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Endowed by a bequest from the late Betty Trask, a somewhat reclusive author of over thirty romance novels, this award is administered by the Society of Authors. Writers under 35 are eligible for a first novel; unusually, it need not have been published. The terms of the bequest specified that the award was to recognize "a romantic novel or other novel of a traditional rather than experimental nature," though the judging panel seems to have interpreted these instructions liberally. Each year there is one Betty Trask Prize, worth £12,000 (or occasionally two, in case of tie), and several more Betty Trask Awards, worth £5,000 or £1,500.
* indicates winner of the Betty Trask Prize
1984 Ronald Frame, Winter Journey *
Clare Nonhebel, Cold Showers
James Buchan, A Parish of Rich Women
Helen Harris, Playing Fields in Winter
Gareth Jones, The Disinherited
Simon Rees, The Devil's Looking Glass1985 Susan Kay, Legacy *
Gary Armitage, A Season of Peace
Elizabeth Ironside, A Very Private Enterprise
Alice Mitchell, Instead of Eden #
Caroline Stickland, The Standing Hills
George Schweiz, The Earth Abides Forever #1986 Tim Parks, Tongues of Flame *
Patricia Ferguson, Family Myths and Legends
Philippa Blake, Mzungu's Wife
Matthew Kneale, Whore Banquets
J. F. McLaughlin, The Road to Dilmun #
Kate Saunders, The Prodigal Father1987 Helen Flint, Return Journey *
Peter Benson, The Levels *
James Maw, Hard Luck
Catherine Arnold, Lost Time
H. S. Bhabra, Gestures
Lucy Pinney, The Pink Stallion1988 Alex Martin, The General Interruptor *
Candia McWilliam, A Case of Knives *
Georgina Andrewes, Behind the Waterfall
James Friel, Left of North
Glenn Patterson, Burning Your Own
Susan Webster, Small Tales of a Town1989 Nigel Watts, The Life Game *
William Riviere, Watercolour Sky
Paul Houghton, Harry's Last Wedding
Alasdair McKee, Uncle Harry's Last Stand1990 Robern McLiam Wilson, Ripley Bogle *
Elizabeth Chadwick, The Wild Hunt
Rosemary Cohen, No Strange Land #
Nicholas Shakespeare, The Vision of Elena Silves1991 Amit Chaudhuri, A Strange and Sublime Address *
Mark Swallow, Teaching Little Fang
Suzannah Dunn, Quite Contrary
Lesley Glaister, Honour Thy Father
Nino Ricci, Lives of the Saints1992 Liane Jones, The Dreamstone *
Peter M. Rosenberg, Kissing Through a Pane of Glass
Tibor Fischer, Under the Frog
Eugene Mullen, The Last of His Line #
Edward St. Aubyn, Never Mind1993 Mark Blackaby, You'll Never Be Here Again *
Andrew Cowan, Pig
Simon Corrigan, Tommy Was Here
Joanna Briscoe, Mothers and Other Lovers1994 Colin Bateman, Divorcing Jack *
Nadeem Aslam, Season of the Rainbow
Guy Burt, After the Hole
Frances Laridet, The Game
Jonathan Rix, Some Hope1995 Robert Newman, Dependence Day *
Mark Behr, The Smell of Apples
Martina Evans, Midnight Feast
Robit Manchanda, A Speck of Coaldust #
Juliet Thomas, Hallelujah Jordan #
Philippa Walshe, The Latecomer #
Madeline Wickhaam, The Tennis Party1996 John Lanchester, The Debt fo Pleasure *
Meera Syal, Anita and Me
Rhidian Brook, The Testimony of Taliesin Jones
Louise Carol Buss, The Luxury of Exile1997 Alex Garland, The Beach *
Josie Barnard, Poker Face
Ardashir Fakit, Beach Boy
Diran Abedayo, Some Kind of Black
Sanjida O'Connell, Theory of Mind1998 Kiran Desai - Hullaballoo in the Guava Orchard *
Nick Earls - ZigZag Street
Phil Whitaker - Eclipse of the Sun
Gail Anderson-Dargatz - The cure for death by lightning
Tobias Hill - Underground #1999 Elliot Perlman, Three Dollars *
Catherine Chidgey, In a Fishbone Church
Giles Foden, The Last King of Scotland
Dennis Bock, Olympia
Rajeev Balasubramanyam, In Beautiful Disguises #
Sarah Waters, Tipping the Velvet2000 Jonathan Tulloch, The Season Ticket *
Julia Leigh, The Hunter
Susan Elderkin, Sunset Over Chocolate Mountains
Galaxy Craze, By the Shore
Nicholas Griffin, The Requiem Shark2001 Zadie Smith, White Teeth *
Justin Hill ,The Drink and DreamTeahouse
Vivien Kelly, Take One Young Man
Mohsin Hamid, Moth Smoke
Patrick Neate, Musungu Jim and the Great Chief Tuloko2002 Hari Kunzru, The Impressionist *
Rachel Seiffert, The Dark Room
Shamim Sarif, The World Unseen
Chloe Hooper, A Child's Book of True Crime
Helen Cross, My Summer of Love
Susanna Jones, The Earthquake Bird2003 Jon McGregor, If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things *
Sarah Hall, Haweswater
Stephanie Merritt, Gaveston
Elizabeth Garner, Nightdancing
Zoe Strachan, Negative Space
Adam Thirlwell, Politics2004 Louise Dean Becoming Strangers *
Hannah MacDonald The Sun Road
Anthony Cartwright The Afterglow
Siddharth Dhanvant Shanghvi The Last Song of Dusk2005 Susan Fletcher Eve Green *
Diana Evans 26a
Helen Walsh Brass2006 Nick Laird Utterly Monkey *
Peter Hobbs The Short Day Dying
Nicola Monaghan The Killing Jar2007 Will Davis, My Side of the Story *
Adam Foulds - The Truth About These Strange Times
Cynan Jones - The Long Dry
Julie Maxwell - You Can Live Forever
Karen Mcleod - In Search of the Missing Eyelash# indicates unpublished
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