The WH Smith Literary Award was an award founded in 1959 by

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

high street retailer

WH Smith WH Smith plc, trading as WHSmith (also written WH Smith and formerly as W. H. Smith & Son), is a British retailer, with headquarters in Swindon, England, which operates a chain of railway station, airport, port, hospital and motorway service st ...

to "encourage and bring international esteem to authors of the British Commonwealth". Originally open to all residents of the UK, the

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

, it later admitted foreign works in translation and works by US authors. The final three winners were Americans (

Philip Roth Philip Milton Roth (; March 19, 1933 – May 22, 2018) was an American novelist and short-story writer. Roth's fiction—often set in his birthplace of Newark, New Jersey—is known for its intensely autobiographical character, for philosophical ...

Donna Tartt Donna Louise Tartt (born December 23, 1963) is an American novelist. She wrote the novels '' The Secret History'' (1992), '' The Little Friend'' (2002), and ''The Goldfinch'' (2013), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was adapted into ...

and

Richard Powers Richard Powers (born June 18, 1957) is an American novelist whose works explore the effects of modern science and technology. His novel ''The Echo Maker'' won the 2006 National Book Award for Fiction.National Book Awards Children's Book of the Year The British Book Awards Children's Book of the Year is a British literary award, given annually to works of children's literature as part of the British Book Awards (known as the Nibbies) . It was established in 1996, replacing the British Illust ...

(the "British Children's Book Award" through 2009).

Winners

WH Smith Mind-Boggling Book Award

For a few years, W H Smith also offered a children's book award. The judges were children between nine and twelve, and the intention was to promote books which were "accessible to children in content and price, as well as offering a gripping read." The winners were: *1993:

Philip Ridley Philip Ridley is an English storyteller working in a wide range of genres and artistic media. As a visual artist he has been cited as a contemporary of the Young British Artists, and had his artwork exhibited internationally. He has written ...

, ''

Krindlekrax ''Krindlekrax'' is a thriller children's novel by author Philip Ridley. It was first published in 1991 by Jonathan Cape and republished in 1992 by Red Fox and then again in 2001 by Puffin Books where it is still in print. The book won the Nes ...

'' *1994:

Malorie Blackman Oneta Malorie Blackman (born 8 February 1962) is a British writer who held the position of Children's Laureate from 2013 to 2015. She primarily writes literature and television drama for children and young adults. She has used science fiction ...

, ''

Hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who achieves goals and solves problems by non-standard means. The term has become associated in popular culture with a security hackersomeone with knowledge of bug (computing), bugs or exp ...

'' *1995: Maggie Prince, '' Memoirs of a Dangerous Alien'' *1996:

Sharon Creech Sharon Creech (born July 29, 1945) is an American writer of children's novels. She was the first American winner of the Carnegie Medal (literary award), Carnegie Medal for British children's books and the first person to win both the American ...

, '' Walk Two Moons''

References

{{reflist Commonwealth literary awards Awards established in 1959 1959 establishments in the United Kingdom Awards disestablished in 2005 2005 disestablishments in the United Kingdom British fiction awards