Literary award · United Kingdom · since 1947

Somerset Maugham Award

British literary award (1947–). Established 1947 in United Kingdom.

About Somerset Maugham Award

The Somerset Maugham Award is a British literary prize given each year by the Society of Authors. Set up by William Somerset Maugham in 1947 the awards enable young writers to enrich their work by gaining experience in foreign countries. The awards go to writers under the age of 35 with works published in the year before the award; the work can be either non-fiction, fiction or poetry. Since 1964 multiple winners have usually been chosen in the same year. In 1975 and in 2012 the award was not given.

From the Wikipedia article “Somerset Maugham Award”, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Recent winners

YearWinnerWinning work
2023Jay Gao—
2022Caleb Azumah Nelson—
2022Lucia Osborne-Crowley—
2021Isabelle Baafi—
2021Lamorna Ash—
2020Roseanne Watt—
2020Amrou Al-Khadi—
2019Phoebe Power—
2019Damian Le Bas—
2019Raymond Antrobus—
2018Fiona Mozley—
2018Miriam Nash—
2018Kayo Chingonyi—
2016Daisy Hay—
2016Jessie Greengrass—

From Wikidata; the list may be incomplete for some years.

Eligibility and entering

Check the official rules of the Somerset Maugham Award for the current eligibility window, accepted formats, residency or language requirements and any entry fee. For most established prizes the publisher submits on the author's behalf, often with a limit on entries per imprint.

If you are self-published, look for an explicit statement that independently published books are accepted, and budget for entry fees and copies for judges.

Sources & data