The Guardian First Book Award was a literary award presented by The Guardian newspaper. It annually recognised one book by a new writer. It was established in 1999, replacing the Guardian Fiction Award or Guardian Fiction Prize that the newspaper had sponsored from 1965.

History

The newspaper determined to change its book award after 1998, and during that year also hired Claire Armitstead as literary editor. At the inaugural First Book Award ceremony in 1999, she said that she was informed of the change, details to be arranged, by the head of the marketing department during her second week on the job. "By the time we left the room we had decided on two key things. We would make it a first book award, and we would involve reading groups in the judging process. This was going to be the people's prize."

!Year

!Author

!Title

!Result

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="6" |1999

|

|We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families

|Winner

|-

|

|Lighthouse Stevensons

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|Boxy an Star

|Finalist

|-

|

|Ghostwritten

|Finalist

|-

|

|No Place Like Home

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2000

|

|White Teeth

|Winner

|-

|

|House of Leaves

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|No Logo

|Finalist

|-

|

|Catfish and Mandala: a Vietnamese Odyssey

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2001

|

|Jimmy Corrigan, the Smartest Kid on Earth

|Winner

|-

|

|Anthony Blunt: His Lives

|Finalist

|-

| and John Eidinow

|Wittgenstein's Poker: The Story of a Ten-Minute Argument Between Two Great Philosophers

|Finalist

|-

|

|Carter Beats the Devil

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2002

|

|Everything Is Illuminated

|Winner

|-

|

|Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|Mapping Mars

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2003

|

|Mountains of the Mind

|Winner

|-

|

|Brick Lane

|Finalist

|-

|

|Into the Silent Land

|Finalist

|-

|

|Stasiland

|Finalist

|-

|

|Vernon God Little

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2004

|

|Mutants: On the Form, Varieties and Errors of Human Body

|Winner

|-

|

|Natasha and Other Stories <!--(Cape)-->

|Finalist

|-

|

|Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell <!--(Bloomsbury)-->

|Finalist

|-

|

|Ground Water <!--(Bloodaxe)-->

|Finalist

|-

|

|'<!--(Picador)-->

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2005

|

|Stuart: A Life Backwards

|Winner

|-

|

|No god but God

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|Sightseeing

|Finalist

|-

|

|Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2006

|

|'

|Winner

|-

|

|Harbor

|Finalist

|-

|

|Poppy Shakespeare

|Finalist

|-

|

|In the Country of Men

|Finalist

|-

|

|Everyman's Rules for Scientific Living

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2007

|

|Children of the Revolution

|Winner

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|Imperial Life in the Emerald City

|Finalist

|-

|

|God's Architect

|Finalist

|-

|

|What Was Lost

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2008

|

|'

|Winner

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|Stalin's Children

|Finalist

|-

|

|God's Own Country

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2009

|

|'

|Winner

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2010

|

|Romantic Moderns: English Writers, Artists and the Imagination from Virginia Woolf to John Piper

|Winner

|-

|

|Boxer, Beetle

|Finalist

|-

|

|Your Presence is Requested at Suvanto

|Finalist

|-

|

|Black Mamba Boy

|Finalist

|-

|

|In Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2011

|

|'

|Winner

|-

|

|Pigeon English

|Finalist

|-

|

|Down The Rabbit Hole

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2012

|

|'

|Winner

|-

|

|Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|Sandstorm: Libya in the Time of Revolution

|Finalist

|-

|

|Tony Hogan Bought Me an Ice-cream Float Before He Stole My Ma

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2013

|

|'

|Winner

|-

|

|We Need New Names

|Finalist

|-

|

|Sex and the Citadel

|Finalist

|-

|

|Burial Rites

|Finalist

|-

|

|Kiss Me First

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="5" |2014

|

|Young Skins

|Winner

|-

|

|Do No Harm

|Finalist

|-

|

|The Night Guest

|Finalist

|-

|

|Age of Ambition

|Finalist

|-

|

|Things to Make and Break

|Finalist

|- style="background:#cddeff"

! rowspan="6" |2015

|

|Physical

|Winner

|-

|

|Man v Nature

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|-

|

|Nothing Is True and Everything Is Possible

|Finalist

|-

|

|Grief Is the Thing with Feathers

|Finalist

|-

|

|'

|Finalist

|}

See also

  • Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
  • Orange Award for New Writers
  • The Whitfield Prize
  • Guardian Fiction Prize
  • Vanguard Personality of the Year Awards

References

;Annual home pages for the First Book Award, 1999 to present

  • Guardian First Book Award 1999
  • Guardian First Book Award 2000
  • Guardian First Book Award 2001
  • Guardian First Book Award 2002
  • Guardian First Book award 2003
  • Guardian First Book Award 2004
  • Guardian First Book Award 2005
  • Guardian First Book Award 2006
  • Guardian First Book Award 2007
  • Guardian First Book award 2008
  • Guardian First Book award 2009
  • Guardian First Book award 2010
  • Guardian First Book award 2011
  • Guardian First Book award 2012
  • Guardian First Book award 2013
  • Guardian First Book award 2014
  • Guardian First Book award 2015
  • Books at The Guardian