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John Llewellyn Rhys Prize

Award for literature written in English by a Commonwealth author

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Since 2011, the award has been suspended by funding problems. The last award was in 2010.

History

The prize was initiated in 1942 by Jane Oliver in memory of her husband, John Llewellyn Rhys, a young author who was killed on 5 August 1940 while serving as a bomber pilot in the Royal Air Force.

From 1987 to 2003, the prize was funded by The Mail on Sunday. The newspaper withdrew in 2003, after the initial winner of 2002 prize, Hari Kunzru, rejected the prize and criticised the Mail of Sunday for "hostility towards black and Asian people" Subsequently, the prize was sponsored by BookTrust, an independent educational charity, but in June 2011 the award was suspended due to funding problems. Booktrust said that it "strongly" intended to bring the award "back with a bang as soon as possible" as it looked for outside funding sources.

In 2010, the winner received £5,000, while the runners-up each received £500.

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