Papers of the Booker Literary Prizes

The majority of the papers relate to the administrative history of the Booker Prize from 1968 to date. The papers include correspondence, minutes of meetings, publicity material, photographs, and material relating to the award ceremony and the judging process.

The collection also includes papers relating to the Booker Russian Novel Prize, and the International Booker Prize.

The collection is composed of the papers of Booker plc, the original sponsors of the prize; Book Trust (previously the National Book League) and Colman Getty PR, two of the organizations responsible for running the prize; and Marilyn Edwards, Martyn Goff, and Ion Trewin, past and present administrators of the prize.

Catalogued by Eleanor Possart, 2008-2019 and Annabel Valentine, 2020-2022.

Arranged into four series of different prize categories.

See also the First Chapter Series, Booker Prize collection.

See also copies of the Booker Prize winners' novels, available for reference in the main library.

See also Papers of P H Newby, winner of the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1969.

Material relating to the judging process is closed for 10 years. Advisory group minutes and information concerning submissions are closed for 20 years. Permission is required to view material relating to professional advice, i.e. accountants, tax and legal papers.
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The Booker Prize, first awarded in 1969, is a literary prize for the best English language novel of the year written by a British or Commonwealth author. The original sponsor of the prize was the food wholesaler Booker plc., whose Authors' Division owned the copyright of a number of well-known authors. In 2001, Booker plc. merged with the Big Food Group plc. In response to this change, the Booker Prize Foundation was formed to take responsibility for the prize. A new sponsor was also sought, and the role was won by The Man Group plc., a global investment management business, and between 2003 and 2019, the award was known as the Man Booker Prize. In 2019, the Man Group's sponsorship of the prize came to an end, and Crankstart, the charitable foundation of Sir Michael Moritz and his wife Harriet Heyman, was announced as the new sponsor of the prize. For further details on the history of the prize, see 'The Man Booker Prize: 35 years of the best in contemporary fiction 1969-2003', published by the Booker Prize Foundation, 2003.

The Booker Russian Novel Prize, awarded for the best work of fiction written in the Russian language, was launched in 1992. The prize was initially sponsored by Booker plc and administered locally by the British Council. Sponsorship of the prize was transferred in 1997 to United Distillers & Vintners (UDV), the spirits and wine arm of Diageo plc and owner of Smirnoff vodka, and the prize renamed the Smirnoff Booker Prize in 1999. In 2002 the Open Russia Foundation, founded by the YUKOS Oil Company, became the sponsor and the prize was renamed the Booker-Open Russia Prize. In 2006, sponsorship of the prize was transferred to the oil company BP.

The International Booker Prize (formerly the Man Booker International Prize) was initially awarded every two years in recognition of the work of an author of any nationality whose work is available in English. The first prize was awarded in 2005. There was also a separate prize for translation into English, the winner of which is chosen by the winning author. In July 2015 it was announced that the Prize was to join with the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize. The new prize would be awarded annually for a single book, translated into English and published in the UK, and the prize money would be split equally between the author and translator.

• 'Booker 30: a celebration of 30 years of the booker prize for fiction 1969-1998', published by Booker plc., 1998.
• 'The Man Booker Prize: 35 years of the best in contemporary fiction 1969-2003', published by the Booker Prize Foundation, 2003.
• 'The Booker Prizes', official website, www.thebookerprizes.com.