Submissions for the Crown Awards 2021 are now closed!

The 2021 Crown Awards (Debut, Gold and Non-Fiction) are for full length books published for the first time in English in the UK between the 1 April 2020 – 31st March 2021. For fiction, the bulk of the narrative of the work submitted must take place at least thirty-five years prior to publication. For non-fiction, the key events must have taken place, or the subject have been primarily active at least thirty-five years prior to publication.

Awards Timeline

Nominations close: 30th April 2021

Longlists announced: 11 August 2021

Shortlists announced: 5 October 2021 

Awards ceremony: 24 November 2021

We plan to hold the 2021 ceremony in St Ethelburga’s Church in Bishopsgate, but of course this will depend on what is safe and practical at that time. The safety of our members, authors, publishers, agents, judges, bloggers, booksellers and friends remains our top priority, and if that means the Crowns Ceremony remains an online celebration only, so be it. We still want to play our part in celebrating the brilliant historical writing, fiction and non-fiction, published in the UK and its ability to engage, illuminate, entertain and inform legions of readers.

Meet the Judges of the 2021 Crowns

See how we managed in 2020 and which of the amazing shortlisted books emerged triumphant:

There are still sponsorship opportunities available for these awards. We are sorry to say we won’t be making cash awards this year, unless a sponsor steps in to fund them. To discuss sponsorship of any or all of the Crown awards, please email Imogen Robertson.