Oxford alumni dominate major UK literary prizes over three decades

Alumni from the University of Oxford have won or been shortlisted for the most major UK literary prizes in the last 30 years, according to research conducted by Aura Print. 

The study analysed data from Selected British Literary Prizes (1990-2022), examining the winners and shortlisted authors of nine leading UK prizes, broken down by university, gender, and course. Out of 952 prize-winning or shortlisted works, 116 were written by Oxford graduates – an impressive 12% of the total. The University of Cambridge ranked second, with 73 winners and shortlisted authors. 

Of the 116 titles authored by Oxford University alumni, nine of these were written by former tutors, speakers and students of Oxford Lifelong Learning courses. The MSt in Creative Writing – celebrating its 20th anniversary this year – has welcomed several of these celebrated authors as tutors and speakers, including Philip Pullman, who won two awards in 2001 for The Amber Spyglass, and poet Alice Oswald, whose work appears on the prize list four times. More recently, MSt alumna Daisy Johnson was shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker Prize for her novel Everything Under. 

The research also reveals a notable shift in recent years: women with Oxford degrees are increasingly taking home major literary prizes, reflecting a broader trend in which women are, for the first time in decades, winning more literary awards than men. 

From internationally recognised novelists to groundbreaking poets, Oxford’s prize-winning authors continue to shape and enrich the city’s vibrant literary culture – inspiring new generations of writers and readers alike. 

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