The Goldsmiths Prize is a British literary award, founded in 2013 by Goldsmiths, University of London, in association with the New Statesman. It is awarded annually to a British or Irish piece of fiction that "breaks the mould or extends the possibilities of the novel form." It is limited to citizens and residents of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland, and to novels published by presses based in the United Kingdom or the Republic of Ireland. The winner receives £10,000.
Tim Parnell of the Goldsmiths English department conceived and runs the prize, inspired by his research into Laurence Sterne and other eighteenth-century writers, like Denis Diderot, who experimented with the novel form. The prize "casts its net wider than most other prizes" and intends to celebrate "creative daring," but resists the phrase "experimental fiction," because it implies "an eccentric deviation from the novel’s natural concerns, structures and idioms."
To date, Rachel Cusk is the author best represented on the prize's shortlists, having been shortlisted four times for Outline (2014), Transit (2016), Kudos (2018), and Parade (2024). Nine authors have been shortlisted twice: Amy Arnold, Sara Baume, Will Eaves, Deborah Levy, Eimear McBride, Anakana Schofield, Ali Smith, Adam Thirwell, and Isabel Waidner.
Winners and shortlists +Key() winner shortlisted +Shortlisted and winning books (2013–2024)YearAuthorNovelPublisherNotes2025 CD RoseWe Live Here NowMelville House PublishingThe shortlist was announced on 2 October, with the winner announced on 5 November.Colwill BrownWe Pretty Pieces of FleshVintageYrsa Daley-WardThe CatchPenguinSarah HallHelmFaber & FaberBen PesterThe Expansion ProjectGrantaCharlie PorterNova Scotia HouseParticular2024 Rachel CuskParadeFaber & FaberThe shortlist was announced on 2 October, with the winner announced on 6 November.Mark BowlesAll My Precious MadnessGalley BeggarJonathan BuckleyTellFitzcaraldoNeel MukherjeeChoiceAtlanticLara PawsonSpent LightCB EditionsHan SmithPortraits at the Palace of Creativity and WreckingJohn Murray2023 Benjamin MyersCuddyBloomsburyThe shortlist was announced on 4 October, with the winner announced on 8 November.Amy ArnoldLori & JoePrototypeKate BriggsThe Long FormFitzcarraldo EditionsH. Gareth GavinNever WasCipher PressRichard MilwardMan-Eating TypewriterWhite RabbitAdam ThirlwellThe Future FutureCape2022 Natasha Soobramanien and Luke WilliamsDiego GarciaFitzcarraldo EditionsThe shortlist was announced on 5 October, and the winner on 10 November.Mona ArshiSomebody Loves You And Other StoriesSara BaumeSeven SteeplesTramp PressMaddie MortimerMaps of Our Spectacular Bodies PicadorHelen OyeyemiPeacesFaber & FaberYara Rodrigues Fowlerthere are more thingsFleet2021 Isabel WaidnerSterling Karat GoldPeninsula PressThe shortlist was announced on 6 October, and the winner on 10 November.Claire-Louise BennettCheckout 19Jonathan CapeNatasha BrownAssemblyHamish HamiltonKeith RidgwayA ShockNew DirectionsLeone RossThis One Sky DayFaber and FaberRebecca Watsonlittle scratchFaber and Faber2020 M. John HarrisonThe Sunken Land Begins to Rise AgainGollanczThe shortlist was announced on 14 October, and the winner on 11 November.Paul GriffithsMr BeethovenHenningham Family PressXiaolu GuoA Lover's DiscourseChatto & WindusDBC PierreMeanwhile in Dopamine City FaberMonique RoffeyThe Mermaid of Black ConchPeepal Tree PressAnakana SchofieldBinaFleet2019 Lucy EllmannDucks, NewburyportGalley Beggar PressThe shortlist was announced on 2 October, and the winner on 13 November.Isabel WaidnerWe Are Made of Diamond StuffDostoyevsky WannabeVesna MainGood Day?SaltAmy ArnoldSlip of a FishAnd Other StoriesMark HaddonThe Porpoise Chatto & WindusDeborah LevyThe Man Who Saw EverythingHamish Hamilton2018 Robin RobertsonThe Long TakePicadorThe shortlist was announced on 26 September, and the winner on 14 November.Rachel CuskKudos FaberWill EavesMurmurCB EditionsGuy GunaratneIn Our Mad and Furious CityHeadlineGabriel JosipoviciThe Cemetery in BarnesCarcanetOlivia LaingCrudoPicador2017 Nicola BarkerH(A)PPYWilliam HeinemannThe shortlist was announced on 27 September, and the winner on 15 November 2017.Sara BaumeA Line Made by WalkingWilliam HeinemannKevin DaveyPlaying PossumAaargh! PressJon McGregorReservoir 13 Fourth EstateGwendoline RileyFirst LoveGrantaWill SelfPhoneViking2016 Mike McCormackSolar BonesTramp PressThe shortlist was announced on 28 September, and the winner on 9 November.Deborah LevyHot MilkHamish HamiltonSarah Ladipo ManyikaLike a Mule Bringing Ice Cream to the SunCassava Republic PressAnakana SchofieldMartin JohnAnd Other StoriesEimear McBrideThe Lesser BohemiansFaber and FaberRachel CuskTransitJonathan Cape2015 Kevin BarryBeatleboneCanongateThe shortlist was announced on 1 October, and the winner on 11 November. All the authors on the shortlist were men.Richard BeardActs of the AssassinsVintageMagnus MillsThe Field of the Cloth of GoldBloomsbury PublishingTom McCarthySatin IslandJonathan CapeMax PorterGrief Is the Thing with Feathers Faber and FaberAdam ThirlwellLurid & CuteJonathan Cape2014 Ali SmithHow to Be BothPenguinThe shortlist was announced on 1 October, and the winner on 12 November.Rachel CuskOutlineVintageWill EavesThe Absent TherapistCB EditionsHoward JacobsonJ Jonathan CapePaul KingsnorthThe WakeUnbound PublishingZia Haider RahmanIn the Light of What We KnowPicador2013 Eimear McBrideA Girl Is a Half-formed ThingGalley Beggar PressThe shortlist was announced on 1 October, and the winner on 13 November.Philip TerrytapestryReality StreetJim CraceHarvestPicadorLars IyerExodusMelville HouseDavid PeaceRed or DeadFaber and FaberAli SmithArtfulPenguin Books
References
External links
Goldsmiths Prize, official website. A new literary prize celebrating boldly original fiction, New Statesman announcement of award.
<--! Home country and scope (1) of award --> <--! Scope (2) of award (UK and Ireland) -->