Wellcome Book Prize
Awarded fortopics of health and medicine in literature
Sponsored byWellcome Trust
LocationUnited Kingdom
First awarded2009
WebsiteWellcome Book Prize

Wellcome Book Prize (2009–2019 — paused) is an annual British literary award sponsored by Wellcome Trust. In keeping with the vision and goals of Wellcome Trust, the Book Prize "celebrates the topics of health and medicine in literature",[1] including fiction and non-fiction.[2] The winner receives £30,000 making it "one of the most remunerative literature awards on offer."[3]

The current prize for medicine in literature was inaugurated in 2009, but there was an older award with the same name. In 1998, Wellcome Trust began offering a prize that would enable a practicing life scientist to take time off and write a science book for the general reader.[4] Applicants would submit a book outline and sample chapter, winners would then be obligated to write and publish the book. It appears the only winner was Michael J. Morgan for The Space Between Our Ears: How the Brain Represents Visual Space (2001), before the prize (for science writing) was discontinued.

From 2009 to 2012 it was called the Wellcome Trust Book Prize. In 2013 there was no award however there were changes to the prize including an increase in prize money from £25,000 to £30,000.[5] The timetable of key dates is longlist in February, shortlist in March and winner in May.[6]

In 2019, the prize announced that it had "decided to take a pause and reflect".[7]

Winners and shortlisted nominees

Year Winner Work Shortlisted nominees Ref(s)
2019 Will Eaves Murmur
[8][9]
2018 Mark O'Connell To Be a Machine: Adventures Among Cyborgs, Utopians, Hackers, and the Futurists Solving the Modest Problem of Death
[10][11]
2017 Maylis de Kerangal Mend the Living (aka The Heart) [12][13]
2016 Suzanne O'Sullivan It's All in Your Head: True Stories of Imaginary Illness
[14][15]
2015 Marion Coutts The Iceberg: A Memoir
[16][17]
2014 Andrew Solomon Far from the Tree: Parents, Children, and the Search for Identity
[18][19][20]
2013 No award [5]
2012 Thomas Wright Circulation: William Harvey, a Man in Motion
[21][22]
2011 Alice LaPlante Turn of Mind [23][24][25]
2010 Rebecca Skloot The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
[26]
2009 Andrea Gillies Keeper: Living with Nancy – A Journey into Alzheimer's
[27]

References

  1. ^ About the Wellcome Trust Book Prize
  2. ^ "Prize for medicine in literature." The Times (United Kingdom) [serial online]. October 11, 2012. Available from: Newspaper Source Plus, Ipswich, MA. Item: 7EH1489323595. Accessed September 30, 2012.
  3. ^ "New medicine book prize." The Bookseller (17 October 2008), Pg. 6 (1)). Gale Document Number: GALE|A188642463
  4. ^ Frances M. Ashcroft. Life at the Extremes: The Science of Survival. See Acknowledgments, pg.xv
  5. ^ a b "2013: No prize awarded". Wellcome Book Prize. 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
  6. ^ "The Wellcome Book Prize longlist 2019". www.readings.com.au. Retrieved 6 February 2019.
  7. ^ "Wellcome Book Prize will be taking a pause". wellcomebookprize.org. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2019.
  8. ^ Flood, Alison (19 March 2019). "Wellcome prize shortlist celebrates books about masculinity and mental illness". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  9. ^ "Eaves wins 2019 Wellcome Prize for 'Murmur'". Books+Publishing. 2 May 2019. Retrieved 2 May 2019.
  10. ^ "Shortlist revealed for Wellcome Book Prize 2018". Wellcome Book Prize. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 20 March 2018.
  11. ^ "2018 Awards". Wellcome Book Prize. 1 May 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Maylis de Kerangal's 'Mend the Living' wins the Wellcome Book Prize 2017". wellcomebookprize.org. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  13. ^ Danuta Kean (14 March 2017). "Wellcome prize shortlist announced: books that 'will change lives'". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Wellcome Book Prize 2016 shortlist revealed". BBC News. 14 March 2016. Retrieved 15 March 2016.
  15. ^ "'It's All in Your Head' by Suzanne O'Sullivan wins £30,000 Wellcome Book Prize 2016". wellcomebookprize.org. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  16. ^ "The Wellcome Book Prize reveals 2015 shortlist". Wellcome Trust. 9 March 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2015.
  17. ^ "Tumour memoir wins £30,000 Wellcome book prize". BBC News. 29 April 2015. Retrieved 30 April 2015.
  18. ^ "Andrew Motion announces shortlist for the Wellcome Book Prize 2014". Wellcome Trust. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  19. ^ GrrlScientist (26 February 2014). "Wellcome Trust's Book Prize 2014 shortlist announced". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 February 2014.
  20. ^ Alison Flood (29 April 2014). "Wellcome book prize goes to Andrew Solomon's Far From the Tree". The Guardian. Retrieved 27 May 2014.
  21. ^ Charlotte Williams (15 October 2012). "Random House gets four nods for Wellcome Trust Book Prize". The Bookseller. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  22. ^ "Thomas Wright wins Wellcome Book Prize". The Daily Telegraph. 9 November 2012. Retrieved 9 November 2012.
  23. ^ Joanna Bourke (10 October 2011). "2011 Wellcome Trust Book Prize shortlist". The Lancet. Retrieved 30 September 2012.
  24. ^ "'Turn of Mind' by Alice LaPlante wins the Wellcome Trust Book Prize." (2011, Nov 10). Targeted News Service [Washington, D.C]. ProQuest document ID: 903209814
  25. ^ "Philip Roth's polio novel among six books shortlisted for UK medical literature prize." The Canadian Press [serial online]. November 9, 2011; Available from: Newspaper Source Plus, Ipswich, MA. Accessed September 30, 2012.
  26. ^ "Past Prizes – 2010". Wellcome Book Prize. Retrieved 27 April 2016.
  27. ^ "Past Prizes – 2009". Wellcome Book Prize. Retrieved 27 April 2016.

External links

Wellcome Trust
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