Author | Sweden | Any | Authors, illustrators, oral storytellers and people or organisations that work to promote reading in children's and young adult literature, are eligible. | [4] |
| 450,000 | US$450,000 | The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize | Author* | United States | English | Open to all arts, not just writers. | [5] |
| 272,000 | DH 1,000,000 | Prince of Poets | N/a | UAE | Arabic | Award for a single poem. Sister prize of Million's Poet | [6][7] |
| 228,000 | kr 2,500,000 | International Ibsen Award | Author* | Norway | Any | Any drama and theater position eligible, not just writers. | [8] |
| 218,000 | €200,000 | Prix mondial Cino Del Duca | Author | France | Any | Open to any writer working in either scientific or literary form | [9] |
| 200,000 | DH 750,000 | Sheikh Zayed Book Award | Book | United Arab Emirates | Arabic | 7 awards each valued at AED 750,000 | [10] |
| 200,000 | US$200,000 | Saudi King Abdullah International Award for Translation | Author | Saudi Arabia | Arabic | 5 awards of 200,000 each (1 million total) | [11] |
| 175,000 | US$175,000 | Alfaguara Prize | Book | Spain | Spanish | [12] | |
| 175,000 | US$175,000 | Windham–Campbell Literature Prizes | Author | United States | English | Composed of eight awards of $175,000 each. | [13][14] |
| 164,000 | €150,000 | Premio Planeta de Novela (runner-up) | Book | Spain | Spanish | See also winner of same prize. | [15] |
| 150,000 | US$150,000 | FIL Literature Award | Author | Mexico | Spanish | [16] | |
| 150,000 | US$150,000 | Carol Shields Prize for Fiction | Author | US | English | Prize awards works of fiction by women and non-binary writers in Canada and the United States. | [17] |
| 150,000 | US$150,000 | Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural Awards | Author | United Arab Emirates | Arabic | Composed of 4 awards of $150,000 each. | [18] |
| 146,000 | kr. 1,000,000 | Sonning Prize | Author* | Denmark | Any | Open to all arts not just writers. | [19] |
| 134,000 | €125,000 | Miguel de Cervantes Prize | Author | Spain | Spanish | [20] | |
| 131,000 | €120,000 | Premio de Novela Fernando Lara | Book | Spain | Spanish | [21] | |
| 125,000 | US$125,000 | Carlos Fuentes International Prize for Literary Creation in the Spanish Language | Author | Mexico | Spanish | Any writer writing in the Spanish language | [22] |
| 110,000 | €100,000 | Premio Primavera de Novela | Book | Spain | Spanish | [23] | |
| 110,000 | €100,000 | International Dublin Literary Award | Book | Ireland | English | [24] | |
| 110,000 | €100,000 | Premio Novela Histórica Alfonso X El Sabio | Book | Spain | Spanish | [25] | |
| 110,000 | €100,000 | Camões Prize | Author | Portugal Brazil |
Portuguese | [26] | |
| 100,000 | US$100,000 | Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International Understanding | Book | Qatar | Arabic | Translation award. Total award value is $2 million. | [27] |
| 100,000 | US$100,000 | Nigeria Prize for Literature | Book | Nigeria | English | [28][29] | |
| 100,000 | US$100,000 | Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military Writing | Author | United States | English | [30] | |
| 100,000 | US$100,000 | Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize | Author | United States | English | [31][32] | |
| 100,000 | US$100,000 | Wallace Stevens Award | Author | United States | English | [33] | |
| 100,000 | US$100,000 | Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish Literature | Book | United States | English | [34] | |
| 100,000 | US$100,000 | The Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry Awards | Author | United States | English | [35] | |
| 100,000 | US$100,000 | Park Kyong-ni Prize | Author | South Korea | Any | [36] | |
| 100,000 | US$100,000 | Jackson Poetry Prize | Author | United States | English | [37] |
- Key
- Columns are sortable (click small square)
- Type: Book: Award is for a book title / Author: Award is for an author name
- (*) Award is not literary-specific but has some literary winners.
- This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
The following awards have a superlative claim within certain defined categories, as described and sourced in the Notes column.
| Equivalent in US$ (April 2016) |
Amount | Name | Type | Host country | Primary language | Claim |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 524,527 | kr 5,000,000 | Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award | Children's literature | Sweden | Any | The richest children's literature prize in the world.[38] |
| 138,180 | €125,000 | RBA Prize for Crime Writing | Crime fiction | Spain | Any | "The world's most lucrative crime fiction prize."[39] |
| 75,000 | US$75,000 | Cundill History Prize | Non-fiction and history | Canada | English | "the largest purse for a book of non-fiction published in English"[40] |
| 55,270 | €50,000 | Premio de Narrativa Breve Ribera del Duero | Short story collection | Spain | Spanish | "the largest in the world for a competition of this kind".[41] |
| 39,358 | £30,000 | Sunday Times Short Story Award | Short story | United Kingdom | English | "The world's richest short story prize" (single short story).[42] |
| 38,081 | CA$50,000 | Montreal International Poetry Prize | Poetry | Canada | Any | Thought to be the world's richest award for a single-poem.[43] |