University of Edinburgh · award year
James Tait Black Prizes 2020
The 2020 James Tait Black Prizes went to A Ghost in the Throat by Doireann Ní Ghríofa (Biography) and Lote by Shola von Reinhold (Fiction). 8 books made the shortlist across 2 categories.
Winners
Fiction
Shortlist
Biography
- Black Spartacus: The Epic Life of Toussaint Louverturesource (opens in a new tab)
- Recollections of My Non-Existencesource (opens in a new tab)
- The Warrior, the Voyager, and the Artist: Three Lives in an Age of Empiresource (opens in a new tab)
Fiction
- A Children's Biblesource (opens in a new tab)
- Alligator & Other Storiessource (opens in a new tab)
- The First Womansource (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