Ondaatje Prize

Given by Royal Society of Literature

Other Names: Winifred Holtby-prys (Dutch)
125 Works / 127 Items 60,053 Books 2,134 Reviews ½ 3.9
Previously the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize

The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is given for a show more work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry which evokes the "spirit of a place", and which is written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The prize bears the name of Christopher Ondaatje. Prior to 2003, it was called the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. show less
Stages:
All, Winner (49), Shortlist (77), Longlist (1)
Years:
All, 2023 (1), 2022 (6), 2021 (8), 2020 (5), 2019 (6), 2018 (6), 2017 (6), 2016 (6), 2015 (6), 2014 (6), 2013 (6), 2012 (6), 2011 (6), 2010 (6), 2009 (6), 2008 (6), 2007 (1), 2006 (2), 2005 (1), 2004 (1), 2002 (1), 2001 (1), 2000 (1), 1999 (1), 1998 (1), 1997 (1), 1996 (1), 1995 (1), 1994 (1), 1993 (1), 1992 (1), 1991 (1), 1990 (1), 1989 (1), 1988 (1), 1986 (1), 1984 (1), 1983 (1), 1982 (1), 1980 (1), 1978 (1), 1977 (1), 1975 (1), 1974 (1), 1973 (2), 1971 (1), 1970 (1), 1969 (1), 1968 (1)

Winner 49

WorkYear
Heritage Aesthetics by Anthony Anaxagorou2023
Free: Coming of Age at the End of History by Lea Ypi2022
The Butchers' Blessing by Ruth Gilligan2021
The Wife's Tale: A Personal History by Aida Edemariam2019
Mama Amazonica by Pascale Petit2018
Golden Hill by Francis Spufford2017
Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible: Adventures in Modern Russia by Peter Pomerantsev2016
Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood by Justin Marozzi2015
This Boy by Alan Johnson2014
Scenes from Early Life by Philip Hensher2013
The Sly Company of People Who Care by Rahul Bhattacharya2012
The Hare with Amber Eyes: A Hidden Inheritance by Edmund De Waal2011
The Dead Yard: A Story of Modern Jamaica by Ian Thomson2010
Sissinghurst: An Unfinished History by Adam Nicolson2009
The Discovery of France: A Historical Geography by Graham Robb2008
In the Country of Men by Hisham Matar2007
The People's Act of Love by James Meek2006
The Places In Between by Rory Stewart2005
Hearing Birds Fly: A Nomadic Year in Mongolia by Louisa Waugh2004
Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood by Alexandra Fuller2002
No Bones by Anna Burns2001
Kit's Law by Donna Morrissey2000
Our Fathers by Andrew O'Hagan1999
The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden1998
Traplines by Eden Robinson1997
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry1996
Archangel by Paul Watkins1995
Signals of Distress by Jim Crace1994
The Lights Below by Carl MacDougall1993
Ulverton by Adam Thorpe1992
O Caledonia by Elspeth Barker1991
Lives of the Saints by Nino Ricci1990
Fludd by Hilary Mantel1989
The Blindfold Horse: Memories of a Persian Childhood by Shusha Guppy1988
The Bridge by Maggie Hemingway1986
Nation of Fools: Scenes from Indian Life by Balraj Khanna1984
Waterland by Graham Swift1983
A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro1982
The Long Journey of Poppie Nongena by Elsa Joubert1980
The Stone Arrow by Richard Herley1978
Fire on the Mountain by Anita Desai1977
Black Faces, White Faces by Jane Gardam1975
The Pandora valley by Graham King1974
Articles of faith. by Ronald Harwood1973
I Didn't Know You Cared by Peter Tinniswood1973
Last Cool Days by John Stewart1971
Fireflies by Shiva Naipaul1970
The Humming-Bird Tree by Ian McDonald1969
The Round Tower by Catherine Cookson1968

Shortlist 77

WorkYear
The Manningtree Witches by A. K. Blakemore2022
Islands of Abandonment: Nature Rebounding in the Post-Human Landscape by Cal Flyn2022
Writing the Camp by Yousif M Qasmiyeh2022
Empireland: How Imperialism Has Shaped Modern Britain by Sathnam Sanghera2022
The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak2022
The Butchers' Blessing by Ruth Gilligan2021
This Lovely City by Louise Hare2021
Box Hill by Adam Mars-Jones2021
Magnolia by Nina Mingya Powles2021
English Pastoral: An Inheritance by James Rebanks2021
Square Haunting: Five Women, Freedom and London Between the Wars by Francesca Wade2021
Surge by Jay Bernard2020
Small Days and Nights: A Novel by Tishani Doshi2020
Underland: A Deep Time Journey by Robert Macfarlane2020
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Elif Shafak2020
A Small Silence by Jumoke Verissimo2020
No Turning Back: Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria by Rania Abouzeid2019
Happiness by Aminatta Forna2019
Ghost Wall by Sarah Moss2019
The Crossway by Guy Stagg2019
Kings of the Yukon: One Summer Paddling Across the Far North by Adam Weymouth2019
The Epic City: The World on the Streets of Calcutta by Kushanava Choudhury2018
Once Upon A Time in the East: A Story of Growing up by Xiaolu Guo2018
Peculiar Ground by Lucy Hughes-Hallett2018
Border: A Journey to the Edge of Europe by Kapka Kassabova2018
Elmet by Fiona Mozley2018
The Outrun by Amy Liptrot2017
In a Land of Paper Gods by Rebecca Mackenzie2017
Augustown by Kei Miller2017
Five Rivers Met on a Wooded Plain by Barney Norris2017
The Gustav Sonata by Rose Tremain2017
The River by Jane Clarke2016
The great explosion: gunpowder, the Great War, and a disaster on the Kent Marshes by Brian Dillon2016
Weatherland: Writers and Artists Under English Skies by Alexandra Harris2016
The Shepherd's Life: Modern Dispatches from an Ancient Landscape by James Rebanks2016
This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War by Samanth Subramanian2016
Capital: The Eruption of Delhi by Rana Dasgupta2015
The Lie by Helen Dunmore2015
What Was Promised by Tobias Hill2015
Everything is Wonderful: Memories of a Collective Farm in Estonia by Sigrid Rausing2015
The Architect's Apprentice by Elif Shafak2015
The Blind Man's Garden by Nadeem Aslam2014
Badgerlands: The Twilight World of Britain's Most Enigmatic Animal by Patrick Barkham2014
Spirit House by Mark Dapin2014
Four Fields by Tim Dee2014
Field Notes from a Hidden City: An Urban Nature Diary by Esther Woolfson2014
Call Mother A Lonely field by Liam Carson2013
Absolution by Patrick Flanery2013
Empire Antarctica: Ice, Silence & Emperor Penguins by Gavin Francis2013
Names for the Sea: Strangers in Iceland by Sarah Moss2013
NW by Zadie Smith2013
Thin Paths: Journeys in and around an Italian Mountain Village by Julia Blackburn2012
Open City by Teju Cole2012
To the River: A Journey Beneath the Surface by Olivia Laing2012
Edgelands: journeys into England's true wilderness by Michael Symmons Roberts2012
Connemara. Listening to the Wind by Tim Robinson2012
The Butterfly Isles: A Summer in Search of Our Emperors and Admirals by Patrick Barkham2011
In a Strange Room by Damon Galgut2011
Saraswati Park by Anjali Joseph2011
Landed by Tim Pears2011
Red Plenty: Industry! Progress! Abundance! Inside the Fifties Soviet Dream by Francis Spufford2011
The Plot: A Biography of an English Acre by Madeleine Bunting2010
The Music Room by William Fiennes2010
In Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin2010
The Shadow of a Smile by Kachi A. Ozumba2010
Hackney, That Rose-Red Empire: A Confidential Report by Iain Sinclair2010
Pollard by Laura Beatty2009
The Gate of Air: A Ghost Story by James Buchan2009
The Legend of Colton H. Bryant by Alexandra Fuller2009
Ian Mcdonald: Selected Poems (Macmillan Caribbean Writers) by Ian McDonald2009
The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum by Sarah Wise2009
Darkmans by Nicola Barker2008
Paradise with Serpents: Travels in the Lost World of Paraguay by Robert Carver2008
The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia by Orlando Figes2008
On Brick Lane by Rachel Lichtenstein2008
Sea holly by Robert Minhinnick2008
Findings by Kathleen Jamie2006

Longlist 1

Descriptions

Previously the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize

The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is given for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry which evokes the "spirit of a place", and which is written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The prize bears the name of Christopher Ondaatje. Prior to 2003, it was called the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. (English, Member-written)
Renamed the Ondaatje Prize.

The Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize is an annual literary award given by the Royal Society of Literature. The £10,000 award is given for a work of fiction, non-fiction or poetry which evokes the "spirit of a place", and which is written by a citizen of the Commonwealth or the Republic of Ireland. The prize bears the name of Christopher Ondaatje. Prior to 2003, it was called the Winifred Holtby Memorial Prize. (English, Member-written)
discontinued (Russian, Member-written)

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