The Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize is a British literary prize established in 1963 in tribute to Geoffrey Faber, founder and first Chairman of the publisher Faber & Faber. It recognises a single volume of poetry or fiction by a United Kingdom, Irish or Commonwealth author under 40 years of age on the date of publication, and is in alternating years awarded to poetry and fiction (including short stories).[1]
The prize is worth £1500.[2]
The prize jury, comprising three reviewers, is selected by literary editors of journals and newspapers that regularly publish reviews of poetry and fiction.[3]
In its first year, the prize was awarded to Christopher Middleton and George MacBeth for poetry. The first win by a short-story collection, The Quantity Theory of Insanity by Will Self, was in 1993.[3]
Year | Author | Title | Section | Jury | Reference |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1964 | Christopher Middleton | Torse 3 Poems 1949–1961 | Poetry | [4] | |
1964 | George MacBeth | The Broken Places: Poems | Poetry | [5] | |
1965 | Frank Tuohy | The Ice Saints | Fiction | [6] | |
1966 | Jon Silkin | Nature Within Man | Poetry | [7] | |
1967 | William McIlvanney | Remedy is None | Fiction | [1] | |
1967 | John Noone | The Man with the Chocolate Egg | Fiction | ||
1968 | Seamus Heaney | Death of a Naturalist | Poetry | [8] | |
1969 | Piers Paul Read | The Junkers | Fiction | [9] | |
1970 | Geoffrey Hill | King Log | Poetry | [10] | |
1971 | J. G. Farrell | Troubles | Fiction | [11] | |
1972 | Tony Harrison | The Loiners | Poetry | [12] | |
1973 | David Storey | Pasmore | Fiction | [13] | |
1974 | John Fuller | Cannibals and Missionaries and Epistles to Several Persons | Poetry | [14] | |
1975 | Richard B. Wright | In the Middle of a Life | Fiction | ||
1976 | Douglas Dunn | Love or Nothing | Poetry | [15] | |
1977 | Carolyn Slaughter | The Story of the Weasel | Fiction | ||
1978 | David Harsent | Dreams of the Dead | Poetry | [16] | |
1978 | Kit Wright | The Bear Looked Over the Mountain | Poetry | ||
1979 | Timothy Mo | The Monkey King | Fiction | [17] | |
1980 | Hugo Williams | Love-Life | Poetry | [18] | |
1980 | George Szirtes | The Slant Door | Poetry | [19] | |
1981 | J. M. Coetzee | Waiting for the Barbarians | Fiction | [20] | |
1982 | Paul Muldoon | Why Brownlee Left | Poetry | [21] | |
1982 | Tom Paulin | The Strange Museum | Poetry | [22] | |
1983 | Graham Swift | Shuttlecock | Fiction | [23] | |
1984 | James Fenton | In Memory of War: Poems 1968-83 | Poetry | ||
1985 | Julian Barnes | Flaubert's Parrot | Fiction | [24] | |
1986 | David Scott | A Quiet Gathering | Poetry | ||
1987 | Guy Vanderhaeghe | Man Descending | Fiction | [25] | |
1988 | Michael Hofmann | Acrimony: Poems | Poetry | [26] | |
1989 | David Profumo | Sea Music | Fiction | ||
1990 | Michael Donaghy | Shibboleth | Poetry | [27] | |
1991 | Carol Birch | The Fog Line | Fiction | [28] | |
1992 | Paul Muldoon | Madoc: A Mystery | Poetry | [21] | |
1993 | Will Self | The Quantity Theory of Insanity | Fiction | [29] | |
1994 | John Burnside | Feast Days | Poetry | Helen Dunmore Nicolas Tredell Hugo Williams | [30][31] |
1995 | Livi Michael | Their Angel Reach | Fiction | [32] | |
1996 | Kathleen Jamie | The Queen of Sheba | Poetry | [33] | |
1997 | Emily Perkins | Not Her Real Name | Fiction | [34] | |
1998 | Don Paterson | God's Gift to Women | Poetry | Robert Potts | [35] |
1999 | Gavin Kramer | Shopping | Fiction | [36] | |
2000 | Kathleen Jamie | Jizzen | Poetry | Christina Patterson | [37] |
2001 | Trezza Azzopardi | The Hiding Place | Fiction | [38] | |
2002 | Greta Stoddart | At Home in the Dark | Poetry | [39] | |
2003 | Justin Hill | The Drink and Dream Teahouse | Fiction | ||
2004 | Glyn Maxwell | The Nerve: Poems | Poetry | [40] | |
2005 | David Mitchell | Cloud Atlas | Fiction | ||
2006 | Alice Oswald | Woods Etc. | Poetry | Neil Corcoran, Lavinia Greenlaw, Ciaran Carson | [41][42] |
2007 | Edward Docx | Self Help | Fiction | [43] | |
2008 | Nick Laird | On Purpose | Poetry | Jo Shapcott, Sam Leith, Michael Longley | [8] |
2009 | David Szalay | London and the South-East | Fiction | Kate Summerscale, Andrew Miller, Boyd Tonkin | [44][45] |
2010 | Kona Macphee | Perfect Blue | Poetry | Kate Kellaway, Bernard O'Donoghue, Stephen Romer | [1][46] |
2011 | Belinda McKeon | Solace | Fiction | Rachel Cusk, Jonathan Ruppin, Leo Robson | [47] |
2012 | Jacob Polley | The Havocs | Poetry | Jean Sprackland, Sarah Crown, Maurice Riordan | [48] |
2013 | Eimear McBride | A Girl Is a Half-formed Thing | Fiction | Deirdre Madden, Patrick Neale, Gaby Wood | [49][50] |
2014 | Fiona Benson | Bright Travellers | Poetry | Julia Copus, Ruth Padel, Max Porter | [51] |
Liz Berry | Black Country | ||||
2015 | Sara Baume | Spill Simmer Falter Wither | Fiction | [52] | |
2016 | Kim Moore | The Art of Falling | Poetry | Gillian Clarke, Tom Gatti, Katharine Towers | [53] |
2017 | Gwendoline Riley | First Love | Fiction | Lorien Kite, Susie Nicklin, Evie Wyld | [54] |