Gordon Burn Prize

The Gordon Burn Prize was launched in 2013 as a vehicle by which "to reward fiction or non-fiction written in the English language, which in the opinion of the judges most successfully represents the spirit and sensibility of [Gordon Burn]'s literary methods: novels which dare to enter history and interrogate the past ... literature which challenges perceived notions of genre and makes us think again about just what it is that we are reading."

The prize is jointly organised by the Gordon Burn Trust, New Writing North and Faber & Faber. The winner receives a prize sum (originally ), and is offered the use of Burn's cottage in Berwickshire as a writers' retreat. Up until 2024, the prize ceremony was generally the first event of the Durham Book Festival. In 2024, the prize fund was doubled to due to new sponsors and the award ceremony relocated to Newcastle upon Tyne.

Winners and shortlists Year Author Title PublisherRef2013Ben MyersPig IronBluemoose BooksAnthony CartwrightHow I Killed Margaret ThatcherTindal Street PressDuncan HamiltonThe Footballer Who Could FlyCenturyRichard Lloyd ParryPeople Who Eat DarknessJonathan CapeJean Rafferty Myra, Beyond SaddleworthWild Wolf Publishing2014Paul KingsnorthThe WakeUnboundRichard BensonThe ValleyBloomsburyRichard HouseThe KillsPicadorOlivia LaingThe Trip to Echo SpringCanongateGruff RhysAmerican InteriorHamish HamiltonWilly VlautinThe FreeFaber and Faber2015Dan DaviesIn Plain Sight: The Life and Lies of Jimmy SavileQuercusHonor GavinMidlandPenned in the MarginsRomesh GunesekeraNoon Tide TollGranta BooksRichard KingOriginal RockersFaber and FaberPeter PomerantsevNothing Is True and Everything Is PossiblePublicAffairs2016David SzalayAll That Man IsJonathan CapeJeremy GavronA Woman on the Edge of Time: A Son's Search for his MotherScribeOlivia LaingThe Lonely City: Adventures in the Art of Being AlonePicadorOttessa MoshfeghEileenPenguin PressHarry ParkerAnatomy of a SoldierFaber and FaberAdrian TempanyAnd the Sun Shines NowFaber and Faber2017Denise MinaThe Long DropHarvill SeckerKapka KassabovaBorder: A Journey to the Edge of EuropeGranta BooksDavid KeenanThis Is Memorial DeviceFaber and FaberLara PawsonThis Is the Place to BeCB EditionsGwendoline RileyFirst LoveGranta BooksAdelle StripeBlack Teeth and a Brilliant SmileWrecking Ball Press2018Jesse BallCensusGranta BooksNicola BarkerH(a)ppyWilliam HeinemannGuy GunaratneIn Our Mad and Furious CityTinder PressOlivia LaingCrudoPicadorDeborah LevyThe Cost of LivingHamish HamiltonMichelle McNamaraI'll Be Gone in the DarkFaber and Faber2019David KeenanFor the Good TimesFaber and FaberPat BarkerThe Silence of the GirlsPenguinBernardine EvaristoGirl, Woman, OtherHamish HamiltonNiven GovindenThis Brutal HouseDialogue BooksMax PorterLannyFaber and FaberNafissa Thompson-SpiresHeads of the Colored PeopleChatto & Windus2020Peter PomerantsevThis Is Not PropagandaFaber and FaberJenn AshworthNotes Made While FallingGoldsmiths PressPaul MendezRainbow MilkDialogue BooksDeborah OrrMotherwell: A GirlhoodWeidenfeld & NicolsonLemn SissayMy Name Is WhyCanongateLisa TaddeoThree WomenBloomsbury2021Hanif AbdurraqibA Little Devil in AmericaAllen LaneSam ByersCome Join Our DiseaseFaber and FaberJenni FaganLuckenboothWilliam HeinemannSalena GoddenMrs Death Misses DeathCanongateTabitha LasleySea StateHarperCollinsDoireann Ní GhríofaA Ghost in the ThroatTramp Press2022Preti TanejaAftermathAnd Other StoriesGraeme Macrae BurnetCase StudySarabandMargo JeffersonConstructing a Nervous SystemGranta BooksDavid WhitehouseAbout a SonPhoenix PressLea YpiFree: Coming of Age at the End of HistoryAllen Lane2023 / 2024Kathryn ScanlanKick the LatchNew DirectionsRory CarrollKilling ThatcherMudlarkJonathan EscofferyIf I Survive You4th EstateAnna FunderWifedom: Mrs Orwell's Invisible LifeViking PressJohn NivenO BrotherCanongateMegan NolanOrdinary Human FailingsJonathan CapeTanya Tagaq Split ToothAnd Other Stories2025Jenni FaganOotlinHutchinson HeinemannRita BullwinkelHeadshotDaunt BooksEmma GlassMrs JekyllCheerioGabrielle de la Puente and Zarina MuhammadPoor ArtistsParticular BooksTom NewlandsOnly Here, Only NowPhoenix

References