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James Tait Black Prizes 2009

The 2009 James Tait Black Prizes went to William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies by John Carey (Biography) and The Children's Book by A. S. Byatt (Fiction). 10 books made the shortlist across 2 categories.

Winners

Biography

  1. William Golding: The Man Who Wrote Lord of the Flies by John Careysource (opens in a new tab)

Fiction

  1. The Children's Book by A. S. Byattsource (opens in a new tab)

Shortlist

Biography

  1. Cheever: A Life by Blake Baileysource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Different Drummer: The Life of Kenneth MacMillan by Jann Parrysource (opens in a new tab)
  3. Muriel Spark: The Biography by Martin Stannardsource (opens in a new tab)
  4. The English Opium-Eater: A Biography of Thomas De Quincey by Robert Morrisonsource (opens in a new tab)

Fiction

  1. Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishigurosource (opens in a new tab)
  2. Strangers by Anita Brooknersource (opens in a new tab)
  3. The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet by Reif Larsensource (opens in a new tab)
  4. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantelsource (opens in a new tab)

About the James Tait Black Prizes

Fiction and Biography shortlists and winners; Drama (2012-2019) is excluded. Year is the prize year as the University labels it: the books' publication year, with winners announced the following summer (the 2024 prizes were announced in August 2025). Each book appears once, as Winner or Shortlist. 2023 Biography had joint winners. Shortlists from University of Edinburgh news releases (ed.ac.uk, cahss.ed.ac.uk, james-tait-black.ed.ac.uk, and a 2010 University Bulletin PDF for 2009) for 2009, 2010 and 2012-2025. Fallbacks where no university page survives: 2006 from RTE, 2007 from The Guardian, 2008 from BBC News, 2011 from Deadline News. Shortlist sizes vary: 6 per category in 2006, 5 in 2007-2009 and 2025, 6 Biography in 2023, 5 Biography in 2024, 4 otherwise.

Organization: University of Edinburgh. Years are award years, which can differ from publication years. Official site (opens in a new tab)

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