Many literary awards give significant remunerations. This is a list of active literary awards from around the world with a prize of at least 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$400,000.
Awards Approximate Equivalent in US$(October 2024) Amount Name Type Host country Primary language Notes Ref(s)1,361,000Million's Poet UAEArabicAward for a single poem. Total prizes for 2nd to 5th positions are approximately $2,723,000. Sister prize of Prince of Poets1,170,000Premio Planeta de Novela (winner)BookSpainSpanishSee also runner-up of same prize.1,102,000Nobel Prize in LiteratureAuthorSwedenAnyThere are six Nobel Prizes of 11 million kronor each.466,500Astrid Lindgren Memorial AwardAuthorSwedenAnyAuthors, illustrators, oral storytellers and people or organisations that work to promote reading in children's and young adult literature, are eligible. "Dutch author Guus Kuijer wins Astrid Lindgren memorial award", Alison Flood, The Guardian, 20 March 2012. Quote: "... the world's richest children's books prize, the Astrid Lindgren memorial award."272,000Prince of PoetsUAEArabicAward for a single poem. Sister prize of Million's Poet250,000US$250,000The Dorothy and Lillian Gish PrizeAuthor*United StatesEnglishOpen to all arts, not just writers.228,000International Ibsen AwardAuthor*NorwayAnyAny drama and theater position eligible, not just writers.218,000Prix mondial Cino Del DucaAuthorFranceAnyOpen to any writer working in either scientific or literary form200,000Sheikh Zayed Book AwardBookUnited Arab EmiratesArabic7 awards each valued at AED 750,000https://scroll.in/article/1066374/sheikh-zayed-book-award-announces-the-2024-winners-in-seven-categories200,000Saudi King Abdullah International Award for TranslationAuthorSaudi ArabiaArabic5 awards of 200,000 each (1 million total)175,000Alfaguara PrizeBookSpainSpanishJuan Gabriel Vásquez ganó el premio Alfaguara de novela 175,000Windham–Campbell Literature PrizesAuthorUnited StatesEnglishComposed of eight awards of $175,000 each.Charles McGrath. "A Writer’s Estate to Yield $150,000 Literary Prizes", New York Times, June 17, 2011.164,000Premio Planeta de Novela (runner-up)BookSpainSpanishSee also winner of same prize.150,000FIL Literature AwardAuthorMexicoSpanish150,000US$150,000Carol Shields Prize for FictionAuthor USEnglishPrize awards works of fiction by women and non-binary writers in Canada and the United States.150,000Sultan Bin Ali Al Owais Cultural AwardsAuthorUnited Arab EmiratesArabicComposed of 4 awards of $150,000 each.146,000Sonning PrizeAuthor*DenmarkAnyOpen to all arts not just writers.134,000Miguel de Cervantes PrizeAuthorSpainSpanish131,000Premio de Novela Fernando LaraBookSpainSpanish125,000US$125,000Carlos Fuentes International Prize for Literary Creation in the Spanish LanguageAuthorMexicoSpanishAny writer writing in the Spanish language110,000Premio Primavera de NovelaBookSpainSpanish110,000International Dublin Literary AwardBookIrelandEnglish110,000Premio Novela Histórica Alfonso X El SabioBookSpainSpanish110,000Camões PrizeAuthorPortugalBrazilPortuguese100,000Sheikh Hamad Award for Translation and International UnderstandingBookQatarArabicTranslation award. Total award value is $2 million. 100,000Nigeria Prize for LiteratureBookNigeriaEnglishThe Nigeria Prize for Literature Competition , official website.Tolulope Odeyemi. "On the hundred thousand dollar prize" , Next, June 26, 2011100,000Pritzker Literature Award for Lifetime Achievement in Military WritingAuthorUnited StatesEnglish100,000Ruth Lilly Poetry PrizeAuthorUnited StatesEnglish"Awards" , webpage maintained by The Poetry Foundation. Online version retrieved May 22, 2008.Kinzer, Stephen (2004). "Poetry Starts to Wear $100 Million Crown", The New York Times October 7, 2004. Online version retrieved May 22, 2008.100,000Wallace Stevens AwardAuthorUnited StatesEnglish100,000Sami Rohr Prize for Jewish LiteratureBookUnited StatesEnglish100,000The Kingsley and Kate Tufts Poetry AwardsAuthorUnited StatesEnglish100,000Park Kyong-ni PrizeAuthorSouth KoreaAny100,000Jackson Poetry PrizeAuthorUnited StatesEnglishhttps://www.pw.org/about-us/jackson_poetry_prize
Key Columns are sortable (click small square) Type: Book: Award is for a book title / Author: Award is for an author name () Award is not literary-specific but has some literary winners. This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.
The following awards have a superlative claim within certain defined categories, as described and sourced in the Notes column.
Equivalent in US$(April 2016)AmountNameTypeHost countryPrimary languageClaim524,527Astrid Lindgren Memorial AwardChildren's literatureSwedenAnyThe richest children's literature prize in the world.138,180RBA Prize for Crime WritingCrime fictionSpainAny"The world's most lucrative crime fiction prize."75,000Cundill History PrizeNon-fiction and historyCanadaEnglish"the largest purse for a book of non-fiction published in English"55,270Premio de Narrativa Breve Ribera del DueroShort story collectionSpainSpanish"the largest in the world for a competition of this kind".39,358Sunday Times Short Story AwardShort storyUnited KingdomEnglish"The world's richest short story prize" (single short story).38,081Montreal International Poetry PrizePoetryCanadaAnyThought to be the world's richest award for a single-poem.
References