30th June, 2011

John Llewellyn Rhys Prize ‘Suspended’

Sponsors of the John Llewellyn Rhys prize, Booktrust, suffered severe funding cuts, which has resulted in the suspension of the popular prize.

The John Llewellyn Rhys Prize is a literary prize and was created to award authors from the Commonwealth under the age of 35.

Jane Oliver initiated the prize for the her husband, John Llewellyn Rhys, a writer who died tragically young, serving in the RAF in 1940.

“The John Llewellyn Rhys prize is one of the most romantic and distinguished of prizes and its disappearance would be a great loss to hopeful authors and he literary world” says Margaret Drabble former John Llewellyn Rhys prize winner.

Booktrust state that they did not take the decision lightly, and they strongly intend to bring back the Prize with a bang in the very near future.

Previous winners of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize:

2010 – Amy Sackville The Still Point
2009 – Evie Wyld After the Fire, A Still Small Voice
2008 – Henry Hitchings The Secret Life of Words
2006/7 – Sarah Hall The Carhullan Army
2005 – Uzodinma Iweala Beasts of No Nation
2004 – Jonathan Trigell Boy A
2003 – Charlotte Mendelson Daughters of Jerusalem
2002 Mary Laven Virgins of Venice
2001 – Susanna Jones The Earthquake Bird
2000 – Edward Platt Leadville

We hope to see the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize return very soon.