The Historical Writers Association
The official website of the HWA
The announcement of the winners of the HWA Crown Awards 2021 will take place as a Youtube Premiere at 11am on 24 November. You can watch it here! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL5z40X0FCU
Full details will follow on www.historiamag.com
Many congratulations to all the shortlisted writers:
Obviously we are very sorry we could not announce the winners of the Debut, Gold and Non-Fiction Crowns in person this year, but you can still join us to see which of these amazing books have emerged victorious on youtube.
The 36 books chosen for the HWA Crowns Longlists have been announced!
Read all the details here: http://www.historiamag.com/hwa-crowns-longlists-2020/
Congratulations to all the fabulous writers and publishers and huge, huge thanks to all our judges.
The longlists for the Crown Awards will be announced on 12th September.
Catch up on the latest on our Awards page.
We are delighted to share the shortlists and winners of the 2019 Crowns, with thanks to all our judges, and our sponsor Sharpe Books.
Historian and Broadcaster Kate Williams presented the Historical Writers’ Association Crown Awards for 2018 at a party at Swedenborg Hall in Bloomsbury. The winner of the Debut Crown for 2018 was Estoril by Dejan Tiago-Stankovic, the Non-Fiction Crown was awarded to Leanda de Lisle for White King: Charles I – Traitor, Martyr, Murderer and the winner of the Sharpe Books HWA Gold Crown for Historical Fiction was Ralf Rothman’s To Die in Spring, superbly translated by Shaun Whiteside who was present to receive the award on Rothman’s behalf.
The winners of each prize receives a thousand pounds as well as the award itself. ‘Each winner was part of a very strong short and longlist,’ Chair of the HWA, Imogen Robertson said, ‘which demonstrated the breadth and vigour of Historical Writing published in the UK in the last year. We are sure that all lovers of history will find something to delight them in these lists from adventure, epic and literary fiction of the highest quality to important popular works of non-fiction which shed fresh light on familiar figures or carve out and claim important new territory all of their own.’
The evening also saw Canadian writer, Jennifer Falkner from Ottowa, carrying off first and second prize in the anonymously judged HWA / Dorothy Dunnett short story competition for unpublished short stories and the announcement of a new prize for unpublished novels in collaboration with Sharpe Books.
The Debut Crown judges said of Estoril by Dejan Tiago-Stankovic ‘Assured, surprising and complex, this poignant story of divided loyalties among the extraordinary residents of a hotel in neutral Portugal during the Second World War reads like a rediscovered classic.’
The judges of the Non-fiction crown called Leanda de Lisle: White King: Charles I – Traitor, Martyr, Murderer ‘a quietly revolutionary biography of a man obscured by layers of myth, prejudice and misunderstanding,’ and added ‘Drawing on new sources, and interrogating familiar material in a new way, de Lisle emphasises Charles’s humanity, his weaknesses and his strengths, while restoring the women in his life to centre stage.’
The Judges of the Sharpe Books Gold Crown said To Die in Spring by Ralf Rothmann translated by Shaun Whiteside was ‘beautifully written, affecting and intensely readable – a powerful novel that works on many levels.’ On a separate note, the judges praised the translation as being one of the best they had read.
The HWA would like to thank our sponsors, Sharpe Books, and The History Press for making the evening such a success and particular thanks to our judges who gave up a great deal of their time reading and debating the huge number of submissions with such generosity and enthusiasm. The Non-Fiction Crown judges were: M J Carter, Saul David, Jason Goodwin and Lucy Santos, the Debut Crown was judged by Ayo Onatade and Susan Heads, chaired by Ben Fergusson and the Sharpe Books HWA Gold Crown was judged by Rukhsana Ahmad, Elizabeth Buchan, Robin Carter, Richard Foreman, Tony Riches and Imogen Robertson, chaired by Elizabeth Fremantle.