10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World

10 Most Coveted Literary Prizes in the World

There are thousands of literature awards held throughout the world every year, with millions of hopefuls entering their works of literary fiction in the hopes of winning first prize. However, the following ten literary prizes are some of the best...

1. Specsavers National Book Awards

The Specsavers National Book Awards includes many categories, such as the Book of the Year, Outstanding Achievement, UK Author of the Year, Children's Book of the Year and Thriller & Crime Novel of the Year.

2. Nobel Prize in Literature

The Nobel Prize in Literature is only awarded to the best authors from all around the world. The current laureate is American songwriter Bob Dylan and past laureates have included playwright Harold Pinter, novelist Gao Xingjian, poet Seamus Heaney and novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

3. Man Booker Prize

The Man Booker Prize for Fiction is awarded to writers of full-length novels from the Commonwealth of Nations, Ireland, or Zimbabwe. 2016's winner was Paul Beatty and past winners have included Hilary Mantel for Bring Up the Bodies, Margaret Atwood for The Blind Assassin, Kazuo Ishiguro for The Remains of the Day and William Golding for Rites of Passage.

4. Pulitzer Prize

This US award is given to those in newspaper or online journalism, literature, or music. There are 21 categories including the Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Writing, the Pulitzer Prize for Music and the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.

5. Costa Book Awards

This award is given to authors in Great Britain and Ireland and there are five winners annually in the following categories - best novel, best first novel, children's book, poetry and biography. One of the winners is awarded the Costa Book of the Year title.

6. Neustadt International Prize for Literature

This American award occurs every two years and is considered one of the most prestigious awards in literature. It's awarded to an author for their entire body of work and 2016's winner was Dubravka Ugresic. Previous winners have been novelist Nuruddin Farah, poet Joao Cabral de Melo Neto and playwright Max Rudolf Frisch.

7. Hugo Award

These awards are given to writers of science fiction or fantasy and categories include Best Novel, Best Graphic Story and Best Fan Writer. Some past winners have been Philip K. Dick, Clifford D. Simak and Neil Gaiman.

8. Guardian First Book Award

The Guardian First Book Award is given to new writers of fiction and non-fiction. The 2015 winner was Andrew McMillan, and past winners have included Siddhartha Mukherjee, Alexandra Harris and Armand Marie Leroi.

9. National Book Award

The National Book Award is one of the most prestigious US literature prizes, with four categories available - fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and young people's literature, as well as two lifetime awards.

10. Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction

The Bailey's Women's Prize for Fiction is specifically for female authors of full-length novels. The current winner is Lisa McInerney for The Glorious Heresies and past winners have included Madeline Miller, Zadie Smith, Ann Patchett and Carol Shields.

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