University of Edinburgh · award year
James Tait Black Prizes 2019
The 2019 James Tait Black Prizes went to The Photographer at Sixteen: The Death and Life of a Fighter by George Szirtes (Biography) and Ducks, Newburyport by Lucy Ellmann (Fiction). 8 books made the shortlist across 2 categories.
Winners
Biography
- The Photographer at Sixteen: The Death and Life of a Fightersource (opens in a new tab)
Fiction
- Ducks, Newburyportsource (opens in a new tab)
Shortlist
Biography
Fiction
- Girlsource (opens in a new tab)
- Sudden Travellersource (opens in a new tab)
- Travellerssource (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)
Shares the most books with
- Dublin Literary Award 34 shared books
- National Book Critics Circle Awards 18 shared books
- Women's Prize for Fiction 16 shared books
- Booker Prize 12 shared books
- Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence 12 shared books